First Book, Prayers XXVI–XXXII
The Oxford Collection continues with seven prayers spanning two liturgical groupings. The Tuesday set (Prayers XXVI–XXXI) is the third day of the weekly cycle to emerge from the First Book: the daily prayers (I–XIV) gave the skeleton; Sunday (XV–XIX), Monday (XX–XXV), and now Tuesday (XXVI–XXXI) each receive their own assigned prayers, confirmed by rubrics at the close of each set.
The Tuesday set opens with a dialogue between the faithful and the divine gift-bringer (XXVI), framed by paired invocations to the King of the Uthras (XXVII, XXIX) and centered on two substantial poems: a confrontation between the eyes of truth and the eyes of lies in which Ruha is told to seek the divine not in the visible world but in the hearts of the faithful (XXVIII), and the great poem of the fragrance — a divine scent that comes from its place, resurrects the dead, rouses the prostrate, and provokes the planets to alarm, while Alaha Alihun commands his firstborn to bow before any righteous man upon whom the fragrance of the Life rests (XXX). The set closes with the shortest prayer — an invocation of Manda d-Hayye to make the mountain of darkness shine and the turbid water gleam (XXXI).
Prayer XXXII opens the next day with dramatic imagery: a voice in heaven, thunder in the house of the stars, Ruha and the planets in mourning because a man has broken into their house and cast strife that will never be settled — strife that ends only when Manda d-Hayye comes to take the three Chosen Ones to the radiant dwelling.
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 196–202 (PDF pages 226–232). 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.
The Tuesday Set
XXVI. The Gifts from the House of the Life
In the name of the great Life,
may the sublime Light be glorified.
You came from the House of the Life —
you came: what did you bring us?
I brought you that you should not die
and your soul not be hindered.
For the day of death I brought you life;
for the dark day, joy.
I brought you gentleness
in which the devil of the peoples has no part.
This, this you brought, O Good One —
what did you bring the truthful man?
I made him my treasurer
and set him over all that I have.
Words of Kushta I gave him,
by which he goes in and goes out
like a man who has achieved his will.
You have sought and found, my Chosen Ones —
again you shall seek and find.
You have sought and found, my Chosen Ones,
as the earlier ones sought.
And the Life is victorious.
XXVII. The King of the Uthras
Come, come, King of the Uthras,
high messenger who came from the house of his Father.
Come, receive my prayer and my praise
and bring them in salvation to the Place of Light.
XXVIII. The Eyes of Truth and the Eyes of Lies
You came from the House of the Good —
if only you had not come into corruption,
if only you had not come into corruption,
into the filth and refuse of this world.
If only you had not come into corruption,
if only you were not beheld with the eyes.
When I have truly come,
when I have entered into appearance:
your eyes are eyes of lies;
my eyes are eyes of truth.
The eyes of lies grow dark
and do not behold the truth.
If you would see, Ruha —
go, see the house of my acquaintances,
the house of my acquaintances who know of me,
that I dwell among them,
in the hearts of my friends,
in the minds of my disciples.
And the Life is victorious.
XXIX. The High Messenger
Come, come, King of the Uthras,
high messenger to whom my eyes look up —
hear and listen to my call
and bring my prayer and my praise to the Place of Light.
XXX. The Fragrance of the Life
The fragrance came from its place;
the truth came from its abode.
The fragrance came from its place —
it came and settled in the house.
It calls and brings the dead to life;
it rouses and fetches the prostrate.
It awakens the souls
who are zealous and worthy of the Place of Light.
This, this the Good One did,
and he raised the sign of the Life.
The planets gathered;
they went and approached their ruler.
They said to him:
"Have you not seen, Alaha Alihun,
that the fragrance has come from its place?"
The fragrance came from its place;
the Mana stirred from his abode.
It calls and brings the dead to life;
it rouses and fetches the prostrate.
It awakens the souls
who are zealous and worthy of the Place of Light.
This, this the Good One did,
and he raised the sign of the Life.
Alaha Alihun opened his mouth
and spoke to his firstborn:
"Come, come, his sons, my firstborn sprouts —
hear what I say to you:
When you find a righteous man,
bow before him with a great bow.
One bow before him,
a second before the fragrance of the Life that rests upon him.
See — the Life is victorious;
the Life has conquered this world."
XXXI. The Mountain of Darkness Shall Shine
Come, come, Manda d-Hayye,
and let the mountain of darkness shine,
and let the turbid water gleam.
These three songs and three hymns are for Tuesday.
XXXII. The Voice in Heaven
In the name of the great Life,
may the sublime Light be glorified.
A voice was in the heaven;
a thunder was in the house of the stars.
Ruha and the planets
sit in mourning.
In mourning they sit
for the man who sprang from the Tibil
and struck a breach in their house.
A breach he struck in their house
and cast strife into it.
The strife that he cast in
shall never in all eternity be settled.
Only when Manda d-Hayye comes
and takes the three Chosen Ones with him.
He takes the three Chosen Ones with him
and brings them up to the radiant dwelling.
To the place that is shining and bright,
your souls are called and invited,
as well as the souls of our good brothers
and our faithful sisters.
You were victorious, Manda d-Hayye,
Good One who strengthens your friends.
And the Life is victorious.
Colophon
Good Works Translation of the Qolasta, Oxford Collection, First Book, Prayers XXVI through XXXII. Translated from Classical Mandaic by Tulku Tanken, the Expeditionary Tulku (Life 162), working from Mark Lidzbarski's transcription of the Oxford manuscripts (designated A and B) in Mandaische Liturgien (Berlin: Weidmann, 1920), pages 196–202.
These seven prayers span two liturgical groupings. Prayers XXVI–XXXI constitute the complete Tuesday set, confirmed by the rubric after Prayer XXXI: "These three songs and three hymns are for Tuesday." The liturgical calendar of the Oxford Collection now covers four periods: the daily cycle (I–XIV), Sunday (XV–XIX), Monday (XX–XXV), and Tuesday (XXVI–XXXI). Prayer XXXII opens the next day.
The Tuesday set is architecturally symmetrical. Two short invocations to the King of the Uthras (XXVII, XXIX) frame two substantial theological poems (XXVIII, XXX), bracketed by the opening dialogue (XXVI) and the closing invocation (XXXI). The paired invocations XXVII and XXIX are near-identical — the same liturgical call repeated at different points in the service, creating an echo structure.
Prayer XXX — The Fragrance of the Life — is the theological center of the Tuesday set. A divine fragrance enters the world, resurrects the dead, and alarms the planets, who confront their ruler: "Have you not seen that the fragrance has come from its place?" The poem then repeats its opening stanza with a variation — "the Mana stirred from his abode" replaces "the truth came from its abode" — and culminates in a divine command to bow before any righteous man upon whom the fragrance rests. The two-stanza structure with refrain mirrors the cascading form seen in Prayers XIV, XVIII, XX, and XXII.
Prayer XXVIII introduces a motif unique in the Oxford Collection: the divine messenger confronts the material world's inability to perceive truth. "Your eyes are eyes of lies; my eyes are eyes of truth." Ruha is told not to seek the divine in the visible world but in "the house of my acquaintances" — the hearts and minds of the faithful. This interiorizing of the divine presence is consistent with Mandaean theology but unusually explicit here.
Prayer XXXII contains dramatic cosmological imagery: a voice in heaven, thunder in the house of the stars, and Ruha and the planets in mourning because a divine man has broken into their house and cast irreconcilable strife. The "three Chosen Ones" whom Manda d-Hayye takes with him likely refers to the three great Uthras (Hibil, Sitil, Anosh) or to the three categories of the faithful.
Lidzbarski's German translation was consulted as a reference for difficult passages, proper names, and liturgical instructions. The English above was independently derived from the Classical Mandaic source text. Key Mandaic terms confirmed directly: b-shumehon d-hayye rabba (in the name of the great Life), kushta (truth/righteousness), riha (fragrance), mitayya (the dead), shkibayya (the prostrate), shiyyare (planets), dulma (corruption), ruha (Ruha), nsibta (sprout), ganzabra (treasurer), nhura (light), mauta (death). 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.
🌲
Source Text
Classical Mandaic text in Hebrew-letter transcription from Mark Lidzbarski, Mandaische Liturgien (Berlin: Weidmann, 1920), pages 196–202, 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.
XXVI
בשומהון דהייא רבא מראהראב נהורא שאניא עוות מן בת היא מאהלון דלמאהלתון ולמשאבהרי נושמתהון אהילון לויב מותא הייא אהילון לויב כמירא נהורא ניחותא אהילון דלאית בה דיוא דאמוותא האדיא האדיא אתילה טאבא מאהלילתה לגברא דכשרותא גנזבריא דילי שווייתה ואינאי דילי כולהון אשלמותה מאמללי דכושטא יהבילה דמנהון עאל ונפאק כגברא דצבויתה סלקא לה בעיתון ואשכחתון בהירייא דילי תוב תישלון ותאשכחון בעיתון ואשכחתון בהירייא דילי היאך קאדמייא שאלו והייא זאכי
XXVII
אמא אתא מאלכא דעותריא אשגנדא ראמא דאתא מן בית אבויא אתא וקאבל לבותי ולושביחתאי ואסקא בשלם לאתאר נהור
XXVIII
עדולמא עותא בקולומא עותא עדולסא באנגא לאסתיהויותא הן לעתנגלותא עתנבא אינכאר אינא דשוקרא מוהאסתאר האשוקרא אינא דשוקרא ולאמאסאילה לכושטא אן בעית למחזייא רוהא עול בית יאדעאי חויא בית יאדעאי דראהמאילי דאנמא שינא בגוהון באנגא שינא בלבא דראחמאי ובמעצאירדון דתאלמידאי והייא זאכי
XXIX
אמא אתא מאלכא דעותריא אשגנדא ראמא דסכאנייאילה צות וישמא לקאלאי ואסקא לבותאי והושביחתהאי לאתאר נהור
XXX
ריחא אתא מן אתרה כושטא ואתא מן דוכתה ריחא אתא מן אתרה אתא כבע באתמא שריא קריא ומחיא מיתיא מתרביד ומאתיא שכביא מוהאסלין ניפשאתא דחריצא ודאתר נהורא שויא האדיא האדיא טאבא עבד והקין דהייא אקים שיאריא אתכנישו ואזלו ואתקרבו לרישהון אמרולה לא חזיתה אלהא אלהון דריחא מן אתרה אתא ריחא אתא מן אתרה מאנא שינא מן דוכתה קריא ומחיא מיתיא מתרביד ומאתיא שכביא מוהאסלין ניפשאתא דחריצא ודאתר נהורא שויא האדיא האדיא טאבא עבד והקין דהייא אקים אלהא אלהון פתח פומה ואמר לבוכרוהי אמולון אמולון בנוהי נציבאי בוכרייא שמעו מא דאנא אמרנא לכון כד משכחיתון גברא כאשירא אסגדולה סגדתא רבתא חדא סגדתא לדילה ותרתין לריחא דהייא דעלוהי שריא חזו דהייא זאכי דהייא זכא לאלמא
XXXI
אתא אתא מאנדא דהייא וטורא דחשוכא ננהאר ומייא תאהמיא נידויון
XXXII
בשומהון דהייא רביא מראהראב נהורא שאניא קאלא הוא בשמייא הנונא הוא בבית כוכביא רוהא ושיאריא בטאליא יתביא דאיין יתביא בטאליא לגברא דמן טיביל שרא סרטמא באבתמא פראט בריש מנארב ושתלאי בוכריה מנאראב דענגלון שוו על מאשיחתהון נבריא יאריא הרא דנהירא ואנהורא דהייא עלייא קריין וזמינין ונפשאתהון דאחאנן טאביא ואחוותנן מהימנותא זכיתא מנדא דהייא טאבא דרחמוהי אסמכתא והייא זאכי
Source Colophon
Classical Mandaic text from: Mark Lidzbarski, ed., Mandaische Liturgien (Berlin: Weidmann, 1920), pages 196–202. The Oxford Collection (Part II of Lidzbarski's edition) draws on Bodleian manuscripts designated A and B. Lidzbarski notes variant readings between A and B in footnotes throughout. The edition is in the public domain (published 1920, author died 1928). The Mandaic liturgical text is the sacred heritage of the Mandaean religious community. The Hebrew-letter transcription preserves Lidzbarski's system for representing the Classical Mandaic script; for the original Mandaic characters, consult the parallel sections in Lidzbarski's companion plates.
🌲