Prayer LXXV opens the Third Part of the Qolasta — "Three Prayers for the Baptism and Death Mass" — the three great hymns used in both the baptismal and funerary liturgies. It is the longest single prayer in the Qolasta and its theological centerpiece: a cosmic theophany in which the divine Life appears in the physical world and all creation responds. The Jordan turns back, the mountains leap like deer, the cedars of Lebanon break, the does of the steppe cast their young — imagery paralleling Psalm 114 and Psalm 29, reflecting a shared Semitic theophanic tradition. Then Rūhā, the mother of the material world, screams from the depths: "My Father, why did you create me?" The prayer moves from cosmic spectacle through penitential confession ("We are slaves, wholly sinful; you are the Lord, wholly forgiveness"), persecution testimony ("The worlds reviled and persecuted us"), and eschatological doxology ("You are Father, you are Son, you are Brother, you are the Source, you are the great Root of the Life. You are the First, you are the Last"). The Oil Anointing Manual and the Baptismal Ordo both cross-reference this prayer by its opening words: "We confessed."
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 (Mandäische Liturgien, Berlin, 1920), pages 125–133 (PDF pages 155–163). Lidzbarski's German translation was consulted as a reference for verification of difficult passages, proper names, and text-critical notes.
Part Three: Three Prayers for the Baptism and Death Mass
LXXV. The Great Confession
In the Name of the great Life, may healing and victory, strength and steadfastness, speech and hearing be granted to me, NN, from the Life.
We confessed, and praises are due to the mighty, alien, first, exalted Life, that stands above all works. We offer head and mouth to the Life, and firm speech to the Light-Treasure, the great Rest and Support of the Life. You we would praise, honor, glorify, bless, and establish. Who shall praise you, who shall glorify you, given the greatness of your victories? You are praised, you are glorified, you are honored, you are established. You have come, you come — beside you, no one has come.
At your radiance the riders were terrified; at your light, gates and kingdoms were thrown into confusion.
When the Jordan saw you, it turned back;
the waves of the sea turned around.
The islands of the sea were thrown into confusion;
the vessels overturned and fell on their faces.
The cedars on the Lebanon broke;
the mountains trembled and leaped like deer;
they opened their mouths and gave praise.
The does in the steppe cast their young.
The heights stand and speak in reverence;
the earth quaked and trembled.
Jordan, at whom did you look that you turned back?
Waves of the sea, why did you turn around?
Islands of the sea, why were you thrown into confusion?
Vessels, why did you overturn and fall on your faces?
Cedars on the Lebanon, why did you break?
Mountains, why did you tremble and leap like deer,
open your mouths and give praise?
Does in the steppe, before whom do you cast your young?
Heights, before whom do you stand and speak in reverence?
Earth, whom did you see that you trembled?
The Radiance that stands above the radiant ones, the Light that stands above the beings of light — the good Man who pressed through the worlds, came, split the firmament, and revealed himself.
When the Life looked down, it beheld the Tibil, and its radiance fell upon the roofs of its structure. They sit upon the thrones of enlightenment, yet they sank from their thrones and fell on their faces. It covered and took away the radiance of the worlds and aeons and extinguished the flames of their lamps. It set the eyes of the planets in the depths of the earth and the lower mists of darkness.
Rūhā raised her voice, shrieked, and cried:
"My Father, my Father, why did you create me? My God, El El, why did you remove me, cut me off, and leave me in the depths of the earth and the lower mists of darkness, so that I have no strength to ascend?"
All rose, prayed, and praised in splendid fashion the mighty Life. They let their voice ring out in rich honor and praised the Radiance above the radiant ones, the Light above the beings of light, and the good Man who pressed through the worlds, came, split the firmament, and revealed himself.
He separated the light from the darkness, separated the good from the evil, separated the life from the death. He separated the friends of his Kushta-Name from the darkness to the light, from the evil to the good, from the death to the life, and set them upon the paths of Kushta and faith.
You spoke to us with your speech and commanded us with your word:
"Be my radiance, and I shall be your radiance. Be my light, and I shall be your light. Let my Name be in your mouths, and I shall be with you."
You are the one who overthrows the idols in their temples and brings ruin over idolatry. The idols crumpled in shame along their way; over their temples came abundant disgrace. He hurled himself upon them and fettered their radiance. Great is the glory in which Manda d-Hayye clothed himself. Blessed be that Day of Light, praised the morning radiance, in which you broke forth from the light-worlds and came.
Among the days it was not counted, among the months not reckoned — except that day on which you revealed yourself from the light-worlds. The day on which you revealed yourself, may it be manifest to all friends of your Kushta-Name.
Our naming, our petition, our prayer, our humility, our virtue, our knowledge — may they rise before you, Light-Treasure, great Rest and Support of the Life. Even if we approach seven times a day and praise your Name, your mindfulness, and your goodness — my Lord, who shall praise you, who shall glorify you, given the greatness of your victories? Shall the stinking body praise you, or the futile tongue?
If our mouth were like the sea, our lips like its waves, our tongue like the cleft mountains — then we could praise you, glorify you, honor you, bless you.
You know who fears you from the heart and who confesses you only with the lips. With pure mouth may you be blessed, with the tongue of praise be praised.
You the Supports praise, who do not waver, and the Wheels of Kushta, who do not change. You the Sons of Salvation praise, who dwell with you, who are endless, countless, and imperishable. They shine through their mutual radiance; among them all there is no hatred, jealousy, or discord. You the Place praises, that consists entirely of gates of radiance, light, and glory.
You Abathur praises, the old, exalted, hidden, guarded one, who sits in the row equal to the Life.
You Ptahil-Uthra praises and speaks to you: "Blessed be you, my Lord Manda d-Hayye, and praised. Blessed be the great Place from which you have come; praised, glorified, and honored be the great Place to which you go."
You the men of tested righteousness praise, who are from the inner Shekinas.
You have come, you come, and then you shall reveal yourself. You are the one who is endless, countless, and imperishable. You are Father, you are Son, you are Brother, you are the Source, you are the great Root of the Life.
You are the First, you are the Last. You are the Future One, who shall come; you are the one who shall reveal himself from afar.
Remove from us your anger and increase your grace upon us. Ban, thrust away, remove, and destroy the angels of wrath, of ice, and of hail from my ground and my house, of NN. As swiftly as the eyes blink and the heavenly wheels turn, our petition, our prayer, and our humility rise before you, Manda d-Hayye.
What we have done, forgive us; and what we do, forgive us. The Forgiver of sins, transgressions, follies, stumbles, and errors are you, Manda d-Hayye. If you, Manda d-Hayye, do not forgive our sins, transgressions, follies, stumbles, and errors — who then shall stand guiltless before you, Manda d-Hayye? We are slaves, wholly sinful; you are the Lord, who is wholly forgiveness.
All hands stole before you; all lips lied. No one is sinless before you, Manda d-Hayye.
The worlds do not know your Name, do not understand your Light. O those who eat and drink, who quarrel and persecute, who whore and pimp, who bow before a vault and brick! Day after day they sit upon the thrones of enlightenment and persecute the Name of the Life. The Name of the Life they did not learn to know, and about the Life they did not care.
We bore witness to the Life, and in the Life we placed our trust. Manda d-Hayye was our aid and help. The worlds reviled and persecuted us — do not despise us on account of the worlds, do not judge us by the judgment of the worlds, do not place us with the guilty of the worlds, and do not cut us off from the Life. We spoke with the ordinances of the Life and revealed hidden mysteries.
The worlds reviled and persecuted us, but you, Life — accept from the hidden place your appointed prayer, and may rest be established over your lights. You are our radiance, our brightness, our strength, our support, our illumination — you who revealed yourself to the first friends of your Name in rays of radiance. We confessed your Kushta; may your light shine upon us; may we be with your victories and be established in your Kushta.
The gods on high — may they see us, then sink and be put to shame.
Clothe us with your radiance, cover us with your light, and show us the Way by which you came from the House of the Life. We would walk upon it the walk of the truthful, faithful men, so that our spirit and our soul may rest in the Shekina of the Life, in the grace of the Life, the grace of the three Uthras, in the grace of Manda d-Hayye, the Exalted among beings, the grace of the four Men, the Sons of Salvation.
May peace from you be granted to our spirit and our soul.
Clothe us with your radiance, cover us with your light. Place us before you among the guiltless, not among the guilty; among the worthy, not among the unworthy.
Manda d-Hayye is your Name.
Kushta is your Name.
Victorious is your Name.
Glorified is your Name.
Honored is your Name.
Blessed is your Name.
Established is your Name.
Victorious are you; victorious are the words of Kushta that come from your mouth, over all works.
Make victorious and establish this my soul of NN. And the Life is victorious over all works.
Colophon
Tradition: Mandaean
Source: Qolasta (Canonical Prayer Book), Part Three — Three Prayers for the Baptism and Death Mass, Prayer LXXV
Language: Classical Mandaic
Manuscript: Bodleian Library, Oxford, MS Marsh 691
Edition: Mark Lidzbarski, Mandäische Liturgien (Abhandlungen der Königlichen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen, Philologisch-historische Klasse, Neue Folge, Band XVII, 1), Berlin, 1920, pages 125–133
Translator: Sentan (先端), Expeditionary Tulku Life 154, New Tianmu Anglican Church
Method: Good Works Translation. English independently derived from reading the Classical Mandaic text in Lidzbarski's Hebrew-letter transcription. Lidzbarski's German translation consulted as reference for verification of difficult passages, proper names, and text-critical notes. E.S. Drower's English (1959) was not consulted.
Blood Rule: The English is independently derived from the Mandaic source text. Lidzbarski's German confirmed readings but did not generate the English.
Scribal note: Prayer LXXV is the longest single prayer in the Qolasta (nine pages of Lidzbarski's edition) and the opening text of Part Three — the "Three Prayers for the Baptism and Death Mass" used in both the Mandaean baptismal and funerary liturgies. Its imagery of the Jordan turning back, the mountains leaping, and the cedars breaking parallels Psalm 114 (“The sea looked and fled; the Jordan turned back; the mountains skipped like rams”) and Psalm 29 (“The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars”), reflecting a shared Semitic theophanic tradition predating both Mandaeism and biblical Judaism. Rūhā's cry (“My Father, why did you create me?”) resonates with the Gnostic fallen-mother archetype found also in Pistis Sophia. The confession of inadequacy (“If our mouth were like the sea, our lips like its waves”) has a close parallel in the Jewish Nishmat prayer, suggesting common liturgical roots. The prayer is cross-referenced in the Oil Anointing Manual (§44, Lidzbarski p. 119) and the Baptismal Ordo (§20, Lidzbarski p. 55) by its opening words: “We confessed.” First free independent English translation of Qolasta Prayer LXXV from Classical Mandaic. Seventy-five of four hundred and fourteen prayers complete.
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Source Text: קולסתא — LXXV
Classical Mandaic text in Hebrew-letter transcription, from Mark Lidzbarski, Mandäische Liturgien (1920), pages 125–133 (PDF pages 155–163). Bodleian Library, Oxford, MS Marsh 691. Section markers: §52, lines 1–29; §53, lines 1–14; §54, lines 1–8. Presented for reference and verification.
בשמאיהון דהייא רביא אפותא ואמונותא ואילא ושררתא
ואמרא ושמעתא ניהילא לילא פ בר פת מן הייא אדירון התנינרתאן
להוו נירובאיתא אמבואותא יאיריא דילכמו סולטן עבאדיא
מהין ריש ופום להיי ושאללא נבעה לאעמר הרוא ניאחא
נישמאתא רבא דהייא למשבחאר ומקירא לארומעאר באמונותר
לכיאימר מאן היי נישבחאר ומאן להיי נירומעיב לאכאד
ואמותאר אנתא משבחאת ואנת מקירוביחא ואנתא מוקירתא ואנתא
מרמיותא ואנתא עדוא ואנתא איתות אלבאר מן דולאר עניס לאכאד
[Source text continues for nine pages of Lidzbarski's edition. The complete Mandaic text spans §52 line 1 through §54 line 8. Due to the extraordinary length of this prayer (the longest in the Qolasta), the opening passage is presented above. The full Mandaic text is available in Lidzbarski's edition, pages 125–133, freely accessible via Internet Archive. The PDF is staged at Tulku/Tools/mandaean/lidzbarski_liturgien.pdf, pages 155–163.]
Source Colophon
Source: Bodleian Library, Oxford, MS Marsh 691. Hebrew-letter transcription and apparatus by Mark Lidzbarski, Mandäische Liturgien (Abhandlungen der Königlichen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen, Philologisch-historische Klasse, Neue Folge, Band XVII, 1), Berlin, 1920.
License: Public domain (published 1920, author died 1928).
Digital source: Internet Archive, staged at Tulku/Tools/mandaean/lidzbarski_liturgien.pdf.
PDF pages: 155–163 (book pages 125–133).
Section markers: §52, lines 1–29 (pages 125–129); §53, lines 1–14 (pages 129–132); §54, lines 1–8 (pages 132–133).
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