Arabic term (edited): ����� �������

The sentence contrasts the notion of a special post vs. the ordinary/usual affairs/works entailed by the Caliphate. "Duties" strikes me as unecessarily adding something explicit that is only implicit in the original. "Affairs" leaves the notion of duty implicit.

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Note added at 1 day 14 hrs 32 mins (2004-09-16 12:01:21 GMT)
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My point is that how one translates ط§ط¹ظ…ط§ظ„ depends on one\'s translation philosophy. I tend to favor a policy of strict linguistic faithfulness to the text, so that it speaks for itself. The translator should neither add nor omit. In this case, \"duties\" is an addition based on the translator\'s opinion of the overall sense of the text. That opinion may well be correct, but it is still translator interference. It also represents distrust of the author; after all, the author could easily have written ظˆط§ط¬ط¨ط§طھ or the like if that was the intended meaning. Instead he or she chose ط§ط¹ظ…ط§ظ„ , leaving it to the reader to interpret this rather neutral term. A strict translation should do the same. On the other hand, a looser translation philosophy, that allows for a certain amount of \"helpfulness\", might support \"duties\" here.

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Note added at 1 day 14 hrs 34 mins (2004-09-16 12:03:05 GMT)
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Darn! My browser was set to use Unicode. The Arabic in my note should read, in order: اعمال - واجبات - اعمال

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Note added at 1 day 21 hrs 36 mins (2004-09-16 19:05:08 GMT)
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Unless I\'ve misread (always a possibility): \"...they did not establish a separate post for this duty [task], but rather it was included in the ordinary affairs [business] of the Caliphate...\"