The Book of the Conquests of Lands (Kitāb Futūḥ al-Buldān) by the ninth century author al-Balādhurī is among the most important historical sources modern scholars have for the first centuries of the Islamic state. Owing to its information on the Islamic conquests and the administration of the realm, it is a source often mined for useful content on regions or topics concerning the seventh and eighth centuries CE; its popularity also benefited greatly from an early translation into a western language. It is, however, often neglected as a single, more substantial work encompassing the breadth of the Islamic world in the early period. Despite modern scholars’ reliance on the book as a source of information for the Byzantine, Sasanian, and early Islamic near east, it has never before had a substantial scholarly study dedicated to the text as a whole, thereby neglecting the greater questions of its purpose and construction in favor of its content alone. This paper will consider the purpose of the Futūḥ against the backdrop of previous scholarship on the text; it will challenge many of the preconceptions that have developed surrounding its genre. Additionally, it will reflect over the intended audience of the work through a discussion of the text’s themes and foci, suggesting that its great emphasis on land ownership and issues of taxation meant it likely served some practical role at the court as an “administrator’s handbook.” In particular, it will discuss the problems associated with considering the text solely in the genre of conquest literature. This is despite its overwhelming focus on administrative material and its geographic organization. It will advise that considering the text within the framework of historiographical genres is deeply problematic, questioning the validity of attempts to characterize early Arabic historical works within the confines of traditional categories.