A real theory of Arabic documents does not exist, but GROHMANN made a provisional survey of the documents in the field of papyri and papers:

• a: Kinds of documents
• b: Persons of documents
• c: Structure of documents
• d: Use of documents

7.a. KINDS OF DOCUMENTS

All the documents corresponding to certain forumulas are called kitâb in Arabic. The only treated documents here are law documents, so all the divisions just concern legal documents!

1. Formal definition
2. Legal definition
3. Exterior definition

7.a.1. Formal definition

Especially the documents and letters concerning law are part of diplomatics and are divided according to their formal content in:

<< § 7a

7.a.2. Legal definition

A further division can be made between:

<< § 7a

7.a.3. Exterior definition

Regarding the exterior form another division of the documents can be made into

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7.b. PERSONS OF DOCUMENTS (connected with their creation)

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7.c. STRUCTURE OF DOCUMENTS

1. Introduction
2. Main part
3. Conclusion
4. Additions
5. Authentication
6. Varia

7.c.1. Introduction

• All the documents are introduced by a invocatio: the omnipresent basmala (bism allâh al-raHmân al-raHîm).
• The basmala is often followed by the taSlîya (Sallâ llâhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam) which was introduced by the chancellery of the abbasid caliphs in 181 AH.
• From time to time we find the Hamdala (al-Hamdu li-llâh al-raHmân al-raHîm) following the basmala in the introduction.
• Other attested formulas are e.g.:
• tawakkaltu ‘alâ llâh ("I trust in God")
• wa-mâ tawfîqî illâ bi-llâhi ‘alayhi tawakkaltu wa-’ilayhi unîbu ("My success is due to God alone, in God I trust and to God I return")
• etc.

<< § 7c

7.c.2. Main part

• Following the above mentioned introduction formula stands the actual text of the document, written in the first or third person singular.
   
• The certification is mostly written in an objective form as shown in the following example:
• hâdha mâ ("This is what ...")
• hâdha mâ 'shtarâ ("This is what bought ...")

In contrast to the subjective form, e.g.:
• qabaDtu minka ("I received from you ...")
   
• Bills of sale (of immoveables and moveables) and bills of rent or lease of immoveables are always formulated from the viewpoint of the seller or the lessor respectively
• Bills of rent or lease of moveables are generally fomulated from the viewpoint of the tenant.
• In promissory notes, bills and bearer securities the creditor is always mentioned first.
   
• Reference to another written document as a persuasive reason for the lawsuit is not known from Arabic papyri. It could nonetheless be the case in judicial certifications (sijillât from Greek sigíllon) as we know from the literature [al-KINDÎ]

<< § 7c

7.c.3. Conclusion

• The conclusion of the document also consisted of religious formulas.
• A widely used formula is the taSlîya (Sallâ llâhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam) followed by the Hamdala (al-Hamdu li-llâh al-raHmân al-raHîm)
• Other attested forms are:
• tawfîqî bi-llâh ("I trust in God")
• the Hasbala: (Hasbunâ llâhu wa-ni‘mu 'l-wakîl / "Our contentment is God, He is the best trustee")

<< § 7c

7.c.4. Additions

• Following additions could be written at the end of the document:
• the signature of the witnesses, often expressed by the formulas:
  • shahâda llâhu wa-malâ’ikatuhu wa-kafâ bi-llâhi shâhid^an ("God and His angels are witnesses, but God alone is sufficient as a witness")
  • the shahâda: ashhadu allâ ilâha illâ llâh ("I witness that there is no God except God")
  • or similar formula
• The different signatures may be divided by a hâ’ and authenitcated by a SaHH ("Legally valid", "Valid").
   
• Later changes or improvements were made at the end of the document.
   
• Sometimes short summaries of the content were written on the back of the document, e.g.:
   
• dhikru Haqq al-qamH li-ziyâd ("Obligation bill of wheat to hand of Ziyâd")



!

SHORT SUMMARIES: Such remarks were obviously aimed at keeping the family document in order and at simplifying the researches.

!


 
• Of great interest are the documents that have a short summary of the document's content after the initiating basmala. This particularity might originate from the so-called "double document" (of old Egyptian and Cuneiform texts).
  The fact of having these notes above the text points to the old structuring between exterior and interior writing (of the old possible models)

<< § 7c

7.c.5. Authentication

• It seems that the finished documents were widely authenticated. At least we find on the top of a lot of documents authentication notes such as:
   
• hâdha 'l-kitâb SaHîH wa-kataba ibrahîm ibn ‘alî wa-kataba bi-khaTTihi ("This document is legally valid and Ibrahîm b. ‘Alî wrote it with his own handwriting")
• thabata ‘indî dhâlika bi-jamî‘i mâ fîhi SaHH wa kataba ‘imrân ibnu sawâlî ibnu idrîs bi-yadihi ("This became legally in my presence with all that is [written] in it and ‘Imrân b. Sawâlî b. Idrîs wrote it with his own hand")
• and similar formula
   
• From these notes we nonetheless never know clearly who made the authentication of the documents. Similar to the Spanish-Arabic documents we can assume that is was frequently a judge (qâDî). But one might expect the naming of the judge on the document which is not the case!
  If we consider the fact of having different documents signed with the same name (e.g. al-Hasan b. Ibrahîm b. Rizq in the P. Lond. B.M. Or 4684 VIII₂₀), it seems that the signing person was a professional witness, possibly a notary (‘adl, shâhid).

<< § 7c

7.c.6. Varia

1. COPIES
• The documents were often copied (nusikha). One can assume that every involved party obtained a copy of the document.
• A central deposit of all the documents in the judge's office or a central archive - as the Greek institution of the bibliothêkê egktêseon - does not seem to have existed during Islamic times.
   
2. SHORT NOTES
• Beside the documents (kutub) - similar to the Latin carta - there existed short notes - similar to the Latin notitia, notitia brevis or the breve memoratorium. Those short notes served as evidence introduced by a tadhkira ("certification") for a lawsuit. Like the written instructions for certification of a lawsuit (on order of a higher ranking person to a lower ranking) it seems to have been rather seldom.
   
3. TRANSMISSION
• Concerning the transmission of the document, we have nearly always the original document (aSl). Just a few papyri may be seen as templates for later documents. Forgery of documents is not yet found, although this practice certainly existed.

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7.d. USE OF DOCUMENTS	Schematic represantation of ROLLING and FOLDING of PAPYRI [high resolution]
The finished documents were prepared in the following steps for the handing over to the specific persons:

• After having finished the document the writer rolled it up (daraja) widthways (sometimes after having first folded it up) or just folded it up (Tawâ).
   
• This small roll was then tied up (shadda) with a slim strip of papyrus (SiHâ’a) or a cord of linen fibres (or of a different material like silk or cotton). [Leather documents were tied up in a similar way].
   
• For the purpose of mentioning an address or a summary of the content on the outside of the roll, the writer had to leave a space where the cord tied the papyrus together. This space could be filled instead with an ornament.
   
• The knotting of the cord was normally supplemented by a little clod af clay, on which a seal was pressed. This seal remained intact until the lawsuit was contested and the document had to be reopened. Thus a lot of sealed documents have been found.
• 
  

  ARABIC LETTER
  rolled up and sealed
  [high resolution]

  

   
• The seals show a large variety of forms.

 
• They served not only the purpose of withdrawing their content from the view of unauthorized persons, but at the same time often replaced the signature and served as notarization, especially when the person issuing the seal was a public servant.
   
• A few documents attest a form of "under sealing". The issuer accepted its legal content by help of this seal at the bottom of the document, a practice current even in the time of the first caliphs [al-YA‘QÛBÎ].

 
• Such sealed documents were then rolled up and sealed again!

SEAL OF ‘AMR B. AL-‘ÂS
(7^th century AD)
(Illustration)
[high resolution]

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