TEHRAN – The first complete Holy Quran in Nastaliq script, following the style of Master Uthman Taha and approved by the Dar al-Quran Organization, has been published.

The Acting Director of South Khorasan Public Libraries Directorate General Ali Zohouri has announced the news of one of the most exquisite handwritten Qurans in the Islamic world, Mehr reported.

“This Quran, which is the result of more than 10 years of calligraphy by the distinguished master Parviz Nikbin, received approval from the Dar al-Quran Organization after four years of editing and diacritic placement. It has successfully been published as the first complete Quran in Nastaliq, a script known as the ‘Bride of Persian Scripts’,” he added.

“For years, this Quran lacked financial backing and could not be printed. However, following the explicit instructions and support of South Khorasan Governor Seyyed Mohammad Reza Hashemi, we reached an agreement with the CEO of Mehr Iran Bank to allocate the printing costs,” Zohouri stated.

He noted that the publisher of this spiritual and artistic work is Chahar Derakht Publications, which was highly persistent and hardworking in this endeavor.

Zohouri expressed hope that with the support of the respected governor and the head of the provincial public library association, this special Quran will be unveiled in the month of the revelation of the Quran (Ramadan).

Nastaliq is one of the main calligraphic styles used to write Persian and Arabic scripts and is used for significant Indo-Iranian languages (namely all of the Iranic and some of the Indo-Aryan), predominantly Persian, Kurdish, Pashto, Balochi, Urdu, Sindhi, Saraiki, Kashmiri, and Punjabi. It is also often used for Ottoman Turkish, but rarely for Arabic (particularly in Iraq). 

Nastaliq developed in Iran from the combination of naskh and ta'liq, beginning in the 13th century, and remains widely used in Iran, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and other countries for written poetry and as a form of art.

SS/SAB