Dr. Arif Naushahi (Born: March 27, 1955) is a Pakistani Scholar who specializes in Persian literature with a particular focus on South Asia. He completed his Ph.D in Persian language and literature from Tehran University in 1993. He joined the Persian Department of Gordon College, Rawalpindi in 1998 and now he is working there as a Professor and the Head of Department.

His published research based on Persian manuscripts has been mainly devoted to the study of literature and Sufism, Bibliography and Cataloging of manuscripts. His major published work includes Catalogue of the Persian Manuscripts in National Museum of Pakistan at Karachi (Islamabad, 1983), Catalogue of the Persian Manuscripts in Anjuman Taraqqi Urdu at Karachi (Islamabad, 1984) and Catalogue of the Urdu Manuscripts in Ganj Bakhsh Library at Islamabad (Lahore, 1988). His main contribution in bibliographical works is A Bibliography of Litho-Print and Rare Persian Books in Ganj Bakhsh Library at Islamabad (Islamabad, 1986-89) and A Bibliography of Persian Printed Works in Subcontinent from 1781 up to 2007 (Tehran, 2012, 4 volms).

He discovered some unique Persian manuscripts which he edited and published. These include M’adan al-Dorar fi sirat al-shaikh Haji ‘Omar (A biography of Haji Nasir al-din ‘Omar-I Morshedi), co-editor Dr.Moeen Nizami (Tehran, 2004), Majalis-i Jahangiri, co-editor Dr.Moeen Nizami (Tehran, 2006) and Irshad (An old Persian text on the ethics of religion and mysticism) by ‘Abd-Allah bin Muhammad bin Abi Bakr Qalansi Nasafi' (Tehran, 2006).

His main contribution to Sufism is a comprehensive book on life and sayings of Naqshbandi Saint Khawja Obaid Ullah Ahrar (1404-1490) published under the title Ahval o Sukhnan-e Khawja Obaid Ullah Ahrar.

So far 300 of his research papers have been published in reputed research journals of Pakistan, India, Iran, Tajikistan and France. Selection of his Urdu and Persian researh papers has been published in books titled Naqd-e Umr and Maqalat-e Aref respectively.

He also contributed to encyclopedias like Encyclopedia Iranica (New York), Encyclopedia world of Islam (Tehran), The Greater Encyclopedia of Islam (Tehran) and Encyclopedia of Islam (Istanbul).