Aldhabi font family

Overview

Aldhabi is a Arabic OpenType font intended for use at larger, display sizes and in situations where an elegant, flowing style is appropriate. Unlike many other Arabic fonts that attempt, with limited success, to implement specific historical styles of Arabic calligraphy, Aldhabi represents a new synthesis of historical influences, technical capabilities of current font and layout software, and the needs of contemporary use (including the increasingly important area of text on screen).

At the same time, it avoids the kinds of compromises of the writing system that have typically characterized most mechanical and digital Arabic typesetting.

The design of Aldhabi is inspired, in the first place, by the overall impact on the page of an historical writing style known in Ottoman Turkish as zülf-ü aruz, the ‘way of curls’. This flowing, undulating style is a precursor of the Ottoman diwani calligraphic style, and also involves features in common with the Persian nastaliq style.

The design of Aldhabi does not attempt a typographic implementation of this historical style but, rather, treats it as a source of inspiration for something new, synthesizing features of zülf-ü aruz and other styles with a concern for legibility and comfort for contemporary readers.

	Description
File name	Aldhabi.ttf
Styles & Weights	Aldhabi
Copyright	© 2015 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
Designers	Tim Holloway, Fiona Ross & John Hudson (ornaments, Titus Nemeth; consultant, Mamoun Sakkal)
Font vendor	Microsoft Corp.
Script Tags	dlng:'Arab', 'Aran' slng:'Arab', 'Aran', 'Latn'
Code pages	1252 Latin 1 1256 Arabic
Fixed pitch	False

Licensing and redistribution info

• Font redistribution FAQ for Windows
• License Microsoft fonts for enterprises, web developers, for hardware & software redistribution or server installations

Products that supply this font

Product name	Font version
Windows 11	See the Windows 11 page.
Windows 10	See the Windows 10 page.
Windows 8.1	See the Windows 8.1 page.
Windows 8	See the Windows 8 page.

This typeface is also available within Office applications. For more information visit this page.

Style & weight examples

• Figure 1: Aldhabi is an Arabic typeface inspired by early Diwani calligraphy, distinct for its ornate details and exaggerated cursive connections. The Arabic glyphs are accompanied by a harmonized Latin design that provides support for occasional English or other European language words in the larger context of Arabic text, as well as transliteration of Arabic and Persian.

• Figure 2: One of Aldhabi’s distinctive features is the ability to make numerous cursive extensions simply by typing kashidas from the keyboard.