Katib

Duties comprised reading and writing correspondence, issue instructions at the command of the person in charge and archiving documentation.

[1] It is a pre-Islamic concept, encountered in the work of ancient Arab poets.

The art of writing, although present in all part of Arabia, was apparently accomplishment of the few.

[1] With the embrace of Islam, the office of katib became a post of great honor.

By this time, on the model of the Persian chancellery, a complicated system of government offices had developed, each branch of governmental, religious, civic, or military entity had its own katib.