Shekanj
TPTQ Arabic · Amir Mahdi Moslehi · 2025
A contemporary Nastaʿlīq typeface designed to function along a horizontal baseline, retaining the script's calligraphic character while adapting it for modern Arabic-script typesetting.
About
Designed by Amir Mahdi Moslehi under the supervision of Kristyan Sarkis between 2021 and 2025, Shekanj addresses the longstanding scarcity of typographically viable Nastaʿlīq fonts by translating the script's underlying calligraphic principles into a system compatible with horizontal baseline setting. The design moderates expressive calligraphic forms to maintain coherence across text blocks, making it particularly suited to titles, short literary texts and contemporary poetry. Font engineering was carried out by Amin Abedi.
Classification
Shekanj is a contemporary typographic interpretation of the Nastaʿlīq calligraphic tradition, adapted for horizontal baseline setting. It belongs to the script category as it preserves clear calligraphic references derived from Nastaʿlīq manuscript traditions, primarily used in Persian and Urdu contexts.