The Arabic title al-Dawla (الدولة, often rendered ad-Dawla, ad-Daulah, ud-Daulah, etc.) means 'dynasty' or 'polity', (in modern usage, 'government' or "nation-state") and appears in many honorific and regnal titles in the Islamic world. Invented in the 10th century for senior statesmen of the Abbasid Caliphate, such titles soon spread throughout the Islamic world and provided the model for a broad variety of similar titles with other elements, such as al-Din ('Faith' or 'Religion').