'Ali Reza al-'Abbasi was a well known calligrapher of the Safavid period. Originally from Tabriz, he moved to Qazvin and worked in the library of Farhad Khan until Shah 'Abbas I asked Farhad Khan to send him to Isfahan, whereupon he became the king's scribe and companion and was put in charge of the Royal Library. He is reported as being respected by the king to the extent that the king would hold a gold candlestick whilst 'Ali Reza was writing. He wrote in all styles, and his most outstanding work can be seen in the inscriptions of the entrances to the 'Ali Qapu Palace, Shaykh Lutfullah and the Shah Mosques in Isfahan (all in thuluth) and the gold panel above the tomb of Imam Reza in Mashhad (in nasta'liq). His other recorded works include a small treatise and calligraphic pages in nasta'liq dated between AH 1000-1022 (1591/2-1613/4 AD).

For a full account see Mehdi Bayani Ahval va Asar-e Khosh-Nevisan, Vol. II, Tehran, 1346 sh., pp. 456-61 and Vol. IV, 1358, p. 109).