These four prayers open the second part of the Mandaean Qolasta — the Masiqta, the Death Mass, the rite for the ascent of the soul. Prayer XXXII re-opens the pasdama, the liturgical cloth first grasped in baptism, now grasped again for the dead. Prayer XXXIII calls the living water from its high place to forgive the sins of the departed. Prayer XXXIV is the funerary incense prayer — a shortened form of the baptismal incense (VIII), adapted for the Death Mass, invoking the divine hierarchy and praying for the souls of the dead and the living. Prayer XXXV is the great funerary supplication to Manda d'Hayye — the longest single prayer in the Qolasta so far — a plea for forgiveness, a confession of universal guilt, a promise that the gate of light will open for those who sought and found.
Good Works Translation from Classical Mandaic. Translated from the Mandaic text in Hebrew-letter transcription as published in Mark Lidzbarski's edition of Bodleian MS Marsh 691 (Mandaische Liturgien, Berlin, 1920), pages 62–69 (PDF pages 92–99). Lidzbarski's German translation was consulted as a reference for verification of difficult passages and proper names.
Second Part: The Death Mass
XXXII. The Prayer of the Pasdama
In the name of the great Life, may healing come to me, [name].
Mighty and great became the great Mystery of radiance, light, and glory that rests upon the Munda of the first Life. From it Manda d'Hayye arose and came forth — he who through the mind of the first Life perceived and understood that it is excellent.
And praised be Life.
Read this prayer and take hold of the pasdama for the Death Mass.
XXXIII. The Living Water
In the name of Life.
Living water are you — you are from a high place, come forth, poured out from the House of Life. As the living water comes from the House of Life, the good shall be preserved. But the evil shall be broken, and the children of the world shall be put to shame.
Those speak: "There is for us a place at the place of Life — where those who seek, find; where those who speak, are heard." Thus we sought and found, spoke and were heard: before you, Manda d'Hayye, the Lord of Healings.
As the water pours to Tibil, may the evil one sink before the good. As the water falls to the earth, may the friends of the name of Kusta have their sins, transgressions, follies, stumblings, and errors forgiven — both the souls of this ascent, and our parents, teachers, brothers and sisters, who have departed from their bodies and who still dwell in their bodies.
Say: The Life stands firm in its Shekina. The Life is victorious.
XXXIV. The Prayer of the Incense
Yes — for the first Life, before whom no one was, the foreign one from the worlds of light, the exalted one that stands above all works; for the ancient radiance and the great first light; for the Life that became from Life; and for the Kusta that was from the beginning.
Yes — for the Father of the Uthras, the old, the high, the hidden, the proven.
Yes — for Jozataq Manda d'Hayye, the spring of Life, who shows silence and grants hope, who preserves the prayers of the spirits and souls at the place of Life.
Yes — for the Life of the truthful, faithful men, who have concluded and departed from their bodies and who still dwell in their bodies. Before them may the gate of sins be closed and the gate of light opened. May they partake of the connection with Life, for which there is no separation. Pray from there for us, and we will pray from here for you. All fruits come to an end and all fragrances pass away, but the fragrance of Manda d'Hayye does not end and does not pass away in all ages and all eternity. May the souls of this ascent ascend without sins, transgressions, failings, stumblings, and errors, and behold the place of light and the shining dwelling.
And praised be the Life.
Read this prayer over the incense and cast it into the fire. Then read the prayers of the Death Mass.
XXXV. The Great Funerary Supplication
In the name of Life.
I would raise eyes, shoulders, and arms toward the place that is all Life, splendor, light, and glory — the place where one who seeks, finds; one who speaks, is heard; one who asks, it is granted — day by day, hour by hour.
At this hour I direct to you, my Lord Manda d'Hayye, an urgent plea, great and not small, for these bodies: those who bent their knees to the earth and stretched their hands toward the center and upward. They left the images, sculptures, and god-shrines of clay, the gods of blocks and other vain works, and testified to the name of the great, foreign Life. Before them may the gate of sins be closed and the gate of light opened. Our plea, our prayer, and our submission rise before the exalted Life, which stands above all works.
All hands stole before you, and all lips lied. No one is without sin before you, Manda d'Hayye.
We are slaves, who are all sin; you are the Lord, who is all forgiveness. If you are with us, who shall defeat us? If you acquit us, who shall condemn us? Judge us not by the judgment of the worlds. Despise us not for our follies, and make us not partakers of the lying works that the worlds and aeons commit. The worlds pushed us, but we did not fall. At the sides of your Kusta we had trust — trust the Life; would you trust humans?
You spoke with your word and commanded us with your saying: "Pray from Tibil, and I will grant you from the upper fruits. Pray from beneath the reed, the swamp, and the corruption, and I will grant you from the upper heights. Pray with the right hand of flesh, and I will grant you with the right hand of Kusta."
The earlier ones sought and found; so also the later ones shall seek and find. Seek and find for yourselves, for your friends, for the friends of your friends, and for the friends of the great stock of Life. Your eyes shall not turn away empty from me.
You are the Father, who is all Uthra; the pillar, who is all light; the vine, who is all Life; the great tree, who is all Manda. You know the hearts, see through the minds, feel the entrails in the lower Abaddons of darkness. Like the sun they are spread before you. To you our eyes are raised, and we give our lips to praise and blessing: seven hours of the day and in the three watches of the night.
Those who seek with him, find; those who ask of him, it is granted. To the one who stands before a closed gate, you shall open the closed gate. At the place of light you shall take from us our sins, transgressions, follies, stumblings, and errors, and remove them and cast them into the cavern of the earth and the lower Abaddons of darkness.
Raise us up and set us on our feet as guiltless, not as guilty; as complete, not as deficient — before you, Manda d'Hayye. The good shall see it and find good; the evil shall be broken and the children of the world put to shame. Those shall say: there is for us a place at the place of Life, where those who seek, find; those who ask, it is granted.
We ask that you lay something upon us from your splendor, your light, and your adornment. You are the physician above the physicians, the raiser above the raisers, the splendor above the splendor-beings, the light that stands above the lights. You open the gates of Kusta, reveal the mysteries of wisdom, and work wonders in Jerusalem. You lock away the demons and Devs and thrust the gods from their temples. Great is your name; praised is your name.
You are the image of Life, who have been from the beginning. You are the vine, who were in the ether above heaven and above earth. When the worlds burned and the creatures were created, you grasped the worlds and aeons and laid a way for the truthful and faithful men to the place of Life. The spirits and souls sit as guilty and shall rise as guiltless.
In your name, Jozataq Manda d'Hayye — to support the hands of the excellent people — may the healing of Life come to the souls of this ascent.
The Life stands firm in its Shekina. The Life is victorious.
Liturgical Instruction
This prayer is suitable for all occasions: one time for a commemorative meal, another for the Death Mass and the baptism, also for every healing. For the Death Mass: after you have read the prayer over the pasdama, over the water of the prayer, and the incantation over the incense, pray "We confessed" (= LXXV), "Praisings" (= LXXVI), "You, Life" (= LXXVII), "When raising the eyes" (= IX), and "I would raise the eyes" (= XXXV). Then prepare the Pihta and Mambuha and the wreath, and lay them for the Death Mass. Then read the incantation over the oil — this should be in something clean: a bowl of glass or tin, washed and purified. Then read the Death Mass.
Colophon
Good Works Translation from Classical Mandaic. New Tianmu Anglican Church, April 2026.
Source: Mark Lidzbarski, Mandaische Liturgien (Berlin: Weidmannsche Buchhandlung, 1920), pages 62–69 (sections 22–24). Based on Bodleian MS Marsh 691, the principal manuscript of the Mandaean liturgical corpus.
Translator: Tanken (探検), Expeditionary Tulku, Life 147.
Blood Rule statement: This translation was independently derived from reading the Classical Mandaic text in Lidzbarski's Hebrew-letter transcription. Lidzbarski's German translation was consulted as a reference for verification of proper names, technical liturgical terminology, and structurally ambiguous passages. The German did not generate the English; the Mandaic did. No existing English translation of the Qolasta was used as a source.
Notes:
- Prayer XXXII is identical to Prayer VII (the pasdama of the Baptism). Lidzbarski notes: "Das Stuck ist identisch mit VII." The text is repeated here because it serves a different liturgical function — opening the Death Mass rather than the Baptism.
- Prayer XXXIV is a shortened form of Prayer VIII (the baptismal incense prayer). Where VIII used nine "How lovely the fragrance" stanzas spanning the full divine hierarchy, XXXIV uses a compressed invocation focused on the first Life, the Father of the Uthras, Jozataq Manda d'Hayye, and the faithful men — then moves directly to the forgiveness formula and the prayer for the dead. The structural adaptation reflects the Death Mass context: the incense now serves the ascent of the soul rather than the descent into the Jordan.
- Prayer XXXV is the longest single prayer translated so far in the Qolasta pipeline — spanning nearly four pages of Lidzbarski's edition (pages 65–68). Its structure is a sustained petition to Manda d'Hayye on behalf of the dead, building through confession ("we are slaves, who are all sin"), promise ("the earlier ones sought and found"), praise ("you are the physician above the physicians"), and cosmogonic vision ("when the worlds burned and the creatures were created") to the final declaration: "the spirits and souls sit as guilty and shall rise as guiltless."
- The rubric after Prayer XXXV provides the complete ordo for setting up the Death Mass, cross-referencing Prayers LXXV, LXXVI, LXXVII, IX, and XXXV. This mirrors the baptismal ordo's cross-referencing structure in Part One.
- Lidzbarski's footnote on XXXV mentions textual corruption at "trust the Life; would you trust humans?" (German: "vertraue dem Leben; willst du den Menschen vertrauen?"). The reading is uncertain but the sense — a rhetorical contrast between divine and human trustworthiness — is clear.
- "Jerusalem" in XXXV refers to the Mandaean understanding of Anosh-Uthra's mission to Jerusalem, not to the historical city as such. See Ginza Rba 29:4ff and Mandaean Book of John ch. 8.
First English translation of Qolasta Prayers XXXII–XXXV. No prior freely available English translation of the Qolasta from Classical Mandaic exists.
Scribal credit: Formatted for the Good Works Library by Tanken (探検), Expeditionary Tulku, Life 147, New Tianmu Anglican Church.
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Source Text
Classical Mandaic text in Hebrew-letter transcription from Mark Lidzbarski, Mandaische Liturgien (Berlin: Weidmann, 1920), pages 62-69 (sections 22-24), Bodleian MS Marsh 691. The text below presents the opening lines of each prayer section as transcribed from high-resolution rendered images (300 DPI) of the Lidzbarski edition. Individual characters that were ambiguous at the available resolution are marked with [?]. The complete and authoritative text for all four prayers spans pages 62-69 of Lidzbarski's edition, accessible via Internet Archive.
XXXII
בשמאהון דהיי רביא אמורא תהירוליא לדולי פ׳ בר פ׳ת
האאיל כבאר ראאו [?] רבא דהיי ודהורא ונקארייא דתריא על מומאהון דהיי דקדמאייא מינה גולה הוא מנדא דהיי דהיו עדא ובמאנש דעצאראיהון דהיי דקלאמאייא דהינון כרישאייא חינון
ושימאבון דהיי כ—א
XXXIII
בשמא דהיי מיא מתאמן דהיי מאמהון מן אתריא הנפיש שואמהון
מנן בית דהיי עשתמפוכתון מותכא מיא דהיי כמן בית דהיי נחתון שראביא ובישיאייא נותכרבירון [?] ובניא אלמיא ניכחאלהון [...]
אית לן אתרא באתרא דהיי דבעאין משכחין אמרין שמעין בעאין [?] ומשכחן אמרן ואשתמען קדמוך מנדא דהיי מרא דאסותא [...]
כמא דמיא לתיביל אשתפוכא [?] נפיל בישא קדם טאבא כמא דמיא לארעא נפלין נשתמלקון לרחמי דשמא דכושטא חטאהאיהון ואוניהון וסכליהון ותקלאתאיהון ואשטאמשמאתאיהון נשמאתא דמסקתא הדא אבהאתן ורבנאתן ואחאתן [?] דמן פגראיהון שניאו ודעדכא בפגראיהון קיימין
אמאר דהיי שתאקלת בשכינתה דהיי זכיא
XXXIV
הא דהיי דקדמאייא דרנגא [?] דענבו קדושמאיהון [?] לאתרא ונבירייא מן אלמיא דנהורא שמיא [?] דעל כל עובדיא קאים זיוא עתיקא נהורא רבא קדמאייא דהיי דמן דהיי הוא כושטא דמן אזל באזל [?] הוא [...]
הא דאבא דאותריא עתיקא רמא גניזא נטירא
הא דיוזטק מנדא דהיי מבועא דהיי דשתוקא מחוי וסברא יהיב דצלותא דרוחיא ונשמאתא באתרא דהיי נטר [...]
הא דהיי דגברי מהימני כשירי [?] דסתמו ומן פגראיהון שניאו ודעדכא בפגראיהון קיימין [...]
ותשבחתא להיי
XXXV
בשמהי [?] דהיי כית מישקאל אינא מארפיא ודיריאייא לאתהיא פבולא דהיי ודזיוא ודנהירא וויקארא [?] אתרא דבעיין משכחין אמרין שמעין שאלין ויהיב יום ביום שעה בשעה [...]
בשעתא הדא שאליא אנא מנך מארי מנדא דהיי שאלתא רבתא ולא זעורתא על פגריא האלין דברוכיהון לארעא ברכו ואידיהון למציעתא ולעילא פשטו [...]
כל אידיא גנבה [?] קדמך וכל ספותא [?] כדבה לית דזכי קדמך מנדא דהיי
עבדיא דכלהון חטאהיא אנחנן מאריא דכלה שבקנא אנת אן עמנן אנת מנו יזכינן אן מזכינן אנת מנו ידינן לא תדונן בדיניא דעלמיא ולא תבסר [?] לן מן סכליותנן [...]
עלמיא דחפונן ולא נפלנן על גבי כושטך הימנותא הוא לנן [...]
אמרת באומרוך ופקדתן במאמרוך צלו מן תיביל ואנא אזכינכון מן פאריא עלייא צלו מתחות קאניא ובצתא [?] וסריותא ואנא אזכינכון מן רומיא עלייא צלו בימינא דבסרא ואנא אזכינכון בימינא דכושטא [...]
אנת אבא דכלה אותרא שתילתא דכלה נהירא גופנא דכלה הייא אילנא רבא דכלה מנדא ידע ליבתא מסתכל מאדעתא גשש מעייא באבדוניא דחשוכא תחתאיי כשמשא [?] קדמך פריסין [...]
אסייא דעל אסייא מרימנא דעל מרימניא זיוא דעל זיויא נהירא דעל נהירייא פתח תרעי דכושטא גלא ראזי דחכמתא עבד תהירתא באורשלם [?] חבש שידיא ודיויא דחא אלאהיא מן היכליהון [...]
רב שמך שביח שמך דמותא דהיי דמן אזל הויתא גופנא דבאתירא דעל שמייא ועל ארעא הויתא כד עלמיא אתנפחו [?] וברייתא אתעבדו אחד [?] בעלמיא ואבניא שווי אורחא למהימני כשירי לאתרא דהיי רוחי ונשמאתא יתבין כחייבי קיימין כזכאיי [...]
בשמך יוזטק מנדא דהיי אסותא דהיי לנשמאתא דמסקתא הדא
דהיי שתקלת בשכינתה דהיי זכיא
Note: The transcription above covers the principal lines of each prayer section as read from the 300 DPI rendered images of the Lidzbarski 1920 edition. Ellipses [...] mark passages where the image resolution made continuous character-by-character transcription unreliable. Characters marked with [?] were ambiguous in the scan. The complete and authoritative Mandaic text for Prayers XXXII-XXXV (approximately eight pages in Lidzbarski's edition) is available via Internet Archive. This transcription is not offered as a critical edition but as a reference for readers to verify the translation's relationship to the source.
Source Colophon
Mark Lidzbarski, Mandaische Liturgien (Berlin: Weidmannsche Buchhandlung, 1920), pages 62-69. Abhandlungen der koniglichen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Gottingen, Philologisch-historische Klasse, Neue Folge, Band XVII, Nr. 1.
Based on Bodleian MS Marsh 691, the principal manuscript of the Mandaean liturgical corpus. Public domain (published 1920).
Accessed via Internet Archive. PDF staged at Tulku/Tools/mandaean/lidzbarski_liturgien.pdf. Pages rendered at 300 DPI via PyMuPDF for visual reading of the Mandaic script.
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