فن الترسل و عبد الحمید الكاتب: دراسة تحلیلیة

Abstract

This article focuses on the art of letter writing and Abdul Hamid Al-
Katib, one of the earliest epistolographers in Arabic literature. The Letter
is an important branch of Arabic prose literature. It is an eloquent
statement written by a person about certain concepts in his mind in the
form of messages which is to be sent to a particular person. It was
originated by Arab writers. But differences of opinions exist between
Arab writers and historians regarding its inception. However, its
development is related to the establishment of systematic rule and
currency of writing tradition. The Arad in pre-Islamic era used it at the
lowest estimate in a manner of brevity. But Arab did not know about the
artistic prose in detail. The reason is due to little demand of letter writing
and lack of currency of writing tradition. With the advent of Islam
increase the need to send messages to the kings, princes and sultans to
the call of Islam. As a result, the practice of letter writing developed in
Arab society. When the Khilafat transferred to Umayyad, the Arab mixed
with other civilized nations and took substantial portion of civilization
and culture. On the other hand, official language changed into Arabic in
Muslim world and Umayyad rulers appointed writers in their
administration. It is to be mentioned that Abdul Hamid Al-Katib was
appointed as a chief writer in Umayyad dynasty. He was the pioneer of
the art of letter writing which was explored by him. He put its rules and
laws and pointed out parallel, varying the introduction, the conclusion
and greetings which were not done by any one before. In his time and
later, the writers and artists received his rules and laws in their letters and
followed his pattern in their literary work. It is considered that Abdul
Hamid Al-Katib started the art of letter writing because he managed to
formulate its content and form according to specific pattern. In this
regard, Al-Thaa’libi said: "letter writing began with Abdul Hamid and
ended by Ibn - Al -A'meed". Consequently the letter writing turned into
the artistic prose in detail.