Third Book — The Commission
The Third Book of the Oxford Collection is the Mandaean creation liturgy in miniature — twenty prayers in which the great Life commissions the Chosen, Pure One (Manda d-Hayye) to build the cosmos of light. The sequence traces the entire arc of creation: the Chosen One receives his charge (I), is identified as the Mind, Knowledge, and Garment of the Life (II), creates the Light-Earth (III), establishes the Great Ones in radiance (IV), comforts the fallen Uthra Yoshamin (V), distributes the Ether-wreath to all the Uthras (VII), sends the Root of Living Water (VIII), creates the Jordans and appoints Zibrun-Raza and his seven brothers as their rulers (IX), and addresses the fate of the material world — Tibil was created from fire, but Ptahil shall be baptized in the white Jordan (XI). The sequence concludes with the great Life embracing the Chosen One, kissing him with its pure mouth, covering him with inner garments, and naming him the Orderer of Orderings and the Estranging One of all minds (XX).
Where the First Book provided the weekly liturgical calendar and the Second Book dressed the priest for service, the Third Book tells the story those rituals re-enact: the original sending-forth. Every baptism in the Jordan, every investiture, every wreath-giving echoes what happens in these twenty prayers. The liturgy is the memory; the Third Book is the event remembered.
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 251-263 (PDF pages 281-293). 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 Opening
In the Name of the great, alien Life which stands above all works: may healing and triumph, strength and firmness, speech and exaltation, heart's joy, and a forgiver of sins be granted to me, NN. And may my mind, my knowledge, and my understanding shine within the Treasury of the First Life.
I. The Charge
That great, ready Life spoke to the Chosen, Pure One as follows:
"These are the words that you have spoken to us. Go — be a guardian to them, and let them all shine through your power. Let them praise your garment and honor your form."
II. The Mind and the Garment
The great Life spoke with its pure mouth to the Chosen, Pure One as follows:
"You are our mind, our knowledge, and our understanding — our Lord without end, our first adornment, our pure and secured garment, our first sage, who was created from us. Go, carry out your works, and your pure sprouts shall flourish exceedingly."
III. The Light-Earth
"Exceedingly shall your pure sprouts flourish — they shall be bound to you and not cut off. Create the Light-Earth, and let them shine through it. Indeed, let there be pure radiance and pure light, and let it flourish exceedingly."
That great, ready Life spoke to the Chosen, Pure One as follows, to its pure garment, to the being without end:
"Let all that you establish have permanence, and let all your vine-stocks shine. In all your works let there be neither lack nor flaw. In all of them let there be no error — they shall not foolishly turn away from you."
IV. The Sending to the Place of Light
The great, ready Life spoke to the Chosen, Pure One as follows:
"Go, create the Great Ones in radiance and set them in the place of light. Create and grant them Pihta, and through your praise let them shine. Do it and sustain it, Mana — the Life shall show itself grateful to you."
V. The Comforting of Yoshamin
The great Life was pleased with what the Chosen, Pure One had said — what the Chosen, Pure One had said, who had created wondrous light. It spoke to him:
"You are the Lord of Will, the Lord of all victories. You were victorious, and you helped your brothers to victory. You bless your parents in the hidden place.
Go, bring radiance to Yoshamin and set his heart upon its support. Tell him not to be afraid, and reveal to him that he shall be established here. Teach him, that his heart may be at peace, and strengthen him, that his mind may be illuminated. Kiss and caress and bless him, and show him the radiance of your form.
Show him the radiance of your form, and tell him that the Gentle One does not humiliate the humble, and that we shall illumine his Uthras."
VI. The Blessing
The great Life blesses with its pure mouth the Chosen One, who has uttered the pronouncement.
VII. The Ether-Wreath
"Go, gather up radiance and preserve the wondrous garments. Grant them something from the Ether-wreath, and let all the Uthras be resplendent. From us and from you let radiance and glory be given to them.
Radiance and glory shall be given to them, and through the power of glory they shall be guarded. Our Name and your Name shall be upon them, and they shall praise in the hidden place."
VIII. The Root of Living Water
That great, ready Life spoke to the Chosen, Pure One as follows:
"How welcome you are, Jawar! How gentle and true are the words you have spoken!"
It called the Root of Living Water; it sent the Ether and dispatched it. It sent and dispatched the Ether to the Shekhinas of all the Uthras. The Uthras smelled it and were delighted — all the Uthras shall smell it and be delighted. They drank from it and rejoiced.
They drank from it and rejoiced, and into their hearts poured the Nasirutha.
IX. The Creation of the Jordans
When the Chosen, Pure One said this, his voice descended to all worlds. From the hidden radiance he spoke:
"Call Zibrun-Raza."
He spoke: "Call Zibrun-Raza — him and his seven hidden brothers who are with him."
They called them and created their Jordans, and set them as rulers over the Jordans. They set them as rulers over the Jordans and the springs that do not run dry.
X. The Knower of All Hearts
The great, ready Life spoke to the Chosen, Pure One as follows:
"You know all hearts and perceive all minds. Your eyes are open, and you see through all your acquaintances.
For who would forsake your Name and our Name as a sinner? Who would forsake it as a sinner and cast our root into turbid water? Who would take goodness from us, go forth, and cast it into the dwelling of darkness?"
XI. The Fate of Tibil
The great Life spoke with its pure mouth to the Chosen, Pure One as follows:
"What one of your Uthras has told you — about that we shall give you an answer. The Tibil was created from fire, and the planets that created it shall walk in the chains of fire.
Ptahil, who created the Tibil, shall be baptized here in the white Jordan. To the thousands upon thousands of garments that go forth to meet him, and to the faces without end, grace shall be granted, and they shall extend Kushta to one another."
XII. The Affirmation
You are well-supported, you are well-established — you are well-furnished and you shine.
XIII. The Blessing of Origin
The great Life spoke with its pure mouth to the Chosen, Pure One as follows:
"You are blessed from the place from which we were blessed; you came into being from the place from which we came into being. From the place from which we were planted, your planting was rightly planted.
Our radiance and your radiance are victorious, and victorious is the Nasirutha that came from us. Victorious are those whom we call with it, who open their eyes in radiance and light."
XIV. The Release
With a pure mouth the great Life spoke — the Life that dwells there. It spoke with a pure mouth, turning to the Chosen One, the Helper:
"Pure One, go forth and do all that you desire."
XV. The Reflection
When the Great One reflected, he reflected upon goodness for him.
When the Great One reflected, the Uthras bowed and gave praise. The Uthras bowed and praised the man who had opened their treasure — the man who had opened their treasure, the man who had sent them goodness.
XVI. The Ordering
You have spoken, you have established — now set it in order and let it flourish.
XVII. The Summoning
You have spoken of it — summon it and bring it here. Summon it and bring it here, and we shall be grateful to you.
XVIII. The Union
Kushta extended to you the great Life — now remove the agitation from your mind. Let your mind be filled with us; our garment and your garment shall be one.
XIX. The Praise of Jawar
The great Life praises with its pure mouth the Chosen One who gave the answer:
"How gentle and humble you are, Jawar — how you are a creator, a calmer! You create and calm the Uthras, and you grant firmness to the shining."
XX. The Embrace
When the Chosen, Pure One said this, the great Life rejoiced in him and embraced him. It kissed him with its pure mouth and covered him with inner garments. With inner garments it covered him, and with the cloud from which he had been created.
It formed for him a great covering, with which it covered him. All the Uthras were strengthened through him.
It called him — it named him the Orderer of Orderings and the Estranging One of all minds.
Colophon
Good Works Translation from Classical Mandaic.
Source: Mark Lidzbarski, ed., Mandaische Liturgien (Mandaean Liturgies), Berlin: Weidmann, 1920, pages 251-263. The Oxford Collection (Part II of Lidzbarski's edition) draws on Bodleian manuscripts A and B. Lidzbarski notes variant readings between A and B throughout.
Translator: Tanken, Expeditionary Tulku, Life 168, New Tianmu Anglican Church.
Blood Rule statement: This translation was independently derived from the Classical Mandaic text in Hebrew-letter transcription as published in Lidzbarski's edition. Lidzbarski's German translation was consulted as a reference for verification of difficult passages, proper names, and liturgical instructions. No existing English translation of the Third Book was consulted. The German confirmed readings of the Mandaic but did not generate the English.
Notes:
- The Third Book has no surviving heading of its own in the manuscripts. Lidzbarski notes that the heading "When the Chosen, Pure One went forth," which appears at the start of the Second Book, properly belongs to the Third Book. The content confirms this: the Third Book narrates the sending-forth.
- The "Tibil" (Prayer XI) is the Mandaean name for the Earth — the material world, created by Ptahil from fire. The promise that Ptahil shall be baptized in the white Jordan is the Mandaean answer to the problem of the demiurge: unlike the Gnostic archons, who are permanently condemned, the Mandaean creator-figure is redeemable through baptism. This is a distinctive feature of Mandaean theology.
- "Yoshamin" (Prayer V) is a major Uthra who, in Mandaean mythology, fell through pride but was not irredeemably condemned. The Great Life's instruction to comfort him — "tell him not to be afraid" — and to "show him the radiance of your form" is an act of cosmic therapy. The Chosen One is sent not only to create but to heal.
- "Zibrun-Raza" (Prayer IX) is the Uthra appointed ruler over the Jordans (the heavenly rivers that are the prototypes of earthly baptismal waters). His "seven hidden brothers" may correspond to the seven planets in their redeemed aspect, or to a heptad of celestial river-guardians.
- "The Estranging One of all minds" (Prayer XX) — Lidzbarski's note explains this as the one who estranges minds from this world and directs them toward the beyond. The title is a paradox: the Orderer is also the Estranging One. He orders the cosmos and simultaneously makes minds alien to it.
- In manuscript A, Prayers XXXII and XXXIII from the Second Book also appear after Prayer XIII of the Third Book. These are the same prayers translated in the Second Book file and are not duplicated here.
- "NN" in the Opening is nomen nescio — a placeholder for the name of the person for whom the prayer is recited.
- Prayers XII, XVI, and XVII are notably brief — single-sentence affirmations or commands that punctuate the longer narrative prayers like breathing marks in the liturgical recitation.
- "Pihta" (Prayer IV) is the Mandaean sacramental bread, one of the elements of the sacred meal (masiqta).
- "Nasirutha" (Prayers VIII, XIII) is the Mandaean term for priestly knowledge — the esoteric wisdom that makes a priest a Nasoraean. The Third Book narrates its cosmic origin: it poured into the hearts of the Uthras when they drank from the Root of Living Water.
First free independent English translation of the Qolasta Third Book (Oxford Collection).
Scribal credit: Typeset by Tanken. April 2026.
🌲
Source Text: The Oxford Collection, Third Book
Classical Mandaic text in Hebrew-letter transcription from Mark Lidzbarski, ed., Mandaische Liturgien (Berlin: Weidmann, 1920), pages 251-263. The transcription below covers representative opening lines of each prayer as legible from 300 DPI rendered images of the edition. The complete and authoritative Mandaic text is in Lidzbarski's edition, accessible via Internet Archive.
Opening
בשומאיהון דהייא רביא נצבראייא מן אלמיא דנהורא
I
מאלאלו הינן רביא עתותיא לה לכהירא דאכיא
VIII
מאלאלו הינן רביא עתותיא לה לכהירא דאכיא פנישטאיולה
כפס שירת יואר
כמא נודה ושינותאו
IX
כד האוא אמאר כהירא דאכיא
קאלה נדת בכולהון אלמיא
XI
מאלאלו כפיס מאלל
האין הו פומארלאד האר מן עתיראר
XX
כד האוא אמאר כהירא דאכיא רביא דוהב ונתמאריבבאו
נשיקיתא בפומא דאכיא
Note: The transcription above covers representative opening lines from selected prayers. Prayers I-XX follow the structure of the great Life speaking to the Chosen, Pure One, commissioning him to create and order the light-cosmos. The complete Mandaic text for all twenty prayers spans pages 251-263 of Lidzbarski's edition, which is freely accessible on Internet Archive as a public domain work (published 1920).
Source Colophon
Classical Mandaic text from: Mark Lidzbarski, ed., Mandaische Liturgien (Berlin: Weidmann, 1920), pages 251-263. 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.
🌲