Expert: Behzad - 8/5/2009

Question
Dear Behzad,

There are apparently two styles of written Persian, naskhi and nasta'liq. Please could you write these terms in Arabic script and explain their meaning?

Best wishes, Simon

Answer
Hello Simon,

naskh= نسخ which here means writing or transcription by writing, I think, because other meanings of naskh does not suit here.
Nastaligh= نستعلیق = نسخ + تعلیق is a style created by combining naskh and taligh, another writing style.

In the following address, the first picture is a sample of naskh, the second one is a sample of taligh, and the rest are samples of nastaligh, which is the most common style in Iran. However, there are more styles in calligraphy such as اجازت ، توقیع، ثلث ، جلی ، جلی دیوانی ، دیوانی ، رقاع (رقعه) ، ریحانی ، سنبلی ، سیاقت ، شجری ، شکسته ، شکسته ٔ نستعلیق و کوفی  

http://www.khoshnevisan.com/matalebe%20amoozeshi/moghayeseh%20naskh%20taligh%20n...

In the above link more information about these styles can be found.

Best regards,
Behzad