This history of the Syriac churches, written in Arabic, covers both the Eastern and Western traditions in two volumes. The first volume covers the first twelve centuries of the Christian Era, while the second volume covers subsequent periods until the end of the eighteenth century, and ends abruptly as its production was halted to World War I. The work, while not critical, provides historical data on the Syriac-speaking churches which is not present in any other work, especially for the later periods. For each historical period, the author covers the history of the Church of the East and Chaldean church on the one hand, and the Syriac Orthodox and Catholic churches on the other. It also touches upon the history of the Syriac churches in India.

Betros Nasri (1861-1917) was a Chaldean priest who was born in Mosul. He was a student of Clemis Joseph David, who later became Syriac Catholic bishop of Damascus. He studied in Rome from 1878 to 1887. It is said that he compiled nineteen works, but only Dhakhīrat al-Adhhān was ever published.