Why is Urdu almost always written in Nasta’liq, but Persian reserves it for poetry?

Nasta’liq is a style of writing the Arabic script, particularly the adapted version of the script sometimes called Perso-Arabic which is used to write Persian, Urdu, and formerly, Turkish. Developed in the 14th and 15th centuries during the Safavid Empire, Nasta’liq became associated with Persian literary culture. Persian culture was an enormously important influence in the areas of literature, music, cuisine, architecture, and the fine arts; as well as in the more intangible areas of cultural manners, governmental affairs and administration. As this culture influenced areas within and adjacent to the Safavid Empire, the Nasta’liq writing style followed.

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I would emphasize that this Persian influence was not wholly a religious one, but rather that religious influence was contained within the entire package. Classical Persian music and poetry are closely associated with certain religious concepts. These are often referred to as Sufi, although it cannot be said that all of the poets were associated with specific Sufi organizations or lineages.

Urdu has for the most part retained use of a fairly standardized form of Nasta’liq calligraphy for most written communication, including newspapers. Turkey adopted the Latin alphabet in the 1920s although there has been a revival of interest in calligraphy in the last few decades. Central Asian countries adopted Cyrillic during the time of the Soviet Union which broke the tradition of Perso-Arabic writing styles.

In Iran itself there are many calligraphic styles, including Naskh and Shekasteh. Naskh has been the predominant influence on typography and modern fonts. Shekasteh is an even more fluid and cursive script than Nasta’liq and is the traditional basis for many personal handwriting styles. Nasta’liq has been particularly associated with poetry. The core of Persian literature is poetry, so traditionally most manuscripts were written in this style.

Nasta’liq is so closely associated with this tradition that most Arabic calligraphy or typography manuals simply refer to the style as “Farsi” — the name of the Persian language. The Nasta’liq calligraphy style is used only rarely in writing the Arabic language.

Safavid manuscript in the Nasta’liq style:

An example of Urdu in the Nasta’liq style: