The two major genres of "furūʿ" literature are the "mukhtasar" (concise summary of law) and the "mabsut" (extensive commentary). "Mukhtasars" were short specialized treatises or general overviews that could be used in a classroom or consulted by judges. A "mabsut", which usually provided a commentary on a "mukhtasar" and could stretch to dozens of large volumes, recorded alternative rulings with their justifications, often accompanied by a proliferation of cases and conceptual distinctions. The terminology of juristic literature was conservative and tended to preserve notions which had lost their practical relevance. At the same time, the cycle of abridgement and commentary allowed jurists of each generation to articulate a modified body of law to meet changing social conditions. Other juristic genres include the "qawāʿid" (succinct formulas meant to aid the student remember general principles) and collections of fatwas by a particular scholar.