Ornate manuals or practical Adab? Some reflections on a unique work by an anonymous author of the 10^th century CE

This article addresses key concepto pertaining to Adab on the one hand and Abbasid administrative practices on the other, by focusing on an unpublished work that straddles both themes. It is shown that Arabic works on both Adab and bureaucracy are difficult to isolate and categorise conclusively as both genres were receptive to diverse flavourings, be they of an ornamental or of a strictly practical nature. Although the article adopts a comparative approach to these issues, detailed attention is paid to the character of the particular work under discussion and its author.