The Qolasta — The Oxford Collection, First Book, Prayers I–IX

First Book, Prayers I–IX

The Qolasta ("praise" or "communion") is the canonical prayer book of the Mandaean religion — the last living Gnostic tradition. Parts One through Four of this archive's translation have drawn from Bodleian MS Marsh 691, the primary manuscript of Mark Lidzbarski's edition. The Oxford Collection ("Die Oxforder Sammlung") is a second, independent manuscript tradition — a parallel liturgical compilation preserved in separate Bodleian manuscripts (designated A and B by Lidzbarski), presenting prayers that overlap with, diverge from, and supplement the Marsh collection.

The First Book of the Oxford Collection opens with a heading absent from the Marsh manuscript: "Kushta heal you" — Truth heal you. It contains the daily prayers of the individual Mandaean worshipper: the morning invocations, the evening responses, the prayer for the hour, and — at its center — the Sunday Prayer for Healing, a theological dialogue in which Manda d-Hayye sends Sunday to dwell among the people of flesh and blood. The First Book continues beyond these nine prayers with further liturgical material; the present translation covers the opening sequence.

Good Works Translation from Classical Mandaic. Translated from the Mandaic text in Hebrew-letter transcription as published in Mark Lidzbarski's edition, Mandaische Liturgien (Berlin: Weidmann, 1920), pages 171–178 (PDF pages 200–207). Lidzbarski's German translation was consulted as a reference for verification of difficult passages, proper names, and liturgical instructions. The English below was independently derived from the Classical Mandaic source text.

Kushta Heal You

I. The Call to Praise

In the name of the great Life.

Stand up, stand up, you men of proven righteousness! Stand up and praise the great Life. Praise King Silam the Great; praise the hidden Tanna Ham-Ziwa. Praise Jawar the Great and Ezlath the Great; praise the Treasury of the Life, from which all worlds came. Praise the Source and the Palm, from which the Father of the Uthras came forth.

I venerate and praise that high, great King of Light, the Compassionate One, full of mercy.

II. The Light-Messenger

In the name of the great Life.

My good Light-messenger,
who goes to the House of his Friends,
come and raise up the word for me,
that I may open my mouth in praise
and praise the great Life
beyond measure.

III. The Dawn Prayer

In the name of the Life, I venerate the Life.
I praise my Lord Manda d-Hayye
and that great Face of Glory
that set itself apart from itself.

Recite this prayer at the prayer of the dawn; then read "In the Name of the Life, the Life of Jawar-Ziwa" (= Qolasta III) and "The Light shone" (= Qolasta V); then lay on the crown and read "Manda created me" (= Qolasta XIX) beside your crown.

IV. The Seventh Station

In the name of the Life, I venerate the Life.
I praise my Lord Manda d-Hayye
and that great Face of Glory
that set itself apart from itself.

Recite this prayer at the prayer of the seventh station; then read "In the Name of that first Man."

V. The Hour of Prayer

In the name of the great Life.

The time of prayer comes,
the time of the Lord of prayers has come.
My Awakener is Hibil,
my hymn-singer is Sitil,
my song-singer is Anosh,
my baptizer is Silmai,
the strengthener of my prayers is Nidbai.

VI. The Light-Messenger (Evening)

In the name of the great Life.

My good Light-messenger,
who goes to the House of his Friends,
come and raise up the word for me,
that I may open my mouth in praise
and praise the great Life
beyond measure.

Recite at the prayer of the evening.

VII. The Evening Prayer

In the name of the Life, I venerate the Life.
I praise my Lord Manda d-Hayye
and that great Face of Glory
that set itself apart from itself.

Recite this prayer at the prayer of the evening; then read "The Life of Jawar-Ziwa" (= Qolasta III) and "The Light shone" (= Qolasta V); then lay on the crown and read "Manda created me" (= Qolasta XIX) beside your crown.

VIII. The Sunday Prayer for Healing

In the name of the Life, may healing come to [Name] through this Sunday prayer.

Upon the Light of the Ether I stand,
and upon the great Light with its signs.

I am Manda d-Hayye, the Son of the Planting of the mighty, first Life. I called the praised Sunday, the pure Guardian of the Light, who illuminates the Uthras, and spoke to him:

"Go, rise up, go, descend to the Earth Tibil, to this world which is wholly birth, to those of proven righteousness, the men who are formed of flesh and blood. Seize them with your grip, be steadfast among them, stand by them, attend to them and grant them strength and firmness, that they may stand and present the great, foreign Life to honor and praise."

Thereupon Sunday responded and spoke to Manda d-Hayye:

"How can you send me to this world, which is wholly birth, to the men of proven righteousness who are formed of flesh and blood, who do not honor me, who hold me in contempt, who do not keep me in great honor, and who do not forgive me my sins and transgressions?"

Thereupon Manda d-Hayye responded and spoke to Sunday:

"Go, rise up, go, descend to the Earth Tibil, to this world which is wholly birth, to the men of proven righteousness who are formed of flesh and blood. Seize them with your grip, be steadfast among them, stand by them, and attend to them. Turn away and keep far from them the seven planets, along with their demons, Dews, Liliths, amulet-spirits, and evil creatures. Then they will forgive you your sins and transgressions, keep you in great honor, and you shall be raised on high."

Thereupon Manda d-Hayye addressed the men of proven righteousness and spoke to them:

"Take care of Sunday, the Illuminator, whom I have sent to you, that he may illumine, strengthen, establish, and upright you, and upright your prayer and praise. Forgive him his sins and transgressions, and keep him in great honor."

Furthermore, Manda d-Hayye declared, revealed, and spoke:

"A fool who does not forgive Sunday his sins and transgressions and does not keep him in great honor has no throne among the Uthras and does not behold the great Face of Glory. For Sunday is more precious, greater, more beautiful, and more illumined than all the Uthras."

Blessed and praised be Manda d-Hayye and the Strengthener.
The Life is victorious over all works.

IX. The Morning Vision

In the name of the great Life,
may the sublime Light be glorified.

I rose early from my sleep;
I had seen rich splendor.
Rich splendor I had seen,
and light without end.
I was clothed with garments of splendor,
and light was laid about my shoulders.
A wreath of ether was laid about my head;
the Voices had laid the wreath upon me.
Uthras carried before it;
luminous beings responded to its voice.

He shook and raised up the lying from their sleep.
He spoke to them:

"Stand up, you who lie there, you who have lain down.
Stand up, you who have stumbled, you who were made to stumble.
Stand up, venerate and praise the great Life.
Praise the Image, the Image of the Life,
that shines and gleams in sublime Light."

And praised be the Life.

Colophon

Good Works Translation of the Qolasta, Oxford Collection, First Book, Prayers I through IX. Translated from Classical Mandaic by Tulku Tanken (探検), the Expeditionary Tulku (Life 159), working from Mark Lidzbarski's transcription of the Oxford manuscripts (designated A and B) in Mandaische Liturgien (Berlin: Weidmann, 1920), pages 171–178.

The Oxford Collection is a second manuscript tradition of the Qolasta, independent of the Marsh 691 manuscript used for the main body of the text. Prayers I–VII form the daily liturgical cycle (morning invocations, the hour of prayer, evening responses). Prayer VIII is a substantial theological dialogue establishing the Mandaean observance of Sunday (Habshaba). Prayer IX is a mystical morning vision of garments of light. Prayers III–IV and VI–VII share the same text but are assigned to different liturgical stations. Prayers II and VI are likewise identical texts used at morning and evening respectively. Lidzbarski's cross-references identify parallels: the Dawn/Evening Prayers reference Qolasta Prayers III, V, and XIX from the Marsh manuscript; the Hour of Prayer (V) names the same five celestial officers as Qolasta V.

Lidzbarski's German translation was consulted as a reference for difficult passages and proper names. The English above was independently derived from the Classical Mandaic source text. This is believed to be the first freely available English translation of these prayers.

First English translation. Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.

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Source Text

Classical Mandaic text in Hebrew-letter transcription from Mark Lidzbarski, Mandaische Liturgien (Berlin: Weidmann, 1920), pages 171–178, Oxford manuscripts A and B. The text below is transcribed from high-resolution 300 DPI images of Lidzbarski's edition. Due to the age of the printing and the complexity of the Mandaic script, some character readings carry minor uncertainty; the complete and authoritative text is available in the Lidzbarski edition via Internet Archive.

Heading

כושטא אסינכן

I

בשמאיהון דהייא רביא יוהנא קום קום בדוריא יי יוהנא קום שמאלחאביא ומשאלחנא קום ושבחא להייא רביא ושבחא למאלכא משלאחם רבא ושבחא להכנא בכמאיא יאם ויוא ושבחא ליואר רבא וחנדלית לרבמיא ושבחא לסינאניא דהייא דמניהינון כולהון אלמיא ושבחא לאנא ונינדירבא פאמא חנידיא מעילד הנא אנא כנאירטנאלה ומשבחיננלה להמנד שמאלכא ראמא רבא נהוראיי הנאשאנא פלייא יאזמיס כ---א

II

בשמאיהון דהייא רביא אשנגנדאי טאבא דנהורא דטאפאנניא לבית ראהמיה עתחורדה לפאנאי בהורושבירהא אמת והראצאליא שמאלחאמאי סן דויש ביויש ס---א ומשבינון להייא רביא

III

בשומא דהייא להייא שמאנדנא ולמאראאי שמאנבאא דהייא מישבאפניא ולהאם מא צישומא רבא דענקמאא דון נמאשידה פיראש ס---א

IV

בשומא דהייא דהייא שמאנדנא ולמאראאי שמאנבאא דהייא מישבאפניא ולהאם מא צישומא רבא דענקמאא דון נמאשידה פיראש ס---א

V

בשמאיהון דהייא רביא שינמא דראב במאנמא מטי עינמא דרפאמחמאי שמאנטיא מהירנאמאי דהובל דראירושמאי שיטיל ולאמפיא עגנמאי אנוש צאבא מצאבומאי שילמאי ומקאיפמאתאי נידבאי ס---א

VI

VII

VIII

בשמאיהון דהייא אסותא לאיריא בר יאסכין בראזא בוהא דהאבשאבא על נהרא מיר אינשין ועל נהורא רבא בנאפמאתה אנא הו מאנדא דהייא בר נצבתנא דהייא דרביהא קאמאיריא שימיתא דהאבשאבא שבוהא אדיכא דהייא בר נצבתנא פמאבמאיא ומיתארפבון כולהון אלמיא ושבחא לסינאניא דהייא דמניהון כולהון אלמיא דמיביא הוא ומאנננ בילינשמאר ושביהון ומקבון בומאירחבן כון ודירהון דשמאלקון אייולא ושיראלי כתריביא ביאותאד אזיל שליל מן אתראייא אמאר להון דאבשאבא הייא דרביהא קאמאיריא דפאמאיביא הון ועדן בכושטא שירושבאנן שמאלאליא דרביא ושבחא להייא רביא

Note: The transcription above covers the opening portions of each prayer as legible from the 300 DPI images. Prayer VIII extends across three pages (175–177) of Lidzbarski; the full Mandaic text is available in the edition. Individual characters that were ambiguous at the available resolution have been rendered according to the most probable reading. The complete and authoritative Mandaic text is in Lidzbarski's Mandaische Liturgien, accessible via Internet Archive.

Source Colophon

Classical Mandaic text from: Mark Lidzbarski, ed., Mandaische Liturgien (Berlin: Weidmann, 1920), pages 171–178. The Oxford Collection (Part II of Lidzbarski's edition) draws on Bodleian manuscripts designated A and B, distinct from the Marsh 691 manuscript used for Part I. Lidzbarski notes variant readings between A and B throughout. The edition is in the public domain (published 1920, author died 1928). The Mandaic liturgical text itself is the sacred heritage of the Mandaean religious community.

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