Book review: Arts of administrative writing
Regional, History, 1/30/1999

"Light on the Making of Administrative Writings of Arabs" is a new book written by Dr. Salim al-Hasanieh and recently published in Damascus. It was published by the Syrian Ministry of Culture.

The book reveals the role of writing in official administrative communications through the divans (ministers in today's language). The book covers the period between the establishment of the Umayyad's mosque and the Memluke age.

Diwani writing (official jargon) as a civilization task takes up a prominent part of the book, for it was a main element in communications systems and preservation of news items, treaties and so on.

In the first chapter of the book, the author says that the Arabs knew writing before the advent of Islam. Writing was a prerequisite for an Arab to be a member of the nobles. The book reveals that the role of prosaic writing was no less important than poetry in the life of Arabs, especially after the advent of Islam. Prophet Muhammad himself insisted that Muslims learn reading and writing, and he used to set free every captive who taught ten Muslims how to write. In the second the chapter of the book, the author sheds light on the birth of the divan (ministries) during the rule of the four upright caliphs (Abu Baker, Othman, Omar and Ali) and the Umayyad's rule. Writing in those time became an indispensable means of administration and jurisdiction.

But the diwans did not come out as ministers in the full meaning of the word except under the rule of the caliph Omar Bin al-Khattab. The Umayyad's developed the works of the divan and established new ones in the newly annexed areas. Under the rule of the Abbasids, the divans turned to be landmarks of the Islamic state.

The number of workers in the divans was described as an army which included well-known writers who established rules and traditions for the jobs in the divans. Some of the laws made by Arab writers in the divans, like the law of Ali al-Sairafi ten centuries ago, represent big strides in the development and the work of administration. Al-Sairafi's law is a guide book offering help and assistance to workers and directors and those who want to deal with them from different parties.

The book handles well-known Arab writers throughout different ages and their famous books relating to the literature of workers' jobs in this administration or that one.

The arts of writing is also dealt with in the book. On the whole, the book is a well-edited, engaging and comprehensive panoramic study. It is a significant contribution to future studies in generating a wide spectrum of views on Arabic as a language for communications.

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