Mehraban Arabic is the companion to Mehraban Book Pahlavi and Mehraban Avestan. Originally designed by Amir Mahdi Moslehi as a counterpart to harmonize the three scripts in support of scholarly Persian texts and Zoroastrian typesetting projects, it also functions as a contemporary Arabic typeface.
Based on Amir’s calligraphic explorations of adapting Nastaliq styles into the tradition of “simplified” Arabic typesetting, Mehraban Arabic supports both modern and Middle Persian in addition to Arabic, Urdu, and other related languages.
To facilitate exemplary text setting for such multilingual projects, Amir started with the curved letterforms of Nastaliq — a foundation that meshes cohesively with the rounded constructions of Book Pahlavi, in contrast to Arabic typeface styles like Naskh that could clash stylistically on the page. From there, he streamlined the models and structures of the Arabic to match the feeling of speed and handwritten fluidity that are characteristic of Book Pahlavi and Avestan.
