Knowra Nastaliq Nastaliq Nastaliq is a flowing style of Persian-Arabic calligraphy, especially associated with Persian and Urdu writing. Its sloping letters and suspended curves give lines a distinctive downward movement.
Persian alphabet : The writing system used for Persian, based on the Arabic script with additional letters. Nastaliq arranges Persian letters into its characteristic sloping lines.
Ligature : A written form that joins two or more letters into a single connected glyph. Nastaliq's dense joining patterns create much of its flowing texture.
Persianate culture : A cultural sphere shaped by Persian language, literature, and courtly traditions across Asia. Nastaliq flourished within Persianate literary and courtly settings.
Shahnameh : Ferdowsi's Persian epic, completed around the turn of the eleventh century, recounting Iran's legendary and historical past. Nastaliq appears in later illustrated and copied editions of this major Persian text.
Naskh : A rounded Arabic calligraphic script widely used for copying books and printing text. Naskh tends to sit more evenly on the line, unlike Nastaliq's hanging movement.
Arabic script : A family of writing systems derived from the Arabic alphabet, used for Arabic and many other languages. Nastaliq is a calligraphic style within this script tradition.
Calligraphic pen : A writing instrument with a shaped or flexible tip that produces strokes of varied thickness. The angled pen nib helps create Nastaliq's contrasting thick and thin strokes.
Timurid Renaissance : A period of artistic and intellectual activity under the Timurid dynasty, especially in the fifteenth century. Timurid workshops helped establish Nastaliq as a prestigious book hand.
Urdu poetry : Poetry composed in Urdu, known for forms including the ghazal and nazm. Printed Urdu poetry is strongly associated with Nastaliq's visual form.
Thuluth : A large, cursive Arabic calligraphic script often used for monumental inscriptions and headings. Thuluth favors upright, expansive forms rather than Nastaliq's compact diagonal flow.
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