Gulzar

Gulzar is a free Urdu Nastaliq font with an original Latin companion. It is designed for reading in books and other publications, in print and on digital platforms, with a descending word structure that needs its own approach to line spacing.

Build the layout around Nastaliq

Start with a full Urdu paragraph rather than a Latin layout with the font swapped in. Nastaliq’s diagonal movement affects how words occupy a line and how much vertical space a paragraph needs. Include a short heading, a dense line and several line endings in the first specimen.

The project is led by Borna Izadpanah, with Fiona Ross consulting on Urdu, Alice Savoie designing the Latin companion and Simon Cozens handling font engineering. Research into Urdu calligraphy and lettering informs the design.

One upright font file

This download contains Gulzar Regular, CSS weight 400, version 1.000. There is no separate Bold or Italic style. The apparent slope of Nastaliq words is part of the script design, not an italic option.

Test the longest line in a multi-line sample, then leave room for descending forms and marks. If an application clips the result, inspect its line-height and text-box settings before judging the font from the clipped preview.

Urdu, Arabic and Latin

The supplied file includes Urdu, Arabic and Latin characters. Its principal design audience is Urdu readers. For an Arabic publication expecting conventional Naskh text, compare Amiri and Scheherazade New rather than treating the styles as interchangeable.

Check shaping, punctuation and wrapping in the actual browser or publishing application. Use the language’s intended wording: a grid of isolated characters does not demonstrate how a Nastaliq paragraph will read.

Pairing and visual hierarchy

Try the built-in Latin before adding another family. Compare visual size and baseline relationships in bilingual captions, allowing each script enough space. For a much denser display voice, Lalezar is another project associated with Borna Izadpanah; its film-poster background gives it a different role.

For South Asian texts needing a different mark inventory, inspect Awami Nastaliq’s specialist coverage. It requires Graphite 1.3.4 or later: check a compatible application and export workflow before comparing its shaping with Gulzar.

License and source

The ZIP includes the original TTF and the SIL Open Font License 1.1. Personal and commercial use, embedding and redistribution are allowed under its conditions. Retain the license when redistributing files; selling the font by itself is prohibited.

See the Google Fonts Gulzar files and explore other Nastaliq fonts. The Arabic keyboard can prepare an Arabic sample but is not a full Urdu keyboard. Our guide to choosing an Arabic font helps structure comparisons.

To compare a variable Nastaliq family, try Noto Nastaliq Urdu on the same multi-line Urdu passage and inspect the space between lines.