Nastaliq is the "hanging" cursive of Persian book arts — lamp-black ink flowing down a diagonal slope, its letters swinging like dancers before settling on the line. Perfected in the Safavid ateliers of Tabriz and Isfahan by masters such as Mir Emad al-Hasani, it is the most prized of all Islamic scripts.

This design system reads Nastaliq at its deep presentation value: burnished gold letters and illuminated cloud bands glowing on a near-black, gold-flecked afshan ground, headed by gold-and-lapis cartouches and laced with vine and polychrome flowers.