Nastaʿlīq (Persian from Naskh and Taʿlīq) is one of the main calligraphic hands used in writing the Persian script, and traditionally the predominant style in Persian calligraphy.
It was developed in Iran in the 14th and 15th centuries.
It is sometimes used to write Arabic-language text (where it is known as Taʿliq[citation needed] or Persian and is mainly used for titles and headings), but its use has always been more popular in the Persian, Turkic and Urdu sphere of influence. Nastaʿlīq has extensively been (and still is) practised in Iran, Pakistan, India, Afghanistan and other countries for written poetry and as a form of art.
A less elaborate version of Nastaʿlīq serves as the preferred style for writing in Kashmiri, Punjabi Persian and Urdu, and it is often used alongside Naskh for Pashto. In Persian it is used for poetry only. Nastaʿlīq was historically used for writing Ottoman Turkish, where it was known as tâlik
(not to be confused with a totally different Persian style, also called taʿlīq; to distinguish the two, Ottomans referred to the latter as taʿlīq-i qadim, "old taʿlīq").
Nastaʿlīq is the core script of the post-Sassanid Persian writing tradition, and is equally important in the areas under its cultural influence. The languages of Iran (Western Persian, Azeri, Balochi, Kurdi, Luri, etc.), Afghanistan (Dari, Pashto, Uzbek, Turkmen, etc.), Pakistan (Punjabi, Urdu, Kashmiri, Saraiki, etc.), and the Turkic Uyghur language of the Chinese province of Xinjiang, rely on Nastaʿlīq. Under the name taʿliq (lit. “suspending [script]”), it was also beloved by Ottoman calligraphers who developed the Diwani (divanî) and Ruqah (rık’a) styles from it.
Nastaʿlīq is amongst the most fluid calligraphy styles for the Arabic alphabet. It has short verticals with no serifs, and long horizontal strokes. It is written using a piece of trimmed reed with a tip of 5–10 mm (0.2–0.4 in), called qalam ("pen", in Arabic and Persian قلم), and carbon ink, named davat. The nib of a qalam can be split in the middle to facilitate ink absorption.
Two important forms of Nastaʿlīq panels are Chalipa and Siah-Mashq. A Chalipa ("cross", in Persian) panel usually consists of four diagonal hemistiches (half-lines) of poetry, clearly signifying a moral, ethical or poetic concept. Siah-Mashq ("black drill") panels, however, communicate via composition and form, rather than content. In Siah-Mashq, repeating a few letters or words (sometimes even one) virtually inks the whole panel. The content is thus of less significance and not clearly accessible.
For more detail:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasta%CA%BFl%C4%ABq_script
