The Manners of Writer

The manners of writer is the one of the most prominent literary books among Arabic literature works; on the manner and culture of writing, it was written in the 9th century by Ibn Qutaybeh. The features and superiorities which are needed for a writer are explained in the book. The author believes that it is absolutely necessary for a writer to be familiar with root of the word, new combinations and the sciences of mathematics, geometry, history, jurisprudence, and Hadith. ####

The author
Abu Muhammad Abdullah Ibn Muslem Dinawari, one of the great Sunni scholars and historians (829 – 889). Although he was a celebrated scholar, there is not much information about his life. He was originally from Iran but may was born in Bghdad or Kufa – Iraq. He studied jurisprudence, Hadith, poetry, philosophy, history and Arabic literature in the presence of prominent masters in Basra and Kufa. At the age of 27, he was appointed as a judge in Baghdad. He also taught in syntax school in Baghdad. Ibn Qutaybeh was a judge in Dinawar – Iran, he lived 17 years in this city. He wrote most of his works in Dinawar and then returned to Baghdad. It is doubtful that he was Sunni, because he was interested in Imam Ali and his familly (peace be upon them). It seems he hid his real religion because of political situations. “Ibn Sekkit” (Shia scholar) was killed by the Abbasid caliph Mutawakkel.

Structure of the book
It contains four sections as following:
1- explanation for the difficult terms
2- the style of writing
3- the correct pronunciation of the words
4- on derivation of verbs and nouns

It was translated into English and French and was published in 1883 in Cairo.

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