J

ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY

3 1833 05248 8423

JAN 1 8 ZOOS
 Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2018 with funding from
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https://archive.org/details/gospelofprophetmOOOOgree
 Thp (Sosppl of thp
prophet Mani
Edited and almost wholly Newly Translated from many languages
of original Manichean Texts and of Excerpts by others,
for the first time in English, With a Life of the Prophet,
an Outline of Manichean Elistory, and other Introductions,
Explanatory Commentary, Full Annotations
and an Illuminating Appendix

BY

Duncan Greenlees, M. A. (Oxon.)

THE BOOK TREE

San Diego, California
 Originally published
1956
by The Theosophical Publishing House
Adyar, Madras, India

New material, revisions and cover

© 2007
The Book Tree
All rights reserved

ISBN 978-1-58509-502-5

Cover layout and design

by Atulya Berube

Published by
The Book Tree
P.O. Box 16476
San Diego, CA 92176
www.thebooktree.com
We provide fascinating and educational products to help awaken the public to new ideas and
information that would not be available otherwise.
Call l (800) 700-8733 for our FREE BOOK TREE CATALOG.
 THE WORLD GOSPEL SERIES

Gather us in, Thou Love that fullest all;

Gather our rival faiths within Thy fold;
Rend each man’s temple-veil and bid it fall
That we may know that Thou hast been of old.
Gather us in; we worship only Thee:
In varied names we stretch a common hand;
In diverse forms a common Soul we see,
In many Ships we seek one Spirit-Land.
Each sees one colour of Thy rainbow light; ,
Each looks upon one tint and calls it heaven;
Thou art the Fullness of our partial sight—
We are not perfect till we find the seven.
G. Matheson

Apart from a few scholars and devotees, the modern

public are unwilling to spend time on reading through
the whole of the lengthy Scriptures of the world. This
little Series is planned to offer them in a cheap, handy
and attractive form the essence of all the world’s great
Scriptures, translated and edited by one who has a
-deep and living sympathy for each of them.
It is based on the inevitable conclusion of any fair
student that all the great Religions and their Scriptures
 VI

come from one Divine Source, in varying degrees of

purity of transmission, and according to the needs and
capacities of those to whom they came—the authentic
Word of God to man.
The Publishers hope to issue two volumes yearly,
each of about 300 pages, with short notes or running
commentary, and a brief introduction to point out the-
significance of the book in the history of world thought.
This is Volume Twelve.
When the Series is completed, it will form a useful
little reference library of the world’s religious literaturer
which has done so much to mould the thought and
culture of today, even though few individuals in each
of the communities have perhaps been able to reach
the ideal laid down in them.1
Duncan Greenlees

Yet, as this isj an objective study, aiming at a fair presentation-

of the Manichean view, it is obvious that the writer does not
thereby pronounce his own personal convictions or religious faith.
 THE GOSPEL OF THE
PROPHET MANI1
| IGHT and Dark, Good and Evil, are the
two opposite and coeternal Sources of all
that is. They were mingled together when
the ambition of Evil to possess the Light had
to be countered by God sending a Light-
Spark from Himself, the conscious Soul,
down into Matter to uplift and purify the
Light therein entangled everywhere. Mani¬
fested in five-fold Potencies, or 6 Sons 5, per¬
fectly reflected in the five aspects of the
human mind, God’s c Living Spirit3 fashioned
the universe as a means to separate gradually
these primal Sources. This story of the One
Soul is repeated by every individual Soul
aspiring to return to its lost Kingdom of the
Light near God, and aided thereto by Divine
Outpourings and the human Messengers of
the Light who found religions.
1 Both vowels are long, as Maa-nee.
 Vlll

These Saviours free the Soul held in the

corrupting bonds of Matter by awakening
her memory of heavenly origin and continu¬
ing divinity. She co-operates thenceforth
with the work of self-purifying by her prayer
and fasting, alms. and chastity, together with
her practice of the twelve Virtues .of the
Zodiacal Signs which overcome the horoscope
enslaving her to recurring births in Matter.
So she rises through the mystical body of the
Church or c Perfect Man 5 to union with the
human Teacher and the Lord, and so at last
comes for evermore to blissful enjoyment of
God’s presence in the Gardens of the Light.
The organs of the human body closely
correspond with the outer universe, as do the
powers and functions of the Light and Dark¬
ness, Spirit and Matter. The one has to be
gradually transmuted by faith and works to
the other, thus liberating the Soul. The five¬
fold hierarchy of the Church aids mightily in
this spiritual alchemy. As the Light-Sparks
are everywhere imprisoned in dark Matter, a
total harmlessness and a universal reverence
are implicit in this Faith, and its ethical
standards are among the highest ever known.
 IX

The loving gratitude and passionate devotion

given equally to Mani and his predecessors
foreshadow the universalism of modern Theo¬
sophy, while Mani himself aimed to unite the
creeds in a single worldwide Faith that shared
the noblest elements found in each.
The sufferings demanded by that Faith led
its devotees to regard Death with joyful eager¬
ness as a final release from the miseries of
embodiment—the overthrow of Darkness and
the source of Evil in their life, the open door¬
way to eternal glory in the boundless Light. At
that hour the Liberator came to them to drive
away all gloom and ignorance, and to escort
them to the adorable Father’s lovely realm of
Wisdom where the Soul is espoused to God.
When all the Light-Sparks have thus been
freed, the world of physical gross Matter will
cease to be, and the powers of Darkness will
be finally overthrown; then will the Light be
supreme for evermore, and all freed Souls will
<enter on the endless life of perfect love.
 FOREWORD

For many centuries Manicheism was a powerful and

far-reaching religion, rivaled only by Christianity in its scope,
but today it is virtually unheard of. It was more dualistic,
Gnostic and spiritual so became the arch rival of Christianity and
was ultimately stamped out. Every effort has been made to
remove it from the memory of humankind and, for the most part,
these efforts were a success. Today, however, there is a
resurgence of interest in Gnostic thought and teachings. This
book will contribute a wealth of new information that would
otherwise be lost to history. There is without question no better
book on the subject. The author has assembled every known lost
fragment of the faith that could possibly be found in order to
accurately reassemble its doctrines and teachings. The
information is presented factually, without a bias in either
direction, to document this movement and its history accurately.
He lets the teachings speak for themselves, which allows the
reader to make an independent assessment regarding its
veracity.
From an historical point of view the book is valuable
because it both broadens and clarifies our view of religious
history, showing what Christianity was truly up against and why
Manicheism remained so popular for so long. There is no doubt
that the prophet Mani was a great spiritual teacher - he had to be
for the religion to flourish for so long. It lasted for over one
thousand years in one form or another. Many of the holy books
written by Mani have been lost or destroyed, only fragments
remain, while has followers were killed and persecuted for
centuries. What has been recovered has been painstakingly
pieced together in this important work for the benefit of
scholars, religious researchers and those interested in alternative
spiritual paths.

Paul Tice
 PREFACE

IN 1942 I used a good deal of unwanted leisure to-

enquire into the reality of the spiritual experiences
said to underlie Religion, and so was led to investigate
the shadowy history of Christian origins. This soon
confronted me with a passionate prejudice that recalled
our present-day mutual hatreds of Catholic and Com¬
munist—the furious antipathy for what the orthodox
called { Manichean5 ; those doughty bigots found
words inadequate to express their loathing, and dark
and shameful deeds were done against the followers
of Man! and their books.
What exactly caused this savage hatred? Was it
simply an insane ignorance, such as has made in many
lands and times the life of Jew and Negro a panic
fever? Or was it rather the jealous fear of a worthy
rival, an economic motive, or a question of prestige
and power, which prompted this lunatic behaviour
among men who called themselves followers of the
God of Love and His gracious Christ ?
I began to read everything on Man! and his
teachings I could find, and to copy every fragment of
material I met which could throw light on this baffling^
problem of social terroristic injustice. At this time
 Xll

Jackson’s splendid book came to my hand and, as the

idea of the World Gospel Series was then beginning
to dawn, I copied a great part of it, together with the
translated Chinese Manichean Text and the Hymns in
the British Museum. Step by step, I reduced my
materials from various languages to one common factor
—English.
When the time to study Man! for this Series drew
near, I obtained the magnificent ‘Kephalaia’ and
Psalms’ in Coptic, and so was able to delve into a
vast treasury of original literature in the 4 original ’
tongue used by Manicheans. The courtesy of St.
Mary’s College, Kurseong, Bengal (a seminary of the
Society of Jesus), put in my reach Migne’s colossal -
edition of the Christian authorities, as well as the
otherwise unobtainable Coptic 4 Homilies ’ and the
Syriac text of bar Khoni’s 4 Scholia ’. I copied nearly
the whole of these valuable source-texts, and then felt
myself ready to prepare for this volume. An Adyar
friend, Sri K. Kunjanni Raja, had in 1947 got for me
the Arabic text of AnNadim, and I found elsewhere
the Turkish of the interesting 4 Khuastuanift ’, one of
my earliest discoveries. Pehlevi, Soghdian, and other
Turkish fragments came in from various books and'
journals. Where, as in the case of Chinese, the original
(?) language is beyond my powers, I feel no hesitation
in confidently relying on translations by such great
scholars as Pellioi, Henning, Bang and Widengren,
•or on the discretion of quoters like Alfaric and
Reitzenstein.
 Xlll

The first obstacle in studying Man! and his system

is the savage thoroughness with which his books were
hunted out and destroyed. So far as we know, only-
a few fragments in his own Syriac still survive. But
happily the great love and reverence of the Mani-
cheans for their books assure us that we have in fact,
in our early Coptic works, and even in the much later
Turkish and Chinese literature, a reliable picture of
what Man! actually taught. This is confirmed even
by the hostile accounts of Christian, Parsi, Muslim and
Confucian witnesses. Reliance on such apostolic and
sub-apostolic material will not lead us far astray; and
the factual and restrained story of Mam’s sufferings-
and death gives us full confidence in its exact historicity.
Another obstacle is that this study calls, not only
for a trained religionist but also for a linguist of unusual
breadth and powers. To go really to their sources,,
the materials used in this volume demand a working
knowledge of Coptic, Syriac, Arabic, Pehlevi, Soghdian,
Old Turkish, Chinese, Greek, and Latin—besides the
usual facility in French and German, in English and
even Russian. Though I cannot pretend to meet all
these demands, I have made shift with what the many
years of life have brought to me, and as the bulk of
this c Gospel 5 comes from Coptic I am fairly safe on
my own ground.
Why should we trouble at all to resurrect this-
perished religion, so often falsely dubbed a mere-
‘ heresy5 ? Certainly it is for no futile evangelistic
dream. A faith so largely built on a myth beyond
 XIV

investigation, and making so high demand on morality

and gentleness, would have small hope to compete with
its rivals in our age of intensifying sensuality and viol¬
ence. Rather is it to delight the pure historic sense—
to restore to its proper place in the story ofiiuman
thought about the universe and man’s part therein, a
religion long denied a just realisation of its importance,
and to fill in a gap made in human knowledge by the
insensate vandalism of sectarian violence long ago.
Whatever has concerned Man in the past or present
is Man’s proper study. And it is a peculiar joy to
recover the shattered fragments of what was once a
beautiful vase to hold a great man’s message, even if
to our taste it seem bizarre. ' It is a delight also to
rediscover for our contemporaries the personality and
•experience of one of the great Religious Founders like
Jesus, the Buddha, Zarathushtra, Muhammed—-a
Founder whose name has so long been hidden by the
dust and clouds of conflict.
As we rejoice to read the lives and teachings of
Manx’s great Brethren, who came from the same One
Source of Light with messages of doctrine and ethics,
«ach to his own age and its successors, so let us also
•delight in the labours and pleasing personality of Manx
himself and of his first successors Sisin and Innai. Let
us consecrate his memory in the holy Shrine of
humanity’s Ideals; let us yearly honour the great dates
-of his proclamation, 9th April, and of his martyrdom
for righteousness and the freedom of human thought,
the 26th February.
 XV

To these three, to the others who gave us the lovely

4 Psalms * which captivated Egypt’s ascetics 1600 years
ago, to Kushtai the faithful secretary to whom we
probably owe the c Kephalaia * and the eyewitness
story of the Master’s sufferings, to Salmai the humble
devotee and mourner, to Amu the Apostle who planted
the Faith firmly in its Central Asian fastness, to those
nameless heroes and heroines who died that at least
fragments of the holy books might reach our day, to
the one who hid away his little library in that box
beneath his Fayum hut, to .all those whose kindly
sympathy have helped me in gathering and understand¬
ing materials—I offer reverent and grateful thanks.
May the happier future of which some of those once
dreamed (cf. GPM 47) come soon to this our lovely
tortured world 1 May it replace our gloomy clouds of
jealous hatred, cruel contempt and unthinking violence
with the bright sunshine of truth and loving comrade¬
ship ! And may all who read this book come at last to
the Kingdom of the Light, and there meet the blessed
Man! and all his Brethren, the Teachers of the World
who have led it step by step upon the road “ from
Darkness to the Light, from Death to Immortality ” !1

1In this volume, words and phrases which are in italics have
been speculatively restored by me from indications of parallel texts
and the space left by words destroyed in our manuscripts.
As the usual practice is in this Series, words which for the sake
of grammatical sequence I have substituted for those in the text
have been printed in a heavy type.
 \
■

.
 ✓

INTRODUCTION

1. The Third Century

JT was an age of death, of new birth, of bitter conflict

between the two, between the old and the new—
an age of transition, of soaring hopes and of vain
attempts to reawaken perished ideals.
Political. The twin empires of Rome and Persia
swayed uneasily on the balance-point of Mesopotamia;
at times the one moved on to the territories of the
other, and then fell back again beyond its starting-
point. The great Emperors of Rome had given place
to military kinglets, who held the shadow-titles that
had once glorified Augustus, Tiberius, Trajan, but now
had little meaning any more for the two or three
months of rule that each might hope to enjoy—and
many faced equally powerful rival kinglets in other
provinces. Even when for a spell one of these might
establish himself in real power at Rome itself, his death
soon restored the usual confusion of the c thirty
tyrants \ At such a time it was easy enough for the
new Persian dynasty that replaced the vanquished
Parthians to seat themselves firmly on the Eastern
throne, so that they could not be overthrown even by
B
 XV111

the few Roman Emperors who dared attempt the feat.

The great and wealthy plain of Mesopotamia was often
ravaged by these frequent futile wars, and was gradu¬
ally sinking into the wretched, and partly sand-covered,
state in which it remained till our own days.
Further east, India was a tangle of petty states, free
at the moment from all central control but under the
general leadership of Kushans in the north and Pandyas
in the south; China was a great and settled empire shut
off within its boundaries from the restless movements of
the west; while, in between, Central Asia was the home
of the widespread ancient Scythian tribes, partly
Iranized, with Turks and Mongols on one border, and
the shamanistic Tibetans on the other. None of these
elements seemed likely to grow into a world power
which could change and mould the future.
Religious. The old State cults of the Mediterranean
basin had become decrepit, and few any longer believed
in the great Gods on whose names myth and epic had
been built. In their place had arisen the pagan
c Mysteries ’ and the Soteric cults—Hermes, Isis, Attis,
Mithra had held their sway awhile and were now
following Zeus, Anienre£, Hercules and Mars into obli¬
vion. The philosophies of Plato, Epicurus and the
Stoics were the dry crusts education offered to thinking
men, who as yet hardly cared to notice the crazy
worship of a crucified Jew. When Christians made
themselves more unpopular than usual by refusing the
easy formal worship and State service which oiled the
machinery of society in that age, they brought on
 XIX

themselves a brief but brutal persecution, here and

there, and sometimes for several years on end. For the
rest, they were left to enjoy their lugubrious rites in
dark caves and catacombs, while their few real scholars
were famous only within their own community.
Persia had forcibly restored Zara thus tra’s Mazdeism
.as the State religion. But this restoration was imposed
from above; being based on the power of the rich and
mighty, and overburdened with purificatory rites and
monetary penalties for each offence, it awoke scant
response of love in the people’s heart. Nor could it
ever hope now to extend its sway and to unite a world
which Persia’s monarchs, following the steps of Darius
.and Xerxes, could now dream once more of conquering.
In Babylonia the old Chaldean paganism was dying-
out, along with its Western compeers, and in its place
many Gnostic sects throve, more or less Christian in
form, and all of them analogous to the Hermeticism
still prominent in Egypt though slowly yielding to the
Christian teachers from Alexandria. Beside these sects
—whereof the Marcionites and Bardesanians seem to
have been the chief—was the young Mandean religion
taught in prehistoric days—so it claimed—by the
Prophet Seth-el, son of Adam, and more recently by
John the Baptist in the Palestinian homeland. Filled
with memories of the Chaldean myths that paralleled
the Jewish ‘Genesis’ and the warm mysticism of
Chaldean esotericism, it was destined to sink lower and
lower into the magic, sorcery and spiritism which the
motherland of astrology had retained from its pagan
 XX

antiquity; it too could never aspire to become a reli¬

gion for the seeking world.
India was still, as always, a welter of competing but.
mutually tolerant faiths—the people being divided
between the timeless* Hinduism and the vigorous and,,
mainly, non-violent reformist faiths of Buddhism and
the Jains. The interplay between these was already
profoundly modifying each of them, and the Mahay ana.
taught by Asvaghosa and Nagarjuna later on was-
already in its primal glory; the Upanishads had pre¬
pared the ground for a great revival of personal love
and devotion to God, along with a realisation by
experience of the universal Unity.
In Central Asia spiritism in various shamanistic
forms, together with the cults of local and nature deities,
as in the Bon of Tibet and the Shinto of Japan, seems*
to have been prevailing; China was divided between the
traditional conservative philosophy of Confucius
(Khung-fu-tsii) and his followers, the mysticism of"
Lao-tsii’s ‘ Tao ’, and the slowly infiltrating Buddhism,
that predominated already on Persia’s eastern frontiers..
Taking a broad view of the known world at the
time, one can easily see how Mam felt that a genius
combining the ethics, ideals of purity, and devotion of
existing great religions, with the popular if grotesque
myths of the masses, could create a universal Faith
and unite the nations in a single body of aspiration,
and of righteousness.
The growing Christianity, with its close involvement
in the unpopular Jewish cult, was too exclusive, too-
 XXI

fanatical, and in that age too lost in verbal hair¬

splitting over the elaboration of a Law to replace
the lost Temple and Holy Land; it did not seem to
many outside its own communion as fitted to form
such a world religion. It lacked the gende tolerance
and understanding which India’s contact gave to
Mani’s Faith; it also lacked the serene patience which
naturally stems from a belief in reincarnation; it lacked
the culture which could see that Infinite Truth must
<■ have an infinity of facets, and can be approached upon
an infinity of paths, not one of which can be pro¬
claimed as the only right, not one denounced as wrong.
Yet all these elements were already in the world,
waiting for the new Messenger of the Light to utilise,
to weave into the wondrous garment of radiant wisdom
which he came to give the world. These, and other
coloured threads as well, Man! wove into the fabric of
his thought, which he dyed with the crimson of his own
heart’s blood.

2. Mani, the Messenger of the Light

1. The Parents of a Prophet

Like many of his great Brethren, Mani came of royal
blood. His father Pattiq, or Fattaq Babak, was the
son of Abu Barzam, so AnNadim tells us, of the
Haskanlya family, living in Ecbatana, then the summer
capital of the Parthian Empire. Schraeder takes this
name to be a corruption of ‘ Khaskaniya ’, the family
 XXII

name of the royal Arsacid line which ruled Persia

from b.c. 250 to a.d. 226.
This Pattiq married a girl named Mais or Otakhim,.
evidently of the same royal line, for the Tashi-tripitaka,
2141 a, says she belonged to the 4 family of Kamsar-
gan ’ and lived at 4 the royal abode of Bu4attiei (Pattiq)
her husband*—her own name being given here as
4 Muanyams, a corruption of the Syrian name
4 Mar-Maryam *, or Mary the holy. Christian writers
gave her the name 4 Karossa ’, of which there is no
other trace; it may derive from the family name
4 Kamsar * or be a corruption of the well-known name
4 AtossaJ, which could stand for any unnamed Per¬
sian lady.
Though all but deified by his followers while still
alive, Man! himself nowhere claims to be the Son of
God the Heavenly King; the frequent calling him
4 Son of the Ruler, or Rulers’ in Turfan texts seems to*
refer to this descent from the fallen dynasty of Par-
thians. He himself loved to call mankind his 4 brethren \
his 4 beloved ’, or his 4 limbs ’.

2. Birth and Childhood

For some reason Pattiq and his wife left their Ecba-
tana home and settled at Ctesiphon 1 in Babylonia.
Here he used to attend the local pagan temple, along"
with his neighbours. One day he heard a voice crying
from the idol-sanctuary: 44 O Pattiq, eat no meat,
1 Called Sou-Iin in Chinese, Suristan in Persian, and Mada’in
in Arabic. It is an hour’s run by car south of Baghdad.
 XX111
/

drink no wine, and touch no woman!” When this

happened on three successive days, Pattiq resolved to
obey. He left Gtesiphon, went to Maisan or Gharacene
on the Lower Tigris and joined the Mandean sect1
which was numerous there. He seems to have taught
his fellows the value of an ascetic and celibate life, and
it has even been suggested he may have written a part
of the Mandean scripture called ‘ Ginza \ c the
Treasure \
Mais was bearing a child just before this time, and as
we nowhere hear of mortal brothers or sisters, it was
probably the only one. While Man! was in the womb,
she used to enjoy pleasant dreams and, so AnNadim
tells us, she would on waking see an Angel carry the
unborn child up to heaven and then return him to the
womb after, sometimes, a day or two.
The child was ultimately born (possibly during
the southward journey) at the village of Baromia,
or Mardinu, near the Kutha Canal, just south of
the modern Baghdad. It was on the 7th or 25th
April, a.d. 215—the year the Roman Caracalla over¬
threw Vologeses V and brought his brother Artaban
IV (215-226) to the throne as the last Parthian King
in Persia. Mani himself tells us in Keph. I that
Artaban was already reigning at his birth.
His personal name may have been Shuraiq
(Cubricus), but every Manichean source knows him

1 i.e.s the socalled c Baptists of St. John’, a few of whom still

exist thereabouts in the midst of their Muslim neighbours. See
Lady Drower’s books.
 XXIV

only as e Man!5 or 6 Manichaios \ Bar Khoni thinks

the name derives from mana, illustrious, or vessel, but
the Persian books know the form ‘ manihi 9 from which
seems to come the usual form in Greek and Coptic
‘Manichaios5; there is also a chance that it may
connect with with the Semitic ‘Mnahirn \ the c Com¬
forter 5 or ‘ Paraclete5—a title later assumed by the
Prophet himself (Jn. 14 : 26). His own native Syriac
always calls him 6 Mani5, the form we use throughout
in this volume. The playful malice of his Christian
opponents saw in the name a reference to the e mania 5
of his doctrines—a typical piece of false etymology and
polemic propaganda !
For twelve years in Maisan Pattiq taught his little son
his own religion, with its background of mingled
Chaldean myth, asceticism, and Christianized Gnosis.
AnNadim tells us that even when extremely young Mani
used to utter ‘ words of wisdom5. He seems to have been
trained as an artist—his skill in painting even gave the
word mani significance as c painter5 in later Persian.
He had talents also in poetry, and an imagination of
amazing and unbridled power—as shown by his
moulding into a living whole of the myths long treasured
in his native land.

3. The Call to the Ministry (A. D. 228)

When Mani was just twelve, the Parthian dynasty
was overthrown by the Persian Sassanids; Ardashir I
(226-240), claiming to be a scion of the great Darius
and Xerxes of old, led a national revolt, and took the
 XXV

throne of Iran, driving the fallen dynasty into

Armenia.1 In those days Mani had a vision of the
‘Twin5 (Syr: Tom; Ar: etTawam), or the ‘Paraclete5,
a godlike Angel who came from “ the High God, King
of the Gardens of Light55. According to AnNadim,
this glorious messenger thus addressed him: “With¬
draw from this sect, for none of its people belong to
you; your concern is with purifying the soul and
.abandoning the passions. But (the time for) your
public appearance has not yet come, for you are still
too young.55 He should observe perfect celibacy and
wait for a second call in twelve years’ time.
Mani himself tells the story in his own way (Keph.
I): “In the same year that Ardashir was about to
receive the crown (i.e., March 228-April 229), then the
Living Paraclete came down to me and spoke with me.
He revealed to me the hidden Mystery which was
-concealed before the worlds and generations, the
Mystery of the Deep and the Height; he revealed to
me the Mystery of the Light and the Darkness, the
Mystery of the struggle, fight and great war which the
Darkness waged. After that he showed me also how
through their mingling the Light has interpenetrated the

1 Taqizadeh points out that though Gtesiphon fell late in March

227, Ardashir was already ‘King of Iran 5 by 223/4; the war broke
out when he founded a Fire-temple and palace at Gor, his provin¬
cial capital, and there were battles at Ispahan, Ahwaz and Meisan.
It was his grandfather Pabhagh who took Istaghir in Pars, slew
the local King Gochihr about A.D. 213, and overthrew the Baz-
-rangian dynasty there, of which his mother was a member.
Ardashir succeeded his father Shapur after a brief reign, and by
.208, at the age of about 28, he began to attack neighbouring Kings,
and soon became Commander-in-Chief.
 XXVI

Darkness, and how this world was founded. Thereon

he also taught me how the Ships were established, so*
that the Powers of Light could let themselves down in
them, so as to refine the Light out of creation, throwing
the dregs and refuse into the Abyss; the Mystery of the
creation of Adam the First Man; also the Mystery^
of the Messengers who are sent into the world to
choose out the churches; the Mystery of the Elect and'
their precepts; the Mystery of the Hearers, their
helpers, and their rules; the Mystery of the Sinners and
their deeds, and the punishment which draws near to
them. Thus through the Paraclete everything that
exists and will exist was revealed to me; ... all that
the eye sees and ear hears, the mind thinks and ther
heart desires—I have learnt all through Him. Through
Him I have seen the Whole, and become One Body
and One Spirit (therewith).”
When the end of his life drew near, Mani insisted.
(§19) before the persecuting King Bahram that he had
no human teacher but received his whole doctrine from
the God-sent Angel, his ‘ Twin9 or Higher Self,
whose presence and help throughout life he warmly
attested in M 49. There is not the slightest reason to-
doubt the total sincerity of this story; it is the experi¬
ence of every Messenger from God in all nations and.
every age. Yet of course the materials, woven afresh-
in a new pattern by the inspiration of the Prophet,,
were certainly drawn from his own background—in
hfani s case, from the dualism of Zarathushtra, the*
esotericism and the asceticism of Gnostic Christianity,,
 XXV11

the legends of Chaldean paganism and Mandean

ritual, the harmlessness of Jain and Buddhist, the lofty
ethic of the Sermon on the Mount.

4. Hidden Years (A. D. 228-240)

Of those twelve years of waiting little is known.
Probably Mani lived in comparative obscurity because
Ardashir restored Mazdeism as the State religion of
the Empire and exterminated most of the old royal
house, to which Mani himself apparently belonged.
They were years of war, for Ardashir demanded all the
lands lost to Rome; but his eleven years of fighting:
proved fruitless, the war restored the status quo.
Doubtless Mani gave his time to the study of earlier
religions, incorporating suitable elements from them
into the eclectic synthesis of his own Message. He
may even have come into contact with the then active
propaganda of Mahayana Buddhism, and with the
Hermetic Gnosis then freely circulating through Egypt,
Syria and much of the Hellenistic world, spread largely
by Stoics and Platonists. He was well informed
of Christian doctrine, specially honouring the Gospels
of Matthew, John and Luke, and the Epistles of Paul;,
in addition he shows clear knowledge of the Leucian
Acts of the Five Apostles and several apocryphal Gospels.
Tradition connects his name with those ofMarcion
and Bardaisan; surviving fragments show very close
parallels with the e Hymn of the Soul * and other
Gnostic poems now embedded in the Acts of John and
Thomas.
 XXV111

Bar Hebraeus tells us that Mani lived for some time

at Ahwaz, the capital of Susiana, as a 4 priest ’, but it is
most unlikely that he was in any sense a Christian priest.
Even as a lad he may have been regarded as a holy
man’, being filled with 4 words of wisdom , and
Alfaric quotes a source as saying that he began to
teach in Maisan where he grew up. It is likely that
he may even have gathered his first few disciples in
those very early days.
Even his bitterest enemies never ventured on any
blander against his personal character or alleged that
he fell away from the strictest celibacy at any time in
his life. He moved later in royal courts, but even then
such was his simplicity of life that he was called a
4 beggar } and 4 an insignificant man \ The surviving
writings of his personal followers show us a most
lovable person, faithfully doing God’s will on earth as
he saw it, treating all men with gentleness and kindly
affection, and winning from those who knew him best
a passionate love and boundless adoration, which
could be satisfied only by conferring titles of
divinity.

5. The Prophet is Proclaimed (A.D. 240-242)

At the age of twenty-four, apparently on 12 th April
240, though some calculate it as 31st March 241, Mani
again saw his Angel-Teacher, who said to him: 44 Now
the time has come for you to go out and proclaim your
authority (as God’s Prophet). Peace be on you, Mani,
from myself and from the Lord who sent me to you
 XXIX

and who has chosen you for His Message. He has

now bidden you to invite (people) to your Truth, and
to proclaim the good news of the Truth the True
Gospel) from before Him, and to persevere in that with
all your zeal.” Mani himself tells us in the Kephalaia
that “ he moved out in order to preach ... at the end
of King Ardashir’s years ”.
It was the second Sunday after Easter, 20th March
242, though some count it as 9th April 243, when the
new King Shapur I, now about 43 years old, was
crowned at his capital on the auspicious eve of the
Mlhrakan festival. On the same day Mani proclaimed
himself God’s Prophet, apparently in the royal cityr
though he does not seem then to have met the King.
Two disciples, Zakwa (Zakkouas) and Shamc6n by
name, were with him there, and AnNadim tells us
that his father Pattiq also stood by “ to watch what
would come of his mission At first nothing very
much seemed to come of it at all. The people were
more interested in the crowning of the secular
King than in lectures about an unseen spiritual King
of the Light.
But someone evidently warned King Shapur that
this move on the part of a scion of the old house
endangered the new; Mani found it desirable almost
immediately to flee the country and to seek shelter
in what was then almost the ends of the earth.
He “ took ship to the land of the Indians55 and
sailed on the first of his great missionary journeys
(Keph. 76).
 XXX

t>. The Mission to India (A.D. 243)

We may never know why Mani selected India;
perhaps he knew of the tolerance to be expected there,
which caused the welcome given four centuries later to
the Parsi refugees ; possibly some friend was about to
go there for trade and took him along with him.
His companions seem to have been Pattiq (his
father?) and Amu (Ammos), later the Apostie to
Central Asia.
He himself tells us (Keph. 76) that he “ preached to
them the Hope of Life and there chose out a good
selection ” of disciples. He roused some interest and
established his first churches in Sind, then largely
Buddhist and Jain in faith. There too, “ in the land
of the Brahman ”, he wrote his first book, the * Shapur-
aqan % in the Persian language in delicate flattery of
the Persian King. Probably by this use of, to him, a
foreign tongue he hoped to assure Shapur of his
political loyalty; in due course this book reached the
King’s hands and seems to have made a fair impression
on him.
For a short while all went well in Sind, but ap¬
parently his teaching of celibacy was found “ too
strict ” by the people, brought up to a more usual
view of family life. There was a swift reaction, and
they rejected Mani’s message; he says: “ At that hour
I ceased to find Light, I ceased to speak freely with
the Voice that is this Truth sojourning with me ”_
an interesting psychological reaction to resistance
(Cf. Mk. 6 : 5)!
 XXXI

With a few of his disciples Mani took ship westwards.

It was probably on this voyage occurred the quaint
incident narrated in MH. 91. They were in mid-sea
when a porpoise (?) lifted its head from the water and
cried to Mani for help; but he bade it go on its way.
The creature came again crying with pain from a head
wound, and so Mani was able to explain how while
plants have to suffer in silence animals can let us
inow of their pains and move away from their
cause. Evidently the extreme kindliness of his ethic
was already established, possibly by Jain contacts
in Sind.

7. To Khorassan (A.D. 243-244)

The little party landed on the Mekran coast and
immediately proceeded inland to Khorassan, the home¬
land of Mani5s Parthian ancestors. While in the desert
another incident occurred, which Amu later related to
the King: “ We were on our way, while our Father
(i.e.y Mani) sat on the mule. Then a big lion came
down to meet us, with an arrow in its side, weeping. So
our Father bade that it keep still while he removed it.
Then he spoke to us again: c You see this. That was
Pilate, who once condemned Jesus; but in his favour
he uttered one word, namely: Lo, my hands are pure
from the blood of this Righteous One. On that account
has he received forgiveness of (his) sins5 (MH. 91).”
Indian teachers even now often tell such stories to
illustrate their doctrines of karma and reincarnation—
e.g.y Ramana Maharshi about the cow Lakshmi.
 XXX11

We hear little of Mani’s mission to Khorassan, but:

it must have been successful, for in later years this
always proved a safe refuge for persecuted Manicheans*
At this time Tabari (1 : 833) tells us: <e When Ardashir
died and Shapur became ruler, the latter appointed
his own son Hormizd to the Governorship of Khoras-
san.” This prince may soon have been recalled, but
the contact with Mani there may have led to his con¬
version, perhaps later, while the Prophet was at the
court of his father. The Governor was now Feroz, King
Shapur’s brother. We have in M 47 the interesting story
of his meeting with the Prophet: c£ Now the King oF
Kings had two brothers with names Meswan the lord
and Mihrsah—and he was the implacable enemy of the
Messenger’s Religion. He had planted a garden very
splendid and wonderfully planned, having no equal.
When the hour of salvation had come to him, the Mes¬
senger appeared there before Mihrsah who was joyfully
, banqueting in the garden . . . Then the King
asked the Messenger, ‘ In the Paradise you speak of (?)
could there be a garden like this garden of mine ? y
Then the Messenger punished this scoffing word ;
immediately through his power he showed him the
Paradise of Lights, with all Gods and deities, and the
imperishable Wind of Life, and the garden altogether
. . . and another . . . Thus he remained un¬
conscious for three hours while he pondered in the
heart what he had seen. Then the Messenger laid a
hand on his head, and he returned to consciousness.
When he stood up, he fell at the Messenger’s
 XXX111

feet and took his right hand (i.e., took him as his
teacher).”
By this conversion of a princely Governor Mani was
set firmly on the road that led him first to royal favour
and then to exile and martyrdom.

8. Early Travels (A.D. 244-245)

Mani then “ went through all the land of Persia and
her towns, preaching in the living Truth which was with
him, according to the light of the license to preach
given him by the Powers and Authorities ”, so he
tells us. Prince Feroz seems to have encourag¬
ed this open propaganda for a while, though
local jealousies soon led to a demand for its
cessation.
Then he moved over the great plateau and down to
the green plains of his own homeland; for some time
he taught at Maisan, at that time a large and busy
market city. Here too he established his Church on a
strong organised basis, but here too the people as a
whole rejected him; they found his teaching harder to
bear even the alternating tyrannies of Roman and
Persian Emperors over them, together with the petty
extortions of their countless subordinate officials.
Perhaps this was when Mani had his discussion with a
* Nasorean *, or Mandean. about God’s justice and
declared that even earthly judges are cruel only to the
wicked and uphold righteousness; his own later experi¬
ences probably forced him to revise this naive estimate
(Keph. 89).
G
 XX XIV

He travelled northwards over Mesopotamia to

Babylon, which he here calls ‘ the land of the Assy¬
rians ’. Here also he founded his Church and for some
time preached to good effect. Probably this was when
he had the discussion with a Babylonian about the
origin of humanity narrated in Keph. 57. But at last
the local rulers here too rose against him, incited by
the 4 sects ’—probably various kinds of Christians and
Chaldean pagans. He assures us that only God’s pro¬
tection enabled him to pass even a single day longer in
their land, and wonders how the people there could
patiently endure all their worldly tyrants while they
could not bear the sweet yoke of righteousness he
would lay upon them, but hindered him all they could.
He left Babylon, and went further north into the
hills of Media and Armenia. Here the same story
repeated itself. Mani made a few disciples everywhere
—disciples who clung to the Faith through centuries of
bitter persecution—but most of the people were
unconvinced and unattracted.
The 4 Parthia * to which he next turned was prob¬
ably the Caspian coasdand of Mazendaran, for we
next find Mani at the royal city of Jund-i-Shapur in
south-west Persia not far from the ancient Susa, and a
great garrison fort commanding the road towards the
heart of the Persian Empire.

?. Mani at King Shapur’s Court (a.d. 245-255)

Evidendy Prince Feroz reported to the King, his
brother, that Mani had no political ambitions but was
 XXXV

-concerned with giving the Empire a religion that could

unify its varied peoples. For about this time Shapur
invited the Prophet to live at his court.
When Mani entered the royal presence a wonder
manifested itself, so AnNadim tells us: “Upon his
shoulders was the likeness of two torches of light, and
when Shapur saw it he esteemed it greatly and it was
important in his eyes. He had formerly thought to
scourge and kill him, but when he made his acquain¬
tance veneration arose and he rejoiced in him. He
asked Mani why he entered, and then gave hopes that
he would turn to him (as a convert).” In his * Chrono-
logyJ, p. 191, Biruni tells us: “King Shapur began
to believe in him when he had been raised on high
"with him and supported with him in the air between
heaven and earth ’’—which recalls the story of how
an Angel used to raise the unborn Mani himself, and
the story of Simon’s levitation before the Roman
Emperor, found in the Clementines and book's of
similar provenance. Certain Manicheans told Biruni
that Mani often used to go up thus to Heaven for
several days to avoid his followers, while others denied
all such miraculons tales.
AnNadim goes on: “So Mani asked him a host
of needs, among them that his followers be respected
in the country and in all the towns of his kingdom,
and that they might enter any of the towns they
wished.” This request evidently stemmed from Mani5s
rather discouraging reception hitherto; a letter of
royal support would prevent at least open opposition.
 XXX VI

We learn that “ then Shapur agreed (to give) him the

whole of what he asked On Mani’s request he
wrote letters to all the Governors, nobles and royal
kinsmen, telling them not to hinder the Prophet in
any way.
Mani gives a laconic account of this event, saying"
merely: “ I appeared before Shapur the King; he
received me with great honour and allowed me to
move about in his realm and to preach the Word of
Life ” (Keph. 1). Later on, he testified to Bahram
I: “ King Shapur looked after me, he wrote letters
about me to all people to this effect: ‘Protect him
and support him, so that no one should offend and
sin against him *55 (MH 48).
It is said that Shapur for ten years adhered to-
Mani’s religion; it is to this period we may assign the
several incidents of his life at Court narrated in the
6 Kephalaia ’—an all-but contemporary story written
down at Mani’s own request by eyewitnesses, to pre¬
serve a record of his day-to-day teachings. In Keph.
1 he himself says: “ I spent further years . . . with him
in the royal retinue: many years in Persia, in the land
of the Parthians, as far as Adiabene (Kurdistan) and the
frontier adjoining the territory of the Roman Empire.”

10. Two Manis or One

This little story, so happily saved for us in Keph. 76
out of the general wreckage of Manichean sources,
runs thus: “ Once it happened as our Lord and
Luminary Mani sat in the city of Gtesiphon, King:
 XXX Vll

Shapur asked about him and had him called; then

•our Lord got ready and went to Shapur the King.
Then he returned and re-entered his Church. When he
had passed a short time sitting there, then King Shapur
again enquired for him . . . and sent to call him. So
Mani returned and went again to King Shapur, spoke
with him, and preached God’s Word to him. Again
he came back and entered the church. Yet a third
time did King Shapur ask after and summon him;
then he once more returned to him.
“ Then one of his disciples named Aurades son of
Kapelos answered and said to our Luminary: * O
please, our Lord, give us two Manis who resemble
thyself and come down like thee! Good and serene
and kind must they be and then the disciples will walk
in righteousness like thyself. . . . While (one) Mani
will stay with us like thee, (the other) Mani can go to
Shapur the King, while his mind is being convinced
by the preaching of the Truth to him!9
“ When our Luminary heard these words from that
disciple, he nodded his head and said to him: ‘ See I,
a single Mani, have come to the world to preach the
Word of God therein, and in it do the good Will which
has been given me to do. Now look, (though) I am
only a single Mani, they have not given me a chance
to speak freely in the world, for I have striven hard to
find opportunity and to carry out the good Will that
is entrusted to me; yet have I in living truth done the
work of the Mystery I preach. So I have gone
everywhere to do the Will of the Light and to spread abroad
 XXXV111

this truth as I have been given (it). And see, the world
resists me in every way, heaping calumnies upon me through
its Sects. They give me therein no place to speak, even
while I am (only) a single Mani. ... If we had done
just as you have said to us, what should we do then ?
Of what sort would the result be ? Well, this is how I
answer you, and I proclaim it to you! *”
Mani then - related his experiences in India, Persia,
Chaldea, Assyria, Media and ‘ Parthia ’; everywhere
opposition to his teaching had soon forced him to-
withdraw. Men were ready to submit to any amount
of oppression from political, bureaucratic and military
tyrants, but would not accept the sweet burden of
God’s Law.
The story goes on: “ Then the Messenger said to
this disciple: ‘ When . I, a single Mani, came to the
world, all the world’s cities were stirred and hesitated,
they would not accept me unless I (first) subdued their
rebellion. I set truth in the hearts (?), I tamed their
powers, I brought out all the impurity (?) which was
therein ; I planted therein the Tree of Wisdom. I sowed
the seed of Life, I chose one by one (disciples) out of
the multitudes. ... I, a single Mani, came into the
world and spoke; all the powers of the world have been
moved and confusion has arisen before me. If now twa
Manis had come to the world, where would they be
able to bear them, or which land would be able to wel¬
come them?
“ ‘ I, a single Mani, have come, and I walk on tiptoe
cautiously; there has been no chance for me to stand in it
 XXXIX

firmly on the fullness of my feet, that I might walk on ther

earth like everyone (else) and do in it the will of God
entrusted to me. . . . But you, do you all pray to
God that He may bring to the end o/ his mission this
one Mani who is among you this day, so that whatever
may happen to his flesh-body he shall do the will of the
Living One in the holy Church. And you, hail to you if
you strengthen yourselves in the Truth I have given
you, so that you may thereby stand firm in the Life
which endures for ever and ever.’
Thereupon, when that disciple had heard this, he
said to the Messenger: 1 Hail to the Lord of me and of
all my brethren, who hear these great things from thee!
We know that we are all of us in the Living One, but
we have lived in that thou hast come to us; we have
found the Truth more than all men who are in the
world. Which of us could fully repay to thee the good
thou hast done to us, O Father, save the Father who
has sent thee ? He can fully recompense thee for the
pains, for the reward which thou desirest from the
God who sent thee is this: Every prayer which thou
prayest the Father, He should grant thee thy prayer
and thy request.’ ”
This little story gives us a happy glimpse into the
personal relationship between Mani and his followers,
and into the charming sense of humour shown by the
Prophet: When men cannot put up with even one
Mani, what on earth will they do with two ?
The talk with the < Nasorean 5 already referred to
gives us another such glimpse. It begins: “ Again it
 xl

, once happened that a Nasorean came before the Mes¬

senger and said to him: 41 will ask thee in one word;
do thou thyself convince me with a single word, but
not with many words.’
“ Then the Messenger said to him: 4 If thou canst
utter to me a single word, then will I also say (only) a
single word to thee. But if thou askest me many
(things), then I too shall utter a crowd to thee! *
44 Then that Nasorean said to the Messenger: 4 Thy
God to whom thou prayest, is He good or evil ? *
44 Then said the Messenger to that Nasorean: c Now
then, look out! See, thou hast not asked me one single
word, but thou hast asked a crowd of words V Then the
Messenger said to him: 6 My God is a Judge.5 55 The
discussion then proceeded to show that every Judge
upholds good and represses evil; so also God.

11. The Ugly Saint

A story in Keph. 83 shows us something of Mani’s
personal kindness which is very pleasing. There was
once a great gathering of all the elite and nobility of a
certain city, and Mani sat down in their midst. Pre-
sendy came one of the most faithful and pious of his
Elect, deeply learned in the doctrine and perfect in his
holy righteousness—but outwardly very ugly to look at.
The story goes on: “ When he had entered he threw
himself down on the ground and bowed lovingly be¬
fore the Messenger. Then the crowd of men, nobles
and free women, looked and they saw how that Elect
cried out, called much and prayed in his joy. When
 xli

"they looked at him and saw how ugly he was in his

"body, being ungainly (?) and fat (?), they all laughed
at him and made fun of him. They talked about
him with one another with laughter and scorn. . . .
But that laughter did. not embarrass that Elect, who
prostrated continually while praising the beloved Master.
“ Whereas the Messenger, the Glorious One, stood up
on the dais whereon he sat; he drew him to himself,
took him close, and pressed him on his body (i.e.y back,
in embrace), while he was being kissed by that Elect,
.and (then) he sat down. . . . He seated himself
upon his dais before the Elect and the whole assembly
of the nobles and the free women who sat before him.
He asked them: c Why do you laugh at this man in
whom dwell the Light-Mind and the Faith? s ”
He went on to show that it is the Soul which matters,
that God sends the Messengers to rescue the beautiful
Soul out of its ungainly prison, the material body. As*
the diver takes the shining pearl out of the ugly oyster
shell and then offers it to the King, so too the righte¬
ous Soul is presented to the King of Light to enjoy the
-endless bliss of Heaven. There is some indication in
the broken text that this wise teaching was accepted
and that the crowd showed respect to the ugly Saint
-after hearing the Master’s reproof of their foolish
levity.

12. The Tigris Flood

The following story in Keph. 61 shows how Mani
'used incidents in daily life to explain his teaching.
 xiii

ee Again when once the Messenger entered in before

Shapur the King, then he kissed him, he greeted (?)
him, and he went out again from before King Shapur^
He seated himself upon a dyke which had at that time
been built up on the bank of the great Tigris River.
It was the month of Pharmuthi (Feb.-Mar.); the Tigris
River was then very full with much water, it foamed
( ?), bubbled up, it roared under the great flood that
the waters had poured down. It streamed through,
the city gates while they only collapsed, and the waters
entered into the centre (?) of the town until they flooded
the market-place of the city—the other little markets (?)
of the city also went under water because of the violence oF
its onrush. Also its government stood there in great
alarm because of the fullness of the flood of this water-
{< The Messenger then stood there on the dyke, while
with him were also standing three of his disciples,.
Leaders of his Church. They gazed at the River full
of so many waters, and saw how this water rose up
against the city walls and even poured inside the walls^
Then one of his disciples spoke to the Messenger,
saying; ‘How great is the strength of the Garment of
Water! How big it is to come in raging flood filling
the River Tigris with its volume like a great sea! It
has hurled waves from bank to bank and reached from
wall to wall! How vast must be the source that pours
out all these waters, that they come every year at their
proper time!’
“ Then the Messenger said to him: £ Why do you
wonder at the volume of the Tigris water, or why be
 xliii

astounded at its flood? Now listen to this that I shall

tell you, and wonder indeed at the flood which was in.
this first age! . . .’ ” Then he went on in his own way
to tell of the mighty Element of Water, sacrificed by
the Divine First Man to the Powers of Darkness,,
narrated in his own c Great Gospel5—where we need
not follow him. He closed with the remark that God
must be infinitely greater than His own creature.

13. Sunrise and Cloud

Keph. 65 tells us of this incident: “Again, when
once the Messenger sat there in the assembly of hisr
disciples, the Sun then rose. He began to teach his-
disciples of the Sun’s greatness and divinity, how it
was patterned on the fashion of the First Greatness
(i.e.9 Supreme God). He revealed (truth) to them and
said: 4 It is .the Gate of Life and the Vehicle of Peace-
for this great Aeon of the Light for ever (i.e., of this
world). But then Satan knew that it is the door for
the souls’ escape, so he put a strong injunction in his
Law that none should honour it, saying: He who
honours it shall die (cf. Job 31:26-27, Ezek. 8:16-17)..
He has also named it the corruptible Light, thereby
preventing the Souls from merely turning their faces-
towards the Light, and has caused them to deny the
Light of their being.’ ”
Mani then went on with a beautiful account of ther
Sun’s value to us in its seven ‘ good deeds’: (i) it gives
light and vision to all, (ii) it destroys the fears lurking-
in darkness, (iii) it wakens us from sleep, (iv) it gives.
 xliv

life and sweetness to trees, fruits and flowers, (v) it

’drives snakes and vermin from our path, (vi) it reduces
the pain of wounds and sickness, and (vii) reveals to
us the wonders of all creation. Thus its five great
gifts^to us are Light, Beauty, Joy, Life and Strength.
Should we not then be grateful to it for this? Mani
-ended with comparing the Sun to the Messenger of the
Light himself, and its work with the spiritual mission
of God’s Prophets to men.
The last chapter (95) of the same precious ‘ Kepha-
■laia ’ gives us another spontaneous little address. This
begins thus: “While the Messenger again sat in the
-assembly of his disciples^the sky was clouded on that
day—then he raised his eyes and saw these clouds on
that day. He said to his disciples: ‘ This cloud which
is visible to you, which you see, I shall show you and
make clear to you how it has come up. . . .’ ” He
then entered on an involved account of the different
Linds of clouds derived respectively from the five
Elements of Fire, Water, Wind, Light and Air—which
need not detain us here; it is highly mythological
in content.

14. Alienation from King Shapnr (A.D. 255)

During those ten years Mani seems to have stayed
at the King’s side, teaching his doctrines and trying
to wean from violence and vainglory a monarch of a
dynasty devoted more than most to war, hunting, and
display. No doubt, during those years he must have
'ravelled widely in the royal retinue, from as far east
 xlv

as the limits of Khorassan to the western boundaries

of the Empire in South Armenia.
He can have found little time for writing during-
this busy period, but some of his lost Epistles may well
date back to it. The ‘ Great Epistle to Pattiq oF
which AnNadim tells us—No. 7 in his list—and which
is probably the ‘ Fundamental Epistle’ of St. Augustine
and Euodius, resembles in style what we know of the
c Shapur-aqan \ The lost volume of Mani’s Epistles
may well have been bound in almost chronological
order, for Nos. 1, 2, 4 and 5 seem to be on topics-
which must have demanded early treatment, and
Nos. 3, 6, 8 and 10 are addressed to places visited in the
early years—India, Babylonia, Armenia and Ctesiphon.
But this comparatively quiet time was now to end.
Kings are notoriously fickle, and the new Sassanid
dynasty founded its power on a claim that it restored
the religion taught of old by Zarathushtra and held by
the glorious line of ancient Persian Emperors—Cyrus,
Darius and Xerxes. We can well understand how a
senate dominated by the orthodox Magi must view
with strong disfavour a King who was all but a convert
to some new religion—and that one pacifist and non¬
violent! This smouldering resentment was undermining
the throne, and it is not strange that a man like Shapur
should place his own power and titles above loyalty ta
a mere vagrant Prophet.
So we learn that under the influence of the Magi
Shapur the King broke with Mani, reverted to ortho¬
doxy, and sent the Prophet into exile—though he does.
 xlvi

jiot seem to have cancelled his earlier letters tb the

provinces that he should not be molested.
. This left the King free tor indulge in the warlike
:adventures so dear to his people. Taking advantage
of the Roman Emperor’s absence, his armies overran
much of Syria and even captured Antioch. Valerian
hurried back to deal with this serious invasion and
retook Antioch, but unwisely following Shapur over
the Euphrates was captured with most of his army near
Edessa in a.d. 260. Persia recovered much of the lost
provinces, adding Antioch, Tarsus and Cesarea,
-Shapur’s victorious army being checked only outside
.the walls of Palmyra. Meanwhile the wretched
Valerian was kept prisoner till he died; then the body
was crucified, stuffed with straw, and hung up in a
Babylonian temple—a tragic foreshadowing of Mani’s
own fate seventeen years later.

15. Mam’s 6 Twelve Apostles 9

Like his predecessor Jesus, Mani seems to have called
out a special group of inner disciples who, after his
own departure, were to carry on his work as ‘ Apostles’
in the Church—one of them to succeed him as the
Leader, or Arkhegos, of the Religion. Several of these
-seem to have usually gone with him on his travels,
while the others stayed in various provinces to organise
the Church there, awaiting their turn to share the
burdens of travelling with the Master. It is clear
Jrom Keph. 85 that this organisation was in fact deve¬
loped during the Prophet’s own lifetime.
 xlvii

We have no single list of these (Twelve Apostles *

^and are left to speculate about the identity of some;
but among the number we have authority for including
most of the following names.
Sisin (Sisinnios), destined later to succeed Mani,
seems to have been a constant companion, and so he
was the accredited biographer of the c Memorabilia5—
a book which survived for at least eight or nine cen¬
turies and was known to Hegemonius. He may also
have written our ‘Kephalaia of the Sage5. But Mani
sent him several letters, which at least suggests a period
of physical separation. He was a man of intense
sincerity and boundless courage, worthy to be the
‘ St. Peter5 of the new Church. He was known to the
Chinese as Mo-szu-hsin, the e holy King of the Law and
two of his psalms survive in the Chinese book now in
the British Museum (BM), one on the Impermanence
of the Body, and the other on the glory of the As¬
cended Mani.
Innai (Innaeus), probably at this time a mere youth,
but devoted to his Master. He later became Sisin’s
successor and appears * likely to have been the first
author of the pathetic story of Mani’s suffering and
. death, which leaves off at a point when Innai himself
was still alive.
Kushtai (Custaeus) was Mani’s personal secretary
and the author of the apocalyptic book c The Great
War which shows affinity with the Jewish apo¬
calypses of Elijah and Zephaniah, probably of the 2nd
century (cf. GY 95-98).
 xlviii

Salmai (Salam, Salmaeus) was the author of the

moving 4 Threnody5 in MH, which shows him to have
been a passionate devotee of the Lord.
Amu (AmmoSj Wei-Mao) established the Faith in
Turkestan; a book of his Acts, recalling Christian
apocrypha, seeuis to have related many interesting
experiences; several fragments survive, besides the
hymn in BM describing the Land Gf Light.
Addai, said to have been later the Apostle to the
East, i.e., to Khorassan. He may be the 4 Adimantus *
who carried the Faith to Africa and supplied in his
4 The Bushel * the epitome of five Scriptures now
known to us in Chinese as the 4 CMT 9; 4 The Doctrine
of Addai* may not directly relate to him.
Zakwa (Zaku, Zakouas) taught the Faith in Syria
and South Palestine in A.D. 274, even while his Master
was still alive.
Paapi (Pappos) the Egyptian, to whom Episde 20
was sent. About A.D. 295 he was opposed in Egypt
by Alexander of Lycopolis.
Gavriavi (Gabriabios) is probably the 4 Khabara * of a
Turfan fragment and the 4 Khabarhat ’ of Epistles
14, 15 and 18. He seems to have taken over authority
for some time during the persecution on Mani’s death.
Bahraya (Baraias), named in Epistles 85 and 38.
To these ten we may add the semi-mythical Thomas,
whom Mani sent to Egypt and Syria, the author by
A.D. 290 of a group of splendid Psalms in MP. But it
is quite possible that the real author, 4 Thom as the
Coptic calls him, is the 4Twin* (cf. §3), Mani’s
 xlix

inspiring Angel—the Psalms being then ascribed, as so

often in literature of the age, to the inner source of
their inspiration.
The name of Pattiq, who was with Mani on the
Indian mission and again during his last journey on
earth, may or may not refer to Mani’s own father. If
it was he, by A.D. 280, when Pattiq carried the Faith
to Rome itself, he must have by then attained a great
age. To him in Egypt between A.D. 244 and 251, we
learn, the 4 Fundamental Epistle 5 was sent.
The mysterious 4 Lord Syrus 9 who hastened to the
scene of his Master’s death soon after it happened, and
who told of it in MP. 14-20, may also have been an
4 Apostle’, or the name may simply refer to some
4 Syrian Saint’, i.e., perhaps Zakwa. Of4 Ozeos9 (the
Susianese) we know almost nothing, unless he were the
same' as 4 Addai Quoting Mani-Fund, p. 15. Alberry
tells us (MP. p. 97) that Herakleides, writer of some
of the loveliest Psalms, was also one of the Twelve
Apostles.

16. Into Central Asia (A. D. 255-273)

Mani . took to the road again. Faced with the
seeming failure of his efforts to win royal support, his
courage was at least justified by the thought of the
little churches scattered over the wide Empire, whereas
in his time Zarathushtra’s first ten years of labour had
won barely a single disciple (cf. GZ 30 :2).
He seems to have visited Khorassan once more, and
here he probably wrote both the 4 Living Gospel ’ and
D
 1
the ‘Treasure of Life ’; hence too no doubt he sent
many of his Epistles, such as those to Babylon, Edessa
(Urfa), Maisan and Ahwaz, and some of those sent to
disciples whom he had to leave behind on going into
exile. The Epistles to Menaq the Virgin and to Hata
survived even as late as the 10th century, but now all
have been lost. One addressed to Feroz and Rasin,
No. 73, may be intended for the King’s brother, the
Governor of Khorassan, and his minister.
From Khorassan the littie group will have moved on
into Bokhara, and so into Western Turkestan. In a
cave hereabouts Mani is said by Mirchand to have
passed one year in solitary communion with Heaven;
he came out of this with his 4 Ertenk ’, a beautifully
illustrated copy of a book covering the whole of his
Religion. We are told that he completely covered the
walls of this cave with his paintings, and even Ephrem
speaks of his great talent in the painting art.
From the e Ardavift ’ Muller gives us three little
stories, which may refer to this sojourn of Mani in
Central Asia.
The first tale is of a Messenger who came to Ardav,
the King of Turan, as a 44 doctor of Babylon . . . sent
to him by the Gods ” to cure a young girl. The name
of this c doctor * was 4 Mar (i.e., Saint) M-*\ After
miraculously curing the littie maid, the Saint raised
the King into the air, and there proved his great
wisdom by searching questions; after this, we are
told, the nobles of Turan embraced the stranger’s
.religion.
 li

In the second story a certain 44 righteous man ”

•presented himself to Khabara and his colleague
Abursam, and there prayed, giving homage to the
Word. When asked about his own faith, this man said
that he adored and paid his vows to Jesus; his prayer
had been heard, and he was given by Angels the “ soul
•of Darav ” (is this 4 Ardav * ?), and the (Spiritual)
King’s marvellous Robe. The two men fell at his feet
and accepted him as their Master; he taught them to
-overcome the breast’s twelve sins, the hands’ nine, and
the nine of the mouth—i.e., Mani’s three 4 Seals ’ (cf.
GPM 40:2). This seems to describe the conversion of
.Khabara (Gavriavi) and his friend, who may be the
4 Abzakhya ’ or Bahraya of Epistles 47, 49 and 67.
'The 4 Righteous ’ is clearly Mani himself.
The third tells of a woman who violated the rule not
to weep for her dead child. When she learned that
the tears she was letting fall on his body were
killing his Soul (a teaching of the Parsis also), she
-ceased. A 44 man of God ”, probably Mani himself,
received her confession and promise of amendment,
.and prayed to God to pardon her and give her His
grace.

After some years in Turkestan, Mani went on to

4 China ’—by which is almost certainly meant Sinkiang,
where his Faith ultimately became for some time pre¬
dominant. BirUni tells us that he next visited Tibet,
and if this is true it may be the earliest historical
ireference to that country-—whose religion at the time
 lii

was the darkest shamanism. Through one of the*

passes Mas£udi tells us, he came down thenc^ into
Kashmir, and so probably revisited his tiny churches
in Sind.
During these eighteen years of travel Mani seems to
have been nowhere molested or hindered in his religious-
work ; this seems to show that ‘ the letters of Shapur
still had power even in the distant marches of his.
Empire and beyond.

17. A Manichean King (A.D. 273-274)

News came to Mani that when Shapur, the King of
Kings, had reached the town of Bih-Shapur he had
fallen ill and died on 16th April, his son Hormizd (I),
then Governor of Khorassan, succeeding him. Of this
King we are told that he was definitely a disciple of
Mani—which could hardly have made him popular
with the Magians.
Hearing the news of the change of ruler, the Prophet,
at once hastened to Persia and met the new King,,
saying to him: “ They call you a good King; then it is
for you to save men from sin and to let everyone have the
chance to live.” He also offered, if the King so willed,,
to live with him from that day on and guide him, as
he had formerly done with his father. He seems also-
to have suggested a visit to Assyria and that Hormizd
should give him letters of protection for the purpose;,
this he at once agreed to do. Thus the mission,,
with the aid of Mani’s books, naming here (MH. 43)
4 The Gospel’ and ‘The Mysteries’, was officially-
 liii

authorised. Unhappily for Mani, however. King

Hdrmizd was dead within the year, not improbably
poisoned by the orthodox; to the throne succeeded
his son Bahram I, an irresponsible young man, cruel
arid vain, and a lover of pleasure. Mani’s own com¬
ment reads: “ The Satan was envious and swiftly
snatched him away; his son placed the crown on his
head in his place.”

18. Mani’s Last Journey (A.D. 274-277).

Mani seems to have realised his danger, for he at
once travelled up the other side of the Tigris, meeting
everywhere his little churches and giving great delight
and courage to the disciples. He went as far as Na-
(bar wan ?), where he knew his time in Mesopotamia
would now be short. He crossed the ferry here, and
was planning to retreat right across Persia to the
•comparative safety of Khorassan or Kushan. In this
•direction he got only as far as Hormizd-akhshahr
(Ahwaz, still an important town of Khuzistan), where
“the King’s - peremptory order overtook him, forbidding
him to proceed any further.
“ Thereon,” says the account in MH, on which we
rely largely for the last scenes of Mani’s devoted life,
u he returned in vexation and sorrow; he came to
Susiana In the neighbouring province of Khuzistan
the late King Hormizd had given him a small town to
live in, and he may have thought for a while of
retreating- there. But he now knew his hour was come
and returned to Babylonia itself, to meet his enemy
and his fate face to face. After a brief halt in Maisanr
his childhood home, he recrossed the Tigris and pro¬
ceeded straight to Ctesiphon, then the winter capital.
He may still have had some idea of persuading Bahram.
to let him withdraw quietly to Khorassan so as ,ta-
leave him in peace to govern as he liked, but he-
evidently failed to meet the King here. Probably^
he had already moved with the Court to Belapat,1
adjoining the fortress of Jund-i-Shapur.
In the fragment T. II. D. 163, Pattiq tells us:
“At that time when the Righteous One (i.e., Mani)
left the city of Ctesiphon and together with King Baat
proceeded towards Pargalia, that holy Mani said to me:
‘ Do not come again with his2 party at this timey,
then tell him that he should leave us and go to His
Majesty \ ” Of this King Baat nothing definite seems-
to be known, but the name, Henning points out, is-
Armenian, and the fallen Parthian dynasty to which
Mani belonged still ruled in Armenia* His association
with this Armenian kinglet was a serious grievance in
Bahrain’s mind; could Baat have been a convert
whom Mani was suspected of plotting to put on the
throne? The narrator of MH adds that after the little-
party left Ctesiphon, “ While he was on the way he
hinted (to the disciples) about his crucifixion, saying to
them: ‘ Gaze at me and sate yourselves with me, my

1 Beth Lapat, Belabad, or Vahi-andiok Shapuhr, lay between

Susa and Shushtar; it is now a total ruin and shows hardly
a trace of the great royal city once standing there.
3 i.e.y Baat’s. Mani perhaps wished to dissociate his disciples from
the dangerous company of this kinglet.
 lv

children, for I shall (soon) withdraw myself physically

from you.’55
So they came to Pargalia. Here he went with King
Baat to the lecture-hall (hermeneia) of the little church,
where he met the local group of disciples, with an Elder
or two. He gave them his last detailed instructions, two
of which were <e Take care of my books ”, and e£ Look
after my widows and orphans ” (i.e., those of the
Church). He told the Elect to be constant in teaching
the Hearers, whose spiritual life depended so largely
upon their efforts (MH. 35). At this place also came an
urgent invitation: ec All the brethren begged the Lord to
come to Gaukhai.1 ”
Mani at once started off towards Gaukhai, to gratify
the faithful of the Church there, and soon reached
Kholassar2 on the way. The much broken Turfan
story of T. II. D. 163 takes up the tale here:
“ Then when he was staying in Gaukhai in Beth-Deraye,3
then the Elect who were in Gaukhai gathered to meet us.
And I (i.e., Pattiq) was there, and I announced
the news in front of several disciples from among
the twelve Teachers (i.e.y Apostles: cf. list in §15)
and in the presence of Bahman ” (? or the Divine

1 Or e Jdkha very near to Mani’s birthplace at Baromia. This

was a village on the swampy banks of the river of the same name
between Khaniqin and Khuzistan, 30 miles east of the Tigris.
2 Or Artemita, Deir Tadema, or Tidema, 11 farsangs from
Baghdad, a small town through which runs the stream Siila or
Kabir.
3 Or Badaraya, now Badrai on the Persian frontier east of
Gtesiphon and'north of AnNukhailat in the Nahrawan province;
the river of this name runs north and north-east of Qut.
 lvi

Mind, i.e., Mani himself).’5 Mani here seems to have

told the news that he was on the way to Belapat to
meet the King, though “he knew that if he left
that place (i.e., Gaukhai) he would not be allow¬
ed to meet his disciples again ”. We learn that
King Baat was again present in the lecture-hall
here also.
Pattiq seems to have had a vision, for the Turfan
story goes on: “ Furthermore, Pattiq saw another sign
and said: c I see that the Righteous One has risen, and
for several days the Tigris River is flooded with the
Garment of Water. . . . , that he majestically enters and
leaves the Royal Gate. Thereon Kardel the Priest
plotted with his friends who served before the King,
and inspired by jealousy and cunning worked evil against
our Lord.” But Mani was ready to “ fulfil his mystery
through the Gross ”, for he too must show the perfect
love of God’s Messengers by laying down his life for
others (GPM 39: 2). So he set his face firmly, as Jesus
to Jerusalem, to go up to Belapat to endure his destiny
of pain and so to ascend to his eternal Rest in the
Kingdom of the Father, whence he had come to work
His will on earth.

19. Mani Accused before the King

The following story, though perhaps rather long, is
of great interest because derived wholly from Mani -
chean works, and I believe no attempt to weave these
fragments together into a coherent whole has been
made before; it throws light on a subject hitherto most
 lvii

^obscure, though it is still in parts uncertain and

obscure where the texts are badly broken.
Mani was now on his way, following the old road
.across Anatolia to the East through Susa and Persepolis.
Meanwhile his enemies had been busy. The Parsi
priests or Magi had already issued “ lying screeds”,
-accusing him of various offences against Religion and
of disturbing the whole Empire with false and pernicious
^doctrines (cf. Lk. 23 : 2),
u So Mani came to Belapat, the place of the crucifixion
.and the place where the chalice of the agony (?) had
been mixed. When the Magi noticed him they asked:
Who now is this who has come here ?5 and they were
told, £ That is Mani! 5 When they heard this, then they
became enraged and full of anger ”; this was on the
^Sunday (MH. 60). 4 ‘ They went and accused him to
Kardel; Kardel in his turn reported it to the Joint-
Magistrate (?), and the Joint-Magistrate (?) went and
-forwarded the accusation to the Magistor (?City Magis¬
trate), while the Magistor told the King (MH. 45).”
Filled with hate, a crowd of the Magi followed the
City authorities before the King with their complaint:
“ They all cried out with one voice to the godless Judge,
saying to him words in which there was no truth:
* Lo, in these days a man has appeared, fighting
against us and bringing our affairs to nought. With
one accord we implore thee, O King, do away with
him, for he is a teacher who leads men astray! * When
he heard these words the foolish man, King of these
^pitiless ones, was astonished, the evil-fated malefactor;
 lviii

he sent* he called my Shepherd 59 (MP. 15), and thus “on.

Monday he was accused before the King (MH. 45).99
“ So my Lord came to the Palace after he had called'
together me, Nuhzadaq the interpreter,1 Kushtai, D—
and Abzakhya the Persian.2 The King was at his-
dinner-table and had not yet finished his meal. The
courtiers entered and said, ‘ Mani has come and is
standing at the door! 9 The King sent the Lord this-
message, ‘ Wait awhile till I can myself come to you! 9
The Lord again sat down to one side of the guard,
until the King should have finished his meal, when,
he was to go out hunting.
“ The King rose from the table and, putting one
arm round the Queen of the Sakas 3 and the other
round Kerder (i.e., Kardel), the son of Ardawan,4 he
came towards the Lord. His first words to the Lord,
were ‘You are not welcome! 9 The Lord replied,
c What wrong have I done ?* The King said, c I have-
sworn not to let you come to this country9 (M 3) ! 99
The Coptic story takes up the tale here: “ Thereon*
did my Lord greet the King respectfully, even while his-

1 Note that Mani, whose own tongue was Syrian, did not care to
risk misunderstanding in so vital an interview by speaking-
Persian, with which he was perhaps not very free.
2 or: Baraias, one of Mani’s Apostles.
2 i.e., of Seistan, then a dependent Kingdom usually ruled by the
heir to the Persian crown; she may thus have been his sister-in-law.
4 The name of Kardel’s father suggests noble or royal blood; if
Kardel were actually of the old Parthian house, it is natural he
should be anxious to prove his loyalty by persecuting Mani. Some
have identified him with Tansar (GZ p. hood), who organised
the Pehlevi scriptures and was a sort of Grand Vizier to the-
Royal house.
 lix

mariner (?) was unfriendly despite the greeting. Indeedy

the King answered, full of anger against him: ‘ I swore
to you by my salvation and my soul, and the soul of
my father and of all who have entered Paradise and live*
that if you came here and walked on the Ba—, I would put
you to death (?)5 (MH. 45). And in anger he spoke thus
to the Lord: i Eh, what are you good for, seeing you
go neither fighting nor hunting ? But perhaps you are
needed for this doctoring and physicking—and you
don’t even do that ’ (M 5) !
“ The Lord thus replied: £ I have not done you any
harm; I have always done good to you and your
family. Many and numerous were your servants
whom I have freed of demons and witches; many were
those from whom I have averted the numerous kinds
of ague; many were those who were at the point of
death, and I have restored them 5 (M 3)!
“ Then the King called to officers to lead my Lord into the
Palace hall. There, when he had gone into the King’s
presence he met him face to face. . . . As soon as the
King saw him, he twisted his face into an angry laugh*
he spoke to him the crowd of his words: 4 See, for
three full years you have been going with Badia (i.e.>
Baat); which is the Law that you have taught him*
that he has left ours and adopted yours when you have
led him to the lecture-hall ? Why have you not at least
gone with him where I told you to go and come with
him 5 (MH. 46) ?
“ As soon as my Lord knew that the matter for some
pretext against him had to be furnished (?), so that the
 lx

King might put him to death, my Lord spoke openly in

front of him, saying: c Give to me a chance some other day
to talk of these things before the kings and the nobles. I
shall not explain (?) anything today when sorrow is afflicting
us all ’ (MH. 46). .
“ Then praise came to my Lord from all the nobles who
were there in his presence, for on that day the King was
full of grief over his sister, . . . the Mistress of the
Robes, who had died at that time. The King spoke,
saying: c It is I who have the choice of the time when you
will answer me. All the nobles are now here with us, so
you shall speak before me now 5 (MH. 46). Then in a
mighty voice he wrathfully said to him: c Who bade
thee do these things, or who art thou ? Thou doest
deeds that harm (?) all men (MP. 15); who has sent
thee ? For whom are thy preachings (MH. 93) ? From
whom hast thou learned thine assertion: Our affairs
are more important than the world’s ? For since the
beginning when the Parthians came to the mastery,
these affairs of thine have never prospered, nor shall they
so long as the mastery is in our hands * (MH. 47) ! ”
This definitely seems to show that in his mind Bahram
identified Mani with the interests of the fallen Parthian
dynasty. '
“ The glorious Mind answered and said to him direct
(MP. 16): ‘Know, O King, that I am the servant of
the God of Light, who has sent me in order to choose
the Church out of a world which has fallen into so many
sins (MH. 93). It is God who has sent me to call thee,
thou being a man, to the Law of Life, and to teach thee
 lxi

the perfect commandments of Christ’ (MP. 16).

Thereon spoke my Lord to him in the presence of all
(the) nobles: 4 Ask all the men about me. I have no-
human Master and Teacher from whom I have
learned this wisdom whence I got these things; but
when I received them I received them from God
through His Angel (cf. §8). From God was sent
to me a message that I should preach this in your King¬
dom, for this whole world had wandered into error
and got into a bye-path; it was wilfully fallen away
from the Wisdom of God the Lord of All. But I have
received it from Him and revealed the Way of the
Truth in the midst of the whole world, so that the
souls of this multitude might be saved and escape frorq
the punishment (cf. GPM 88 : 1). For the proof oF
everything I bring is obvious; all that I teach existed
even in the first generations;1 but it is the custom that
the Way of Truth is now and then revealed, and now
and then conceals itself again 5 (MH. 47).”
This frank and unanswerable reply enraged King^
Bahram; 44 he parted his lips, he cried out in a fury
(MP. 16): 4 How comes it that God reveals this to you,
while the same God has not revealed it also to us, even
though we are still the lords of the whole land
(MH. 47) ? Thou art a vile foreigner,2 thou art also a

1 Note how Mani, equally with Jesus and Muhammed, claimed

only to be restoring the primeval truths, purifying them from later
accretions; he may here be referring to the revelations to Seth-el,
son of Adam.
2 Being of Parthian ancestry and actually bom in a Mesopotamia!-
at the time under Roman rule.
 lxii

poor man lacking everything; thou art a man of

insignificance, unfit for God to give this unutterable favour
and gift9 (MP. 16)!
“ My Lord said (MH. 47): c Those who are of God
do not seek after gold and the world’s possessions
{MP. 16); it is God who has the power to reveal His
Truth to the one He chooses out of the crowd of all His
creatures (MH. 47). It is God who commands, and
there is no other commandment but His. It is God
who teaches whom He will, and gives to him the Gift
that surpasses all gifts, as a seal that he is a Prophet,
the true Man of God in his deeds and his words
(MP. 16) ! He may choose one whs has no might; but who
,are we to ask Him, saying: Strong King, why dost Thou
not reveal Truth to the mighty? He reveals it to me and not
to thee; it is not fitting for thee to ask Him angrily, saying:
He has not appeared; let Him appear to meV (MH. 47) ”
This dignified reply, so worthy of the Prophet con¬
fronted with an infidel tyrant, did not, of course, help
Mani with the King.
“Then the King said to my Lord: 4 Be silent!’
(MH. 47). The lover of fighting, the peaceless one,
roared in flaming anger, he bade them fetter the
Righteous One, so that he might please the Magi,
Persia’s teachers, the servants of the Fire (MP. 16).
u But my Lord answered the King: c Wh^t you will,
that do to me, for I will speak the truth before you.
King Shapur protected me, wrote letters about me to
.all persons of rank to this effect: Protect him and sup¬
port him so that no one should offend and sin against
 Ixiii

him. But the proof that King Shapur gave me good

•support already lies before you, and the letters which
lie wrote for me to#the nobles in every land that they
should protect me. And also when King Hormizd came
after King Shapur, then with him also I was in favour.
It is you who will dishonour your own self; you have
seen how Hormizd is greatly honoured * (MH. 48).
44 When the King saw that he persuaded him by
every argument and each defence, and that there was
no case at all against him, then he passionately sentenced
my Lord to killing after he had undergone scourging
(MH. 48).. This is how judgment was given on the
Victor, the Messenger, the Paraclete (MP. 19)1 Lo,
these are the deeds that are full of outrage of bitter-
Tearted men; this is the road they have made which
will lead them to Hell! I have not seen a beast
raging (?) like these, nor have I seen fire so fiercely
consuming chaff; yet was there no merciful man stand¬
ing up to snatch from them this sinless Righteous
One (MP. 15)1
“ He took the Shadow-maker in the midst of heaven
as his witness; he said: 4 Behold, O Sun, you are
witness how in his shamelessness the King sins against
me9 (MH. 48) 1
44 Thereon the King ordered and he chained my
Lord; he put three chains on his back (?), locked heavy
iron fetters on his feet; a chain was fastened on his
neck. A few young varlets slapped him (cf. Mk.
14 : 65), they danced (?) before him in insulting him
(MH. 48). They shut him up in their prisons and
 lxiv

loaded his limbs with iron; they took counsel against

him in his evil counsels, that they might daily cast a slur
on him (MP 23-24); the tyrant shut him in; at that
time the whole world became dark” (MH. 91).

20. Maui in Captivity

“ On the Tuesday . . . they went and cast him into
prison; he confirmed his Church until Saturday. After¬
wards he was handed over to all his haters; on the-
Saturday they sealed his fetters and brought him into
the prison. They chained him on the 8th Emshir (i.e.9
Jan.-Feb.) ; until the day when he went on high there
were twenty-six days while he was chained with the
iron fetters ” (MH. 60).
The Lord Syrus now speaks: “ How many days of
fear, my Father, didst thou endure until thou hadst
cut and severed the race of frightful men ? Twenty-six:
days in all, and the nights of them, thou didst spend in
chains in Belapat. O Renown of the Aeons of Light t
O noble holy Image of God’s Mysteries! O hands that
gave freedom to a multitude of souls that are bound
today in bonds of iron (MP. 15)! Bahrain . . . did
not believe in thy preaching, he listened to thine
enemies, the deniers of thy Hope (MP. 48)! From the
time thou didst refute their error, they loaded thee
with iron and bound thee; they loaded thy hands and
feet, and put neck-chains also on thy body. They
threw thee into their prisons, thinking they could hold
thee in; twenty-six days and the nights of them thou
didst spend in irons (?) * (MP 43)! ”
 lxv

Mani himself tells us: “ They loaded me with irons

as is done to sinners, they fettered me like thieves, they
judged me like criminals, they all insulted me like
sorcerers* From the day they bound me to the Day
of the Cross there were counted (?) in all some twenty-
six days, while they kept watch on me night and day,
setting guards to keep watch on me. They put six
neck-chains, they fettered me with iron bars, while all
the Elect wept, and the Hearers, seeing the sufferings
wherein I am. Those sinners, all of them, did not let
me see my children and my disciples, my shepherds
and my overseers, when they saw them coming to me.
. . . In the day they brought me before the Judge to
torture me with the punishment (?) of a scourge, they were
all of them firmly fixed in evil, ... not one of them
aided me. All the lawless ones judged me; the impious,
the creatures of sin, held me in their power amid the
whole multitude, like a sheep that has no shepherd.
They buzzed (?) at me like wasps, they roared at me
like lions, saying to me in a loud voice, c It does not
please us that thou shouldst do these things!’ . . .
Bahram did evil to me in his wrath, he took counsel
with his chieftains against me, he swore to me by his
father’s salvation, saying, ‘ I shall not leave thee in the
world henceforth ’ (MP. 19)! ”

21. The Second Interview

The King apparently called Mani to him once again,
having, it seems, forgotten he was a prisoner. “ Thereon
after this ... the King remembered that fetters were
E
 lxvi

on his feet, so the officers brought him hither. When he

had entered in to the King (MH. 48) ”, Bahram asked
him about some girl who had gone to the King’s
capital, and demanded her return, failing which he
said he would put Mani’s head on the gate of the city
of Belapat. “ The King said to him: ‘ Show me the
property . . . which she has taken with her, and tell me
in which place she is; where has she gone? 9 (MH. 49).
But Mani was firm and would not betray the where¬
abouts of this girl, who was probably one of his royal
disciples.
Then Bahram began to ask him about his doctrines:
How many worlds are there, and how long will it be
before evil is finally destroyed ? Mani answered him
briefly, and then “ the King was silent (MH. 49) ”.
Evidently Mani next asked leave to talk with his
disciples in the prison, and they too, looking lovingly
at him, pleaded with the hard-hearted King for this
privilege; it was granted, as was usual with those under
sentence of death.

22. Mani Consoles His Disciples

The sadly mutilated story goes on: <c He went to
rest; then he sat (?) on a bed, and on those who be¬
longed to him bestowed advice about each one of his
affairs. Next he gave instruction about his children
(i.e., disciples) who had faithfully clung to his discipline
while they accompanied him (MH. 50). He com¬
manded the wise ones, that is, the Elect, to preach to
the Hearers (MP. 35), saying to them: ‘Preserve the
 \

Ixvii

Righteousness before me/ because they were grieving at

being left as orphans (MH. 50). He said that Sisin should be
the Leader after him until the day wherein he should raise
himself to the Garden of the Light. Then he encouraged them,
saying: £ Be strong and firm of heart so long as you live
in the world, and you shall do good deeds in the Church
and worship God through your fasting and the psalms which
you sing for the years of earthly life? ” Sisin himself he
bade: “ ‘ Govern the Church which I leave behind as
the Leader after me * (MH. 50).95
Indeed this arrangement was his response to a prayer
from his disciples: “ ‘ Thou didst gather thy children
beside thee, thou didst embrace them all as they cried
do thee: Do not abandon thy Church which is in the
world; do not leave thy beloved, lest she lose the
flavour of the salt that thou hast won for her! Thou didst
appoint the twelve Teachers and the seventy-two
Overseers; thou didst make Sisin Leader over thy
children. When thou hadst set thine affairs in order,
thou didst implore thy Father; He answered thee.
(Then) thou didst leave them thy body and ascend
.to thy Kingdom 5 (MP. 44).”

23. His Prayers to God

We have important pieces of the beautiful and in¬
structive prayer he made thus at the hour of death.
The Coptic texts read: u Then it was time for him to
•come out from this world, and the disciples remained
~with him while he escaped Jrom the body of this deceit.
He was sitting up on the bed, because he saw in the
 lxviii

heavens the sign of the Angels who would receive him on

high. He asked them to pray for graces for him and for
the whole Church, while his body was agonising from
stiffness of the joints of this house 55 (MH. 51).
“ The Blessed One, our Lord Mani, he bent his
knees, imploring mercy, crying out to God, saying:
6 Open to me the door and give me release from my
sufferings! The rulers of the earth have judged me in
their wrath; they, believed their lying words through the
speeches of the Magi, cruel men who alter and change
what is sweet and make it bitter. . . . They were
stirred, they trembled, even the powers of the Evil
One, they turned their sword against the Humble
Man; they were unwilling indeed to see me in the
streets of their cities (MP. 19-20). From the day of
the great persecution to the Day of the Cross, there
are six years;1 I spent them walking in the midst of
the world, like the captives among strangers (MP. 19).
Each one pursued me with eager cruelty like a sheep that
is followed everywhere by wolves * ” He goes on,
4 Heari O God} the voice of the afflicted while it weeps in
the midst before his Father, that He should help him
who is about to die 5 (MH. 52)! ”
“Then he spoke again, calling on the Deities: ‘Draw¬
back the curtain and the veil, to admit my petition and
my prayer, . . . and to bring the Garment of glory
and receive me out of this world (MH. 52). Also in my
necessity / have only to look to You, for I have no power

I do not know of any other reference to this ‘ great persecution

which must have occurred, perhaps in Mani’s absence, in A.D. 27lr
 lxix

to move or to lift up my head, or to move my hands

and my feet, because of the iron (MH. 96). T implore
Tou to send the Angel who comes to those who are confined
in the body and yet stand firm in the Faith* (MH. 52).”
Mani continued his prayer: “ * Lo, the sky and the
earth and the two Luminaries, they bear witness of me
on high that while I did good among them they in
their cruelty have crucified me. I was gazing at my
* Twin 5 with my eyes of light, beholding my glorious
Father, Him who ever waits for me, opening the Gate
to the Height before me. I spread out my hands in
prayer to Him, I bend my knees also in worship to
Him, that I may divest myself of the image of flesh
and put off the vesture of humanity ’ (MP. 19-20).
tc ‘ Hear me, 0 Father, while I roll myself before Thy
mercy and before Thy lofty Bema (i.e., mercy-seat).
O Judge of all the worlds, hear the prayer of
the Righteous. Do not be ignorant of the children
left behind him, O true Father of the orphans
and Husband of the mourning widow! O First of the
Righteousness, hear the voice of the afflicted! 0 my
Father, my Saviour—O Perfect Man, Virgin of the
Light, draw my soul to Yourselves out of this abyss!
Shame the hater through Your mighty aid\ You have
.sent me to this place to preach the message of the Mind
of the Greatness (i.e., God); O Being of the Light,
Thou hast sent and commissioned me; speedily hear
my petition! Save the captive out of the hands of those
-who "have robbed him, loose the fettered one from the
iron! Draw up my spirit out of the statue (i.e., body),
 lxx

my soul out of a filthy place! It has perished in the-

midst of this world among the pains that I have endured
therein for the sake of Thy Name since my youth
(MH. 53)!
iC ‘ Let Thy great Power come speedily to rescue me;
send Thy mighty Angel to save me from the hands of
malice, and that I may throw off my fetters on the earth
and surrender the house (i.ebody) to its lord (i.e.} Evil
Matter); and he will shed blood and watch over his'
body. Clothe me in the Robe of Glory that 1 find in
Thee; it is Thou who hast chosen these mv children;-
they came on the earth with Thy command to oppose the-
Sects. For who asked Thee, whom dost Thou answer
when they question before Thee, to whom givest Thou
ear when he complains and calls to Thee,in misery? Thou,
hast heard the men of Light orphaned before Thee
(MH. 53)!
‘ I have clung to Thy Hope . , . and preached to-
mankind and renounced the delights of the world from my
birth until my old age. I found myself rejoicing when I
dared to name myself with Thy great Name, saying:
Thy Servant am I, the Messenger in the world! I see
the image of Thy glory; I depend upon Thy help; it is Thou
to whom I call in my great need. Do not shame me;
answer me, O my Saviour! Rescue my soul out of the
afflictions 5 (MH. 53-54)!
“His voice was heard before the King of Love (?)
who had sent him. The Power came (MH. 54), a.
Messenger came from Paradise: ‘ Mani the Ruler
wishes to depart * (BuBb 45-46)! And then was the
 lxxi

reward given to the Messenger of the Light, the great

Aposde oi this generation, when he was to leave the
world, the great Messenger of the land of the Great
Babylon (MH. 54)! ,5

24. Maui Dies in Prison (Monday, 26th February

A.D. 277).
“ The signs were shown to him that it was time to leave
the world. His body began to dissolve, his chains shook
themselves and resounded. Then his beauty (?) began
to change; his Image appeared bejore his eyes, fashioned
from his face and his material-substance; his limbs
began to quiver, the lips fell apart, his body became like a
house that totters. . . . He began to crumple up
in pain, while he groaned because of the urgency of his
prayers, spreading out his hands to Heaven while his
arms called upon God, . . . and tears poured from his eyes
to dry on the tortured cheeks (MH. 54).’5
Evidently some of the disciples now came to him
secretly to remove the chains; they heard a voice
coming from the body as the noble Soul tried to free
itself, “ when he was about to raise himself out of the
body of flesh, the Righteous One lifting himself to the
heaven of the great Kindly One, soaring away; the
Messenger of the Light returning home, the Light-Pearl
who shall be brought out of the restless Seas of the world.
They saw his worth and his beauty, they heard the voice
of the Honoured One, ... the Messenger of the
Light, while he freed his glorious Soul withdrawing
from the body, . . . and joining the lofty Column
 Ixxii

of Praise to ascend into the glorious Land of Light

(MH. 55)!
u The body of the Messenger was reverently lifted as
(if) he would lay it in the tomb, . . . the body of Mani
the Apostle surrounded by his host and his angels. .
When their Lord and Master was about to go from the
world, the disciples of Mani the Apostle were called the
fatherless, the orphans. He took the time, he prayed;
his prayer was granted, he left his children behind him
—he left us knowingly. The Angel came, he smoothed
for him his path on high. Oh, oh, blessed are we^for we
have not sinned against him, and he has made us into
a garland and set it on his head!
“ He prayed piteously while his body was in the iron
fetter. The tears flowed out from his eyes, his hands
became loose (?), his limbs trembled from the weight of the
iron chain, his voice became feeble while he prayed and
implored God, his Father in Heaven, to listen to the voice
of the Righteous One and to receive his soul in peace as he
came forth from the world. . . . He implored
grace from God while things around him became as
they usually are when a man is dying in the world
(MH. 56). 1
u . . . There came those, who should draw near
before his Soul: the Angels came with the trophy in their
hand, also the terrible form of the demons appeared to
him. She (i.e., his soul) has strength in remembering the
labours of the Messenger, travelling everywhere in doing
good to the universe. It was the Angels who prevailed,
1 Cf. GPM 75.
 lxxiii

-and they led him into the way of peace. Thereon he

rested himselt in peace because he had completed his
work (MH. 57), and in great joy, together with Gods
of Light who advance on his right and left at the sound
-of harps and joyous song—he flew in divine power
(T. II. D. 72).
“ They received him in joy and led him into the Divine
Hall. When he had seated himself on the couch, some¬
thing took his vision and it changed, it began to fade out.
His children uttered his name, calling out to their Father.
'Thereon he asked for bread and salt; it was brought to
him. He prayed over it; the same-was done in the midst
of Ms children. He kissed the . . . body. He spoke to
them very sweetly, saying: ‘ Greeting from me to the Elect
and the Hearers, my children!9 They came closer to him;
he laid his hand upon the head of Sisin, saying: c Use
the place that I have given you for the help and strengthen-
ing of your brethren . . . after me5 (MH, 57-58).1
“ Thereupon he stretched himself out like a man
•sleeping on his couch. They kissed him lovingly when
they saw that he was about to come forth; they called aloud
~on his name with tears, weeping before him and saying:
0 Father, it is thou who art going from us, leaving
behind thee thy children to be orphans after thee 5
(MH. 53)!
So Mani died; this was on the 26th February, A.D.
277, a Monday. The story of his death is told also by
_Amu and Oze‘i (Ozeos), two of the Apostles, in
Mir. Man. iii. p. 17.
1 Cf. Lk. 22 : 32.
 ixxiv

25. The Faithful Women

“ From that day on until the evening (?), his body'
(was) lying there while his Soul soared on high, his eyes
being calm and peaceful. Then went to him three-
women-Hearers of the Faith: Banak, Dlnak and N—.
They sat down before him and bewailed him; and
they laid their hands on his eyes, they closed them
lest they should overflow, for so it is the custom to do
when someone’s Soul has gone up hence, leaving
the body.
“ They kissed his mouth in loving devotion, while they
mourned him, saying: 1 O our Father, open thine eyes and.
look at us; stretch out thy right hand to thy Beloved
(i.e., the Church), who is full of gentleness and pity
towards theel Where are the thousands whom thou hast
chosen out, and the ten thousands who have trusted in
thee ? For on account of the Truth and the Integrity
which thou hast given to the earth, all lands must mourn
for thee within thy Church, and publicly weep in thy
congregations. For there are thousands to whom thou
hast borne witness 1 ’ While their hands lay on his eyes-
they spoke this, weeping; but he did not answer, he lay
there in silence. His speech had ceased, his mouth was-
still, he was at rest.
“ O you children of the Righteousness, praise those
women, thank them, and honour them in your heart?
that they have closed our Father’s eyes after he had died’
among the haters of the Light (MH. 59)!
“ And then they departed, out of fear of the King
that he would punish them with cruel tortures when the mem
 lxxv

had come forth. . . . The embodied one withdrew from

the holy body of our Lord, leaving it with the Angel, and he led
his Soul on high, where his merit was estimated. A voice
resounded out of Heaven: iLet him be henceforth without
illness, without pain, having ceased to suffer in the prison
of the body \5 . . . He came forth and raised himself on
high, together with the Power that had come in order
to fetch him (MH. 59-60).
“ On the second day of the week he suffered, on the
fourth day of the month Phamenoth, at the eleventh
hour of the day he gave himself up to death (MP. 18).
At eleven hours of the day (i.e., about 5 p.m.) he
ascended hence out of the body to the dwellings of his
greatness in the Height; he attained his form of the
Divine and Perfect Image of the Light (MH. 60).

26. Mani Enters Heaven

The story goes on: C£ He came forth and leapt on
high with the Power that was come for him. See,
this is how they move as the Divine Image in a proces¬
sion appears out of the temple, radiant as a shining
lamp! He was raised up out of the darkness of this world
into the House: he lifted himself out of the world
into the heaven of the Treasure, out of the realm (?) of
Evil into the Kingdom of the great holy Righteous One,
leaving behind all sorrows, namely, the world and all
Sects of error: the haters and the scoundrels (MH. 60).
“ The Righteous One who gives peace out of strife
came forth between him and the demons and bade His
Angel come down with the Messenger of the Light in
 lxxvi

order to ascend on high in triumph (?); his descent was out

of his Race,1 he did his work as a good Interpreter; it
is enduring (?). He leapt out of his body, not caring for
its fate or how the King would bring down ruin on it;
all his care was for the Soul; the wicked voice was silenced
by the music of the Preaching. He raised himself out
of the world and its deceits; he is the great Saviour,
the Teacher of the Elect. The great Believer went to
rest and ascended, becoming the good Father of the
orphans; he raised himself the Husband of the widows,
j .

the Teacher of the Scriptures, the Singer of the

Psalmist’s psalms! The Lord left (?) his servants, the
Merchant his wares, the Master his pupils, the good(?)
Planter his crops (MH. 60-01)!
“ The Preacher of Life, the Interpreter of the land
of the Great Babylon, departed like an arrow shot from
a bow through this world, like a hero spurning the
delights of the great habitable globe of men, despising
the thirst (?) of this world ond shining above it like the
eye of the moon in its glory, crowned like Seth-el with
brightness, leaving his children down in the world to mourn
for him. ... So he ascended and went to the
Rest, and the Gods and the Angels praised him,
. . . the exalted Captive who has chosen them out
of the world now withdraws himself . . . with the
glorious Angel ... into that Kingdom of Light, the
realm of those who had gone to fetch him. He who sees
his departure and this glory while he goes up on high,

1 i.e., from the Divine Kindred of Heaven; cf. GH. 44 : 2 and

the Hymn of the Robe of Glory in GG.
 lxxvii

and does not believe that it is his way whereon he too

must go, he is a wanderer astray, for he has not let
himself be convinced by the example of the Blessed One,
the Messenger of the Light (MH. 61-62).”

27. Public Horror at the Tragedy

The Homilist proceeds: “As for ihat holy thing, the
body, it was left lying on the bier, still held in the iron
chains. Then the rumour about him was spread in the
whole town; they heard in all the city of Belapat that
he had ascended on high. Many men gathered to¬
gether in groups and came. Thereon, as the King was
busy worshipping (?), they drew him out and brought
him away from the prison. They gathered round him
weeping, while some of the Hearers of the Faith stood firm
secretly in the midst of the heathen, watching them while
they called to him, the Messenger of the Lights Mani, the
doer of good, saying: e Alas, and ruin comes to us!
What a misfortune it is that is prepared for our city,
that this good man should die in it through the
wickedness of his haters! He has sinned against nobody*
he has not robbed any of their property 5 (MH. 62) ! ”
It seems that someone carried to the King a report
of Mani’s death and the public distress on account
thereof, for he ordered that the body be taken and laid
on a sheet in the middle of the public street. This,
was the third Sunday, we are told, after he had fallen
into the hand of his enemies; his fetter was removed,,
and the body was laid out in the presence of all the
people amid their tears and expressions of grief.
 lxxviii

28. The King Outrages the Body

Here a gap of three pages follows in our main text,
but the story can be recovered from fragments of other
sources.. It is clear that the King doubted that Mani
was really dead, and feared to leave the body for the
people to venerate.
“ In the madness of his wrath he wished by means
-of many outrages to destroy the beauty of thy limbs,”
•cries the mourning psalmist. ec Thou didst ascend in
the Column of Glory on high without any hindrance,
. . . but thou didst cast down the dead body before the
face of thine enemies (MP. 15). The lawless men were
confounded, they brought their wrath upon the body
(MP. 44) ; the murderous demon was enraged (?), he
gave out his word, saying: ( Perhaps it is a drug of
which thou hast made use.’ He commanded the physi¬
cians and the Magi to examine the body, thy holy (?)
"body against which he mocked and plotted; he kindled
fire in a great furnace (?) (MP. 15).
“ He stripped off Mani’s skin, filled it with grass
(Alb. Ghr. p. 191), dipped in certain medicaments and
inflated; his flesh also he commanded to be given as
-a prey to the birds (H. 55). Lo, when his body was
brought forth in the city of those sinners, when they
had out off his head and hung it up amid the whole
multitude (MP. 19-20), they shed thy blood in the
middle of the street of their city; they struck off thy
head and set it on high upon their gate. They rejoiced
in thy murder, not knowing that there is a judgment;
for account shall be demanded of thy death and thy
 lxxix

blood shall be avenged, their godless city shall receive

the reward for the outrage it committed 1 (MP. 44).
“ He was put to shame, the lawless Judge brought
down his wrath upon his body; they hung his head
upon the gate, not knowing what they were doing.
The wise ones also who are among men the
Elect) bore witness of his eminence (MP. 24). His
skin they hung at the gate of Jund-i-Shapur, which is
still known as the Mani Gate, saying; ‘ This man has
come forward calling people to destroy the world; it
will be necessary to begin by destroying him before
anything of his plans be realised (Bir. Ghr. p. 191).’
So they hung his skin on the buildings of the city gates;
he spilled his blood to no purpose—his murder even
became a sign for all the men who pity him (MP. 15).
Blessed are thy loved ones who shed their tears for
thee, (O Mani); lo, the grief of thy body, the joy of
thine ascended spirit (MP. 44)!
“ Woe to them, the children of the Fire.the
Mazdeans), because they sinned against thy holy body
—I mean the Magi who looked upon thy blood; they
loved the evil genius of the Jews, God’s murderers
{MP. 43). They seized him and crucified him, . . .
they scattered his congregations; . . . thereon, after
they had crucified our Father, he completed the
Mystery of his Apostolate (MH. 74-75).”
It is clear that Mani’s death was the signal for a
brutal persecution of his followers over wide areas of

1 This imprecation was fulfilled; there is in fact today no actual

trace of the city of Belapat.
 lxxx

the Empire, a persecution to be renewed from time to

time until the Muslims overthrew the bloodstained
dynasty; then the Religion which had stained itselfwith
the blood of God’s holy and gentle Prophet had to flee^
shattered, from Persian soil to the refuge of India’s
all-embracing tolerance.

3. Maui, the Man and His Work

One who has read the foregoing pages on the life anct
death of Mani, fragmentary as the malice of men and
the undiscriminating ravages of time have made it, one
who reads the cries of passionate and adoring love
which this Messenger awoke in the hearts of those who
knew him best, and which are so inadequately re¬
presented in our GPM 35-39, 88, 91-92, will at once-
dismiss the cruel and lying slanders put out against
him by polemists in the Christian and Parsi camps..
The absurd fabricated life of Mani copied by so many
out of Hegemonius’s libellous pages, though it may
conceivably be taken as a myth with deeper meaning,
are so far from the truth found in these all-but con¬
temporary accounts, that it were dishonest to defile-
our pages by further reference to them.
In Mani, then, we see a true religious reformer
sincerely certain of the Divine source of his mission
and inspired by a great ideal, as Jackson puts it in his
Zoroastrian Studies, p. 188: “ to bring the world, Orient
and Occident, into closer union through a combined-
faith, based on the creeds known in his day”. Was
 lxxxi

that aim so utopian, then, an empty dream? The same

great scholar writes (JRAS, 1926, p. 117): “ Persia of
the third century a.d. was capable, more than any
other country, of producing a world religion, arising
from an aggregate of the great religious systems of the
world.” To that mission Mani gave the whole of his
mighty energy, the whole of his immense grasp of the
tangled religious materials of the age, the whole of his
boundless imagination and artist’s skill in welding such
fantasies into a single coherent plan, the whole of his
rich philanthropy—which in its turn won the devotion
of men and women who, for eleven centuries, were
proud and happy to embrace exile and death for
his name.
His extraordinary labours, wandering over vast areas
of little-known lands, planting churches and teaching-
them by letters and books, and guiding them in a
strong but simple organisation, show him to have been
one of the very greatest men of the first millennium
A.D. That he was fully aware of the ways in which his
work surpassed even that of his great Predecessors is
shown by several passages in the c Kephalaia His
very human pride in these achievements and in his
five great and other minor books, which should for
ever have kept intact the doctrine and life he had
given, only draws him nearer to our human sympathies*
The kindliness wherewith he defended the ‘ ugly Saint \
his humour with the Nasorean and his own disciple
Aurades, the ready wit with which he found texts for
his sermons in the events of daily life, the personal
F
 lxxxii

affection in which he loved to call his followers “ my

children, my brothers, my limbs, and my beloved ”,
the staunch courage shown to the persecuting King,
the poetic talent so manifest in every fragment of his
own writing and in the books of his followers, the skill
in painting which made his very name a new word
for a ‘ painter ’ in Persian, the love for music and
fragrance so manifest in the teaching and practice of
his Church—all mark him out as a real Saint to whom
history has as yet failed to pay even a tithe of the due
attention.
But amid these various qualities of greatness still
shines out the brilliance of that one by which Mani
himself chiefly willed to be known—the Messenger of
the Light. Never for a moment does he himself claim
to be divine; that doubtful and dangerous honour was,
very naturally in his oriental environment, put on him
by those who loved and revered him with such passion¬
ate devotion as their c Luminary ’, their e Life *, their
4 Father ’, and their e God \ This last word should not
shock the Western reader of today as it shocked the
Westerner of earlier centuries; it conveys no hint of
blasphemy at all. When the Indian calls his Guru
4 God he does not for a moment confuse him with
the One Absolute beyond all forms and essences; he
declares his voice the voice of God, just as the devout
Oatholic monk regards the Rule of his Order and his
.Superior as God’s will. Mani’s own frank admission
of his humanity survived long enough even to be found
in a Turfan fragment (M 49) referring to the ‘ Twin *
 lxxxiii

or inspiring Angel sent to him by God: “ And even

now he himself accompanies me, he himself holds and
protects me, and im his power do I fight with the
demons of Greed and Satan (Lust), and teach men
wisdom and knowledge, and save them from Greed
and Satan.5* This Being he sometimes calls the Christ,
sometimes the Comforter or Paraclete; it is only in so
far as Mani becomes truly his mouthpiece that he him¬
self becomes an 4 alter Christus 5, the promised Paraclete.
St. Augustine and the rest were too much blinded by
their own bigotry and resentment against a creed to
which he had become apostate in an age of persecution,
to view Mani’s real claims with honesty or truth. In
refuting Faustus the great Catholic doctor, besides an
undergraduate ribaldry before the deeply mystical, and
therefore very vulnerable, doctrines arising from the
truth of God’s omnipresence—relied mainly on the futile
illogicality of the position: 44 I don’t believe your
claims because you are a heretic and a false apostle.”
The lawyer with a poor case abuses his opponent!
Mani’s own statements show clearly to the student
and lover of Truth, unclouded by passion or fanaticism,
that he was a real Prophet of God, sent by Him to do
a certain work in the world, and loyally devoted to
that work until death took him home to God’s bright
Garden in the Paradise of the Light. It was this
certain faith which gave him strength and courage,
won for him the deep love of those admitted to his
intimacy, and enabled him to plant a world religion
which survived the most brutal persecutions in all
 lxxxiv

the religious history of our still largely barbarous;

humanity.
Nor was Mani’s a mere sect, a heretical offshoot
from a preexistent religion. Jackson rightly says (p. 20) r
“ It was a veritable religion and exercised an influence,
for more than a thousand years, upon the lives of
countless numbers of devoted followers, inspired by thef
ideals and high principles of its Founder, whom they
accounted divine, and the example of whose martyr
death they were led to emulate both at the time and
in after ages.” George Finlay the historian writes in
-< Greece under the Romans5 (Dent’s edition, p. 353):
“ The great success of Mani in propagating a new
religion (for Manicheism cannot properly be called a
heresy) is a strong testimony of this feeling. The fate*
too, of the Manicheans, would probably have fore¬
shadowed that of the Mohammedans, had the religion
of Mahomet not presented to foreign nations a national
cause as well as an universal creed. Had Mahomet
himself met with the fate of Mani, it is not probable
that his religion would have been more successful than
that of his predecessor.” While not identifying one¬
self with the unfriendly attitude here shown towards
Islam, which is not in that sense e the religion of
Mahomet ’, we may also note that Islam arose in the
religious vacuum of Arabia, and in a world weary of
sectarian squabbles among the Christians, while in
Mani’s day Christianity was still kept pure by the fires
of pagan persecution, and further east Mani had also
to contend with an intensely jealous and a powerfully
 lxxxv

'established State creed, linked with a young and

vigorous dynasty and with the proud tradition of
a former world-supremacy.
In a striking article in JAOS (1938, p. 240), Jackson
writes: u Mani had the exalted fervor of a religious
leader and founder of a faith that was once a rival of
Christianity and Zoroastrianism, opposition from which
Jatter led him to suffer a martyr’s death as an adjudged
heretic. Throughout in his make-up, especially if
born with a physical weakness,1 we can see a peculiar
idealism and refinement, combined with rare vision.
It has always been recognized that he had a poetic
imagination, as shown in his cosmogonic fantasies, and
.also in a few hymnic stanzas that have been preserved.
Tradition assigns to him exquisite skill as an artist, so
that his name became in Persia a synonym for painter.
His master hand as an adapter of a revised alphabet
.and a presumed pioneer in calligraphy—the latter art
being especially cultivated by his followers—all bespeak
a highly ideal and creative mind. He cared parti¬
cularly for music and allowed to his followers the
enjoyment of perfumes as something refined.” Jackson
speaks also of “ his sensitive and spiritual nature, which
was above all religiously so creative ”. Even at the
risk of repetition, I feel these testimonies from one of
our day’s greatest Iranists are worth recording here.

1 This is the old misunderstanding that he was lame in one or

both of his feet, as reported even by AnNadim. We can now see
ithat this really refers to the crippling effect of the fetters during
Jiis * crucifixion \ The Parsis called him ‘ the crippled demon %
much as Jesus was called ‘ the hanged felon ’.
 lxxxvi

Mani’s personal reverence and love for his acknowl¬

edged predecessors Zarathushtra, the Buddha, and still
more for Jesus, whom he often called the “ Son of
God ”, betoken the width of his own religious view.
It became natural for his Church to adapt itself to the
special background of each environment it entered,
and this may well have led others to view it as a
‘ heresy ’, clandestinely undermining the faith of the
orthodox. Now, as Harnack says in his Encyclopaedia
Britannica article (vol. xiv, p. 803): such “ great
adaptability is just as necessary for a universal religion
as a divine founder in whom the highest revelation
of God may be seen and reverenced ”. Unhappily,
though the Manichean books are full of echoes and
memories from the great Hebrew Prophets and Psalm¬
ists, a perhaps 4 Aryan 5 anti-Jewish hatred led his
followers, with their Marcionite forerunners, to a bitter
scorn and rejection of the Old Testament, as inspired
by the forces of Evil. This enabled their Catholic
opponents, habituated to rely so largely on supposed
prophecies in building up their theology, to arouse
mass hatred against them among the ignorant.
There is no doubt that Mani himself laid great stress
upon his c cosmogonic fantasies ’, which were probably
essential to winning the faith of Mesopotamian con¬
verts in his day. But they were certainly a grave
handicap in competing with the comparatively simple
cosmology of Catholic Christians and, perhaps under¬
standably, awoke the ridicule of their polemic writers.
The doctrine of an absolute Dualism might satisfy the
 lxxxvii

superficial enquirer brought up in a Mazdean environ¬

ment, but it cannot long content the truly philosophic
mind. In trying to maintain it in the West, and at
the same time to uphold the doctrine of Christ’s uni¬
versal immanence, the Manicheans became involved in
absurdities which St. Augustine especially delighted in
mercilessly exposing. But we may well doubt whether
it was such subtle illogic which led to the final ruin of
Mani’s Church, so much as the pitiless violence and
the vandal burning of its precious books, which it had
everywhere and always to endure.
Spread, as it did, from Spain to Siam, and surviving
in 6 dangerous ’ form from the 3rd to the 17th centuries
here or there, cc it really became one of the great
religions ”, as Harnack rightly says in his scholarly
article already cited. For sensual cults it gave a
spiritual, devotional and aesthetic worship, with a strict
morality, and a simple if firm social organisation. Nor
was that morality too strict; the extremer forms of its
celibacy and non-violence were imposed only on the
Elect, whose number was always very small, and they
were voluntarily embraced by them; the lay masses
were allowed a normal human life—as they are today
among Catholics, when compared with that expected
of a Trappist or Carmelite. And even so late as in its
diluted form among the Cathari of Provence, none
could ever impugn the saintly and noble lives lived by
most of their c Elect ’.
Persecution, however, drove the Manicheans under¬
ground, and the need to hide their ‘ heresy ’ from the
 lxxxviii
/

bigots around them must often have led to compromise

■and corruption of the Faith. In self-defence they
became, as F. Legge says: “ a perfectly efficient and
•capable secret society ”, and this intensified the
suspicion, slander and suffering of all kinds to which
they were always liable. The vilest calumnies pursued
them through the centuries, and there are those even
today who ignorantly use c Manichean 9 as a term of
abuse, to suggest incredible blasphemy and an enormity
of hypocritical vice.
Yet, as Legge says in the same article (JRAS, 1913,
p. 93): “ A faith that held its own in the face of the
hottest persecution for nine centuries is a rare enough
phenomenon, and one which cannot be safely neglected
by the student of Comparative Religion.” In fact,
Manicheism is every whit as important a world
religion as Islam, Buddhism, or Christianity, and
perhaps far more than Jainism, Sikhism and others
iisually allowed that tide. Let us pay it what is due,
at least now, after so many centuries of neglect.

4. Sisin and Innai, First Manichean ‘Popes 5

Mani entrusted his Church to the hierarchy of

Apostles and Elders, at the head of whom stood, after a
brief interregnum, Sisin in his own place as Leader.
AnNadim (p. 334) reports the h4anicheans of his own
day as saying: “When Mani was taken up to the
hardens of the Light, Sis (in) arose after him as the
Imam before his taking up, and until he too was
 lxxxix

^received (i.edied) God’s Religion and His Revelation

"were standing firm.” But for four years he could not
exercise his authority, because no organisation could
function during such a storm of persecution.
Fliigel (Mani, p. 331) quotes a story which coheres
well with the picture of the Persian King we have
already seen. Bahram I buried two hundred Mani-
cheans with their heads downwards in pits and their
feet tied to stakes; “See,” said he with ferocious irony,
“the garden that Bahram the King has planted!”
Many of the faithful died as martyrs, many fled to
Khorassan, and there strengthened the Faith, many
-crossed the Oxus River and wandered as far as
Turkestan. AnNadim (p.337) tells us: “ When Kosru
(i.e., the King) had killed and crucified 1 Mani and
forbidden the people of his Kingdom to join together
in the Religion, he turned to killing Mani’s followers
wheresoever he found them. They did not cease to flee
ffom him till they crossed the River of Balkh and
entered the Khan’s realm (i.e., Turkestan).” Others
fled westwards, to Syria or Egypt, and Pattiq is said by
Philaster of Brescia to have preached against the Old
Testament in Rome itself by a.d. 280. The Faith was
^clearly already firmly established on the soil of Egypt,
fertilised by centuries of Hermetic and Gnostic teach¬
ing; it had probably spread also to ‘Africa’, i.e.,
Tunisia.
Sisin (A. D. 281-291). We draw most of his story
ffom the c Book of the Crucifixion ’ in MH, which tells
1 Note how here the word * killed ’ correctly precedes * crucified
 xc

of his Master’s sufferings too. After the year of massacre,,

we learn, “ there came three further years of peace,
without anyone sinning against his people or being ar
cause of trembling. Their anger was pacified, just as-
he (i.e.y Mani) had said while he was still in the body.
Then but a few years after my Lord’s crucifixion, the
dragon began to creep, his anger gathered on every side'
from below; little by little hatred began to break out again
into violence in every land, while the King heated up his
anger until fifteen years of his reign (i.e.y A.D. 291) ”.
It was during these years of uneasy quiet that the-
Faith spread rapidly east and west. In 282 Bahram II
lost the twin cities of Ctesiphon and Seleucia ter
the Roman Aurelius Garus, and it was about that time
that Amu, author of the beautiful account of the
c Light World ’ used in GPM 80, travelled in Central
Asia, while Addai (PAdimantus) prepared in Africa'
his epitome of the Scriptures—drawing in turn from
the 4 Treasure ’, the 4 Shapuraqan ’, the 4 Mysteries ’
the 4 Precepts ’, and the e Two Roots ’—which we may-
still have with us in its Chinese dress as 4 CMT ’ (?).
By about A.D. 287 Julian, Proconsul of Africa,
reported to Diocletian in alarm at the danger to
Roman society implicit in the spread of this new“
Eastern religion, with its strange views on sex, war,
agriculture and civic duties; Diocletian thought its~
propaganda was a sort of fifth column from Persia, to
soften up her great rival in the West. By 290 Mani-
cheism was prominent in the fertile Fayum district of
Egypt* and the 4 Psalms of Thom’ appeared in their
 XC1

original Syriac form, to be very soon translated into*

Coptic.
Next year, 291, the gathering storm broke in Persia.
“ Then came the wicked and the evildoors and pursued
after him (i.e., Sisin), for the Satan cherished envy
inwardly and outwardly against his devotees. . . . The
Kings of the land fell into anger, and their hatred became
the raging fire. The wolves suddenly fell upon the
flock of sheep to kill and to destroy; wild beasts burst in
among the rams in order to ravage the sheepfolds; evil
ones entered by force into the Master's vineyard and
cut off the branches with their fruits; robbers broke into*
the treasure-chamber and looted and destroyed the trea¬
sures. The beast broke into the flower-garden and*
trampled it down while it was growing up, the kite
burst into the dovecotes and scattered the timid birds
(MH. 76).
ec In every land spread the report of the crucifying of
the chief (?) leaders of the Church in Persia, out ofMaisan
and Ctesiphon, in every town in the land of Susiana
and Babylon. How many are the myriad victims, and
the maidens and celibates yearly fell away from them
(i.e., decreased)! They captured and slew the Teachers
and Overseers like sheep; they caught the Overseers and
looted his treasures (i.e., Mani’s books?); they carried
off the Elect and the Hearers, they slaughtered them like
lambs (MH. 76).
e‘ They appeared in their midst like small children
before their teachers; they were thrown before lions, but
the lions spared them their lives. A few they equipped
 XC11

with weapons and forced to fight with bears (MH. 77).*’

We are told that some were compelled to kill ants and
thus violate their Master’s doctrine of non-violence.
They sent horses to fight against them. They paid
heed to every prisoner, he was caught and mangled
cruelly with their teeth y they did not spare them, they
killed them. ... A few of these they did not destroy (?),
so arrows were thrust in their sight, in order to see that
■they were really killed. Like papers which have been torn
to shreds, they too were torn in pieces, the King watch¬
ing them while they lay (?); then in their wickedness
they urged and asked them about everything (MH. 77).
“ They crucified the youngsters, children, both
maidens and eunuchs. A few they sawed up in the
skins (?), slaying them, boasting that they would destroy
the Church. How numerous are the hateful deeds they
did9 telling them that they were lying! They lowed (?)
piteously like a herd of oxen dragged off in chains yearly
by butchers. Like a head of cattle that has no master,
allotted to hundreds, to fifties, they were slaughtered in
land after land. . . . Their children were murdered
before their eyes (MH. 77).
£< Some of them were brutally scourged; they crept
upon a few of them to inflict tortures on them; (on)
some of them again iron fetters were fastened, (and
they) were thrown into prisons (?) in hunger and thirst,
fasting there in misery, cold and affliction. They were
held up with their feet on the earth pressing thorns and
thisdes and brambles, while they were hidden without
sunlight by the wickedness of evil men. They were envious
 XC111

against the Righteous (?),.... they demolished

their guardhouses, cut off the fruit-bearing trees, broke
down the walls on all sides; they went inside his doors,
they opened his gates. Even he who had no youngsters,
they (?) too were violently beaten, his houses were torn
down, the properties scattered. Holes were made in the
ship in order to bring it to ruin, so that it might be
sunk in the deep of the ocean, in order to cause the
merchandise to be lost (MH. 78).”
In this crisis representatives of the churches went to
beg Sisin for help in their agony, and he turned to vigil
and to prayer. “ c Look after my children/ ” he cried;
“ c send to me thy Power to aid me in this peril! . . .
The children of thy Church perish because they stand fast in
thy name; thy glory is in them, ever since the day
when thou hast chosen me and put a great crown into
my hand, that 1 might oppose the false Sects and all the
societies resistant to thy Light. I have not lied about
thy Message, I have not falsified thy Oath, I have
protected thy children whom thou hast given me. Now
behold our desolation and look upon my tears of sorrow.
Thus have I strengthened f myself while I was in the
hour of misery; it is thine hour, do not make me despair
and fall into the trap. Fill up my heart with the holy (?)
spirit. Hear the voice of this € widow 5 who cries to the
Judge, for I have been judged in that my children have
been killed in every land! Of old we were loaded with
good things, and- thy kindnesses surrounded us; now the
sea has fallen into a tumult everywhere, wave dashing
against wave (MH. 78~79).
 XC1V

“ I am thy garden, thy gardeners are in me; I am

thy field (?), I am thy corn, thy countrymen are like
a slave while Thy children are in danger with me. Look
-after me, and have pity on mine; send to me thy
Power, for I see the grief of my children; the deniers kill
•them, they slay my little ones, they burn up my house¬
holds with fire! . . . I see my children overthrown in
.the streets, while the bodies of the Elect lie there unburied
in every land, with the head of the foreigners and the
remains of the flesh of the mourners and the widows (?)
.and the kinsfolk—the miserable ones who have been
torn to pieces by the evil dragons. Their bodies have been
rent asunder, their blood freely flowed upon the earth
in every town. They scoff at me, their kinsmen, as
the dupe ( ?) of our God ( ?): 4 Thy God is the Light,
this doctrine is His; thou, thou, why are thy children
rdriven forth ? Wherefore then are they massacred ? ’
(MH. 79-80).
“ I, now I turn to Thee, crying for thy aid. The
kings have pursued me day and night, the rulers have
not let me lack a going forth. ... They have scattered
the congregations, they have barred the doors of the
temples (?) against the faithful; they have driven me
out of my dwellings, settling down in my place; they
have shown the darkness of misery, taken away my
beauty, silenced the voice of my song. They have carried
me into some dungeons (?) away from the sunlight,
hidden me away with stealthy cunning. They have slain
the prudent, killed the guileless, massacred my children,
tortured my priests and devotees. They have persecuted
 xcv

those who stay resting in the churches depending on my

Wisdom and obedient to my Discipline (?). Give heed to
see how much they injure us, O my Father; pitifully
send thy power to support the courage of those who
.are to be crucified (till they come) to the places of Rest,
take to thee the souls of the Hearers who are to be
•destroyed by thy haters!5 (MH. 80-81.) ?s
Though it is not quite certain whether this Prayer
is directed to God Himself, or to Mani the Prophet, it
.seems clear from its terms that the fragment ‘ S 8 ’
refers to the same general persecution: “For this cause
.are Teachers of the Light killed, and for this cause the
Priests are mourning. He himself keeps all the king¬
doms divided, and himself indeed shines over the
.Kingdom like (or: through) the Sun and Moon.55 There
is no need to transfer it to the persecution under
Anoshirwan in a.d. 528, as Jackson is inclined to do.
MH continues its story: “This took place in the
years of King Bahram, the son of Bahrain (I). Now
.(it was) he and the whole company of the Magi, and
.the denier and hater of the Giver of good things' and of
peace, who had worked the crucifixion of our Lord.
When, then, after these great afflictions and perils had
increased in this way, outwardly indeed Sisin was silent,
but inwardly he consoled the ‘ man of Light \ and his
prayers aroused his Righteousness. They threatened (?)
against him who had uttered that Prayer that they were
about to crucify him (MH. 81).
“The world was filled with his glory; it reached
the ears of the King of the land} who had come to that
 XCV1

time in anger. They came to plot against the Righteous*

ness; they went their way to meet with the deniers wha
had risen up again (?). They wrote lying pamphlets-
filled with wickedness, and showed them to the King;
they left them in the keeping of the Magi who were eager
to deny his Hope. So they assembledi all of them, the.
King and the nobles. . . . We came with the other
disciples, talking to one another. Wickedness drew near
until at last a great disaster happened; the deniers showed
their anger, they expressed (?) a desire to condemn his
devotees before the King's presence, namely the c men
of Light \ The glory of the Righteousness (being) behind
them, they proclaimed the Doctrine (MH. 81-82).
44 They brought him (i.e.y Sisin) before the King;
he questioned him about all the doctrines, asked him
about every separate detail. My Lord Sisin replied
exhaustively, he persuaded him to join him in his place.
But the King harassed him with incitements to lust, saying
to him': 4Here is a girl!5 He forced him: 4 Have con¬
nections with her; obey me, fear me 1 Now if you obey
me, I shall honour you. You are a handsome man, why
ruin yourself? Wherefore will you kill yourself? It is you
who would ruin yourself, for I do not destroy you! Look
after yourself; I am ready to kill you ! ’ (MH. 82) ”
It was only natural for the King who had over¬
whelmed the faithful in a reign of terror to hope now
finally to destroy the Faith by thus corrupting its Leader
with a public apostasy from the Messenger’s essential
laws. But Sisin was made of the stern stuff of the
martyrs of chastity, like Thecla and St. Maria Goretti;
 XCV11

he was ready, nay eager, to give his life as an offer¬

ing of gratitude to his deified and beloved Master.
The story goes on: “ Then he calmly spoke to the King:
‘Your words and deeds have well agreedV He spoke
plainly, his heart was strong,;he did not hesitate at all
before him.
“ Then the King brought swords, he set them in a row
before my Lord. The King said to him: ‘Look and see
these sharp swords; now fear and accept my word! 9 1
“ But my Lord Sisin said: ‘1 have One who is more
to be feared than you, to whom 1 look up. I stand in
awe of Him who can altogether.overthrow your; word!x -
“Then the King was angry and said, 6 Who is that
before whom you fear more than before me ? 9
“ Sisin said,.6 It is before God my heart fears greatly V
“Then the King once, twice, thrice commandedy but
was unable to persuade him. He then picked up a
sword and said to him, ‘ I shall kill you now with this
sword (MH82)!’
“ Sisin welcomed the Gross, like his Father the Messenger
of the Light, at the King’s hands. He did not lose
courage before death at any time. The crowd of the
others were watching him; he was not afraid, but he
turned to the other devotees (and) encouraged them to
enter on the Rest above. Then he laid down the lordship
which he held, he loosed his shoes, took off his riband of
his own hair, he-rejoiced (?) at his destiny (MH. 82-83).
“ The King raised his hand and smote him with
the sword on his neck; his blood flowed out like a foun¬
tain.. They took three Elders from among us— ... -3
G
 XCV111

Apket and Abesira the brothers of. . - * With his

crucifixion the riots (?) in the town took place; they
crucified him in public at nine hours of the day (*.<*• 5
3 p.m.); * . he went up by the Column into the Land of
Light. The ten years that he had been Leader, his
heart had never wavered; he drank the chalice of his
Father’s crucifixion, he went forth after him. He re¬
ceived the crown, he walked on the ways of his Saviour,
on the roads of peace. He went to rest in the Garden, and
there he found the recompense for his wrongs and the
pains of the world, and the brothers also who were to be
crucified with him (MH. 83).55
Innai (a.d. 291-303) The story goes on: “ His word
was laid upon Innai, that he should himself be the Leader
of the Sect in his place.” As Innai was born about
the time of Mani’s first proclamation and was now
about fifty, he was old enough to take the troubled
.Church under his protection. He enjoyed the reputa¬
tion, like his Master, of being skilled in medicine.
It is clear from our broken text that, soon after his
murder of Sisin, the tyrant King became desperately
ill and, when death. drew near him, some of his cour¬
tiers ran to call Innai, a man gende and kindly in
nature. Innai willingly went to treat Bahram, in the
belief that in this sudden opportunity God was bringing
succour to the tortured Church. The writer says:
“ The King received him with oaths: c I shall make my
cure a remedy in the heart of you all, I shall work for the
favour and the good of your Religion ifyou save me. Do
fiQt a imagine that I have killed your sons, so that you
 XC1X

should fear me and not heal me. I didmot will it, but
it was these evil men who accused them, so they suffered.
Now express what is in your minds, do not be afraid!
All this is past; from today on you will be safe \ 9
“So he then healed him by praying to God; he re¬
ceived honour, and Gods and Angels helped him. H$
received letters of protection from the King to the nobles
in every land; he gave peace (?) to the Church before
the face of the whole world. . . . The King gave
Jiim his hand when they were led to the banquet, and
permitted that he should sit beside him as they ate. He
gave him gold and silver; he did not accept it lest it
should tempt him to acquire power and wealth, for he
wanted only God and His Hope. He did acts of respect
and homage before the King and the nobles; the cour¬
tiers (?) honoured him. Evermore did the King pros¬
per in his life, he received victory and grace. As for
Innai, peace came on his Religion, glory came down from
on high upon the honoured and the disdained; the
Leader and the Overseers, the Elect and the Hearers—
on them came grace from God. The Righteousness
the Church) throve in all lands, great glory came to it
in the whole world. They built and organised churches
in every city out of the places where men live} and worship¬
ped in every place (MH. 84).
“ Letters were written to the nobles on every river
in the Kingdom; they went into the King’s palace in peace,
rest came down on the ‘ sons of Heaven \ on the Righte¬
ousness. They became friends with the Kingy with the
great ones and the rulers who held power before the
 c

Good. The three last years of Bahrain, this happened*

the Church was in rest during that time, peace came to her,
she was greatly honoured. Thereupon, after this he
(i.e., Bahram II) came up to Belapat and died; he went
to rest at that time from the troubles of the world (?}
(MH. 85).”
It seems clear from this wording that the story must,
have been written down very shortly after Bahram
died, in a. d. 294, and before Diocletian persecuted the
Manicheans so brutally two years later. There are
several hints, as in MH. 81 where the first person is
used, we, that it is the work of an eyewitness, at least in
part. This may well have been Kushtai, Mani’s
secretary, or even Innai himself, who must end his work
during his own lifetime. The story closes with re¬
calling a prophecy of Mani that a brief persecution
would give way to glorious triumph; and that could
hardly have been referred to a. d. 291 by anyone
writing after a. d. 296 when persecution began again.
In a. d. 295 Alexander of Lycopolis was opposing the-
work of Paapi and * Thomas ’ in Egypt, dubbing Mani-
cheism an arbitrary and irrational doctrine; several oF
its books had already appeared in an elegant African
Latin, and probably also in Coptic. Next year Julian’s
complaint bore fruit; on 30th March 296 Diocletian
extended the persecution of Christians to Manicheans,
decreeing: “ We order that their organisers and leaders
be subject to the final penalties and condemned to the
fire with their abominable scriptures. We prescribe
that their adepts be to the last one beheaded, and'
 Cl

'decree that the goods of these people be confiscated to

the State. If nobles and other officials, even the most
highly placed, have joined this sect, . . . you will have
their patrimony seized by the State and themselves
sent to the mines (God. Greg. I. xiv, Tit. iv. 4-7).:J> . r
This edict let persecution loose in Egypt and North
Africa; early martyrs in Egypt included Mary, Theona,
Cleopatra, Plousiane, Apa Polydoxus, Eustaphius,
Jemnoute, Psai, Apa Panai, and Apa Pshai. These
mingled their blood with such Christian martyrs as.
Sts. Primus, Felician, Agnes, Beatrice, Susanna,
Cyriacus and Sebastian in Rome; Lucia and Vitus in
Sicily; Felix at Nola; George, Adrian and Gorgonius
at Nicomedia; Mennas in Phrygia; Christina in Tos¬
cany; Erasmus in Antioch; Chrysogonus at Aquileia;'
Alban in Britain; and Vincent at Saragossa. The ManN
cheans encouraged one another in martyrdom, by
relating the courage of the Christians suffering during
three centuries beginning with Christ and Stephen.;
Though King Narsi in that bloodstained year defeat¬
ed Galerius; Persia again lost Mesopotamia and her
western provinces to Rome; during his reign the
Manicheans had rest in Persia (a. d. 296-303). One
Abdial commented on the ‘Mysteries’, and, Iannu
(perhaps Innai himself) on the ‘ Treasure of Life \
The Faith grew strong in Lydia and even spread to
the Balkans, for about 298 a “ Manichean virgin of
.Lydia ”, named Bassa, .was buried near to Salonika.-
Someone seems to have carried it to Malabar in India;
here by a. d. 300, we are told, a village bore the name
 Cll

ofc Mani-grama5 (i.e.f Mani’s town); people now think

it was a mercantile colony of Persian e Christians *r
I learn.
But in A. d. 303 the new King Hormizd II put Inna*
to death on his accession, and in Iraq four more
Leaders were murdered after one another in later years.
The Religion was now deemed e illicit5 by the*tyrant
Emperors, both east and west; Persia and Rome*
traditional foes of each other, united to persecute the:
ascetic and gentle Church of Mani.

5. Manicheism Down the Centuries

t

1. The Fourth Century. It is just possible that in:

founding the first Christian monastery in Egypt in
a. d. 305 St. Antony was inspired by the fast-spreading:
asceticism of the Manicheans. By 312 the Faith was
firmly established in Rome in the time of Pope
Miltiades; c Thomas * died in Egypt by 320, his e Psalms *
being already popular there; Hegemonius was now
trying to kill Manicheism with ridicule through his-
absurd caricature of Mani’s life and teachings in c The
Acts of Archelaus * (H.).
During the Nicene Council of 325, Constantine T
got Musonian (or some say Strategius) to report
to him on this doctrine, so as to choose between it and
Christianity as a State Religion to replace the
moribund Roman paganism. Next year he again,
brought its believers under the repressive laws and
deprived them of the right to enjoy benefices. About
 cm

330 saw Herakleides’ c Psalms * appear in Coptic, the

work of one whom Rufinus calls a disciple of St.
Antony; so great was their immediate vogue that
Antony had to forbid his monks all contact with
Manicheans. At the same time Hierakas, learned in
the Old Testament and in several languages, was
writing Psalms of a new type at Leontopolis in Egypt
(Epiphanius says in his book on the Heresies, 67 r 3).
The scriptures were then being attacked by Aphraat
in Mosul and Ephrem at Edessa and Nisibis, joined at
Edessa more thoroughly by Eusebius (264-340).
Yet the Faith was spreading fast in the Western
Empire on soil fertilised by many Gnostic sects now
decaying; by 340 Coptic translations of the c Kepha-
laia ’, the c Psalm-book 5 and the c Homilies 5 had been
issued. Agapius about now published the seven
books of his c Heptalogue in a winning if careless
style, to hellenize his Master’s teaching, and later on,
this Commentary ranked as scripture. By 345 Serapion
of Tmuis in Egypt, and Titus of Bostra in Iraq,
were strenuously opposing the Faith (TB), and by
348 Victorinus wrote in Africa against Justin the
Manichean. Aphtonius published his great Commen¬
tary at Alexandria in 350; it became so famous that
Aetius came from Antioch to refute the Manichean
scholar (H. E. 3 : 15), and despite Antony’s warnings
many of his Egyptian monks were being converted by
the Manichean Psalms. Hierakas now wrote his
Commentary, the ‘ Hexameron near Arsinoe; he was
a saintly and ascetic scholar, whose preaching made
 civ

many converts. By the time St. Augustine was born

in Africa, a.d, 354, Hilary of Poitiers reported that the
Faith was already strong in Aquitaine, South France.
' At this time Shapur II renewed persecutibn in Persia;
in" 358 he was visited by the Neoplatonist Eustathius
of Sebaste, against whom St. Basil of Cesarea (329-379)
and St. Gregory of Nyssa (351-395) took up the
cudgels. Constantius (337-361) was so brutal to the
Manicheans that many pretended to be Catholics,
while others supported the Arians in Alexandria in the
disorders of the period. Julian (361-363) granted them
full tolerance, but he was soon killed by Shapur II,
who recovered the lost provinces once more.
• By 370 Eustathius was organising Manichean mona¬
steries in Anatolia, where the Faith was spreading fast,
while in Persia Atarpat the great High Priest issued
in the ‘ Denkart5 (3 : 200), a vile calumny against it
which led to fresh persecutions. Gratian drove the
faithful from the churches as ‘ heretics 5, while in 372
Valentiriian I forbade all meetings of the Sect, and
ordered presiding teachers to be fined, all present
Banished, and their buildings confiscated. Yet, despite
all this, the young Augustine joined them as
. Hearer ; he tells us that he heard 1 the Treasure 5
and one of the Epistles commented on by Addai, or
-Adimantus, read in Manichean assemblies. In 375 the
Huns entered Europe, the signal for the fall of the Roman
West. At Salamina Epiphanius in his book gave
Manicheism a long chapter, which he based on Hege-
ahonius and others; with characteristic stupidity he
 cv

imagined that Thomas, Addas and Hermeias were

*still alive and preaching (66 : 12, 31). ,
Herakleides, by now very old, possibly wrote in
-377 an account of the dualist monks in Egypt which
was later used by Palladius in his c Lausiac History 5;
he enjoyed high authority, and also commented on the
Manichean scriptures. In Alexandria Didymus was
now the chief opponent of the two Manichean sects
there—the vegetarian £ Saddikini * (i.e., the Elect), and
the 4 Sammakini who were said to be immune to
poison. In far away . Spain, Priscillian was in 380
accused by Ithacius and Hydatius of being a Mani¬
chean; in a.d. 385 he was the first martyr murdered
by the 4 Christians *—the first of a vast army through
the ages. In Milan the Prefect Symmachus was influ¬
enced by the scriptures, then being studied by Augustine,
who next year wrote his' (naturally) lost defence of
Mani’s Faith, 4 On Beauty and Finality \
Persecution again flared up in the West. In 381,
incited by the Catholics, Theodosius I again took away
civil rights, and in 382 decreed that Manichean
Elders, who lived in common for greater strictness in
the Precepts, be put to death. Faustus, a learned
Elder at Rome, fled back to Carthage, where he taught
that 44 a man who prays to God has no need of a
temple ”, while in an Italian monastery Constantius
was teaching one of Mani’s Epistles on the aims of life.
Jn 383 Theodosius I ordered that all Manicheans be
.sent into exile. It was during this mounting persecu¬
tion of the Faith that Augustine deserted it in 382 and
 CV1

became its leading Christian opponent, the subconsci—

ous mind providing the necessary impulse for thcr
change—a by no means unusual phenomenon.
Competing with the celibacy of the Elect, Christian
priests in the East began to adopt celibacy in 385,.
while St. Ambrose in Milan, John Chrysostom, and
Cyril of Jerusalem were opposing the 6 heretics \ This
was the year when Faustus, Manichean Bishop of
Carthage, was accused before the Consul Bauto; on
the kindly request of Catholics he was only exiled to
an island, where he spent his time in writing. In
Rome Constantius was now (384-388), disguised as.
a Christian, helping the Martari secretly to organise
a Manichean monastery, and in the three follow¬
ing years Augustine, as a monk at Thagaste, wrotc-
his books on Manichean Customs (AMM), on ‘ Gene¬
sis ’, and on ‘ True Religion \
In about 385 Valentinian II (375-392) again decreed
exile for all Manicheans, confiscated their property
and annulled their wills; this was actually done in Rome
in 389. At a very great age, well over a century,
Herakleides died at Leontopolis in 390/1; in the latter'
year Theophilus made his savage attack on the great
Alexandria Library—many priceless books of ancient
wisdom being destroyed by his ignorant bigots.
Augustine was now a Christian priest at Hippo in
Africa; among several new books we note one try¬
ing to reconvert Honoratus whom he had him- '
self once led to Mani’s feet. Diodorus of Tarsus;
wrote twenty-five 4 books * against the Faith, which.
 evil

had now by 395 spread strongly from Lydia into

Paphlagonia.
Next year, 396, Augustine wrote his treatise to refute
the one scripture he knew well—the Epistle called
4 Fundamental * by him (AFE). He received a copy of
Faustus’s book, a sort of pastoral letter opposing Chris¬
tianity, and refuted this in A.D. 400 in thirty-three
books (AF), along with his rightly famous 4 Con-
fesions 5. At this time there was a strong Church in
Spain, Portugal and Galicia; under the guidance of
Mark of Memphis they were studying the 4 Treasure ’,
in spite of the attacks of Bishop Evodius at Uzzala.
The last quarter-century was a time of fierce perse¬
cution in the Eastern Empire, while the Church was
perhaps too small to attract much notice in Persia and
was actually gaining ground in the West, aided by its
use of the popular apocryphal Acts of Thomas and
John, and the growing glory of virginity and the ascetic
and monastic life. In spite of official interference,,
there were scholarly lectures in Rome, and some of the
most intellectual embraced the Faith. In CentraL
Asia, in an area largely held by Iranized Buddhists, it
was perhaps slowly being orientalized to a form differ¬
ing from the Christian form known in the West.
2. The Fifth Century. We know little of what hap¬
pened in Central Asia during this age while the Huns
were extending their conquests, and the history of the
Faith in Persia is also dark, while the tiny Church in
Malabar had probably been absorbed by the Chris¬
tians, that in Sind by the Jains.
 CV111

In a.d. 404 Julia of Antioch, a woman, came to

•convert the important city of Gaza to Mani’s religion,
.and at the same time Philon was preaching it in the
Sinai region, where the monk Nilus refers to the books,
the ‘ Treasure * and the 4 Mysteries as known to him.?
In the same year Augustine wrote * On the Nature of
the Good 5 (NB), and against Felix, a Manichean priest
who was in 405 captured with five scriptures. At first
Felix was ready to be burned along with them if any¬
thing shocking were found in them, but considering the
doctrine hinted at in GPM 8:2 and certain passages
about Cain and Abel later quoted by AnNadim, he later
recanted. Though For tuna tus fled from the new Honor-
ian law outlawing all Manicheans as felons, Secundinus
boldly wrote from Rome trying, without success, to win
back Augustine to the Faith. By 407 the scriptures
-could circulate only secretly; any found were to be
burned, and their owners tried for ‘ heresy V At Carth¬
age the Prefect Ursus severely ‘ questioned 5 many mem¬
bers of the Church.
Alaric the Goth took Rome in a.d. 410; ten years
later Bahram V became King of Persia and throughout
bis Empire began to persecute the Christians, now
suspect as 4 Roman spies 5; the persistent cruelty of the
West to Manicheism seems to have convinced him that
they at least were no enemies to his State. Quoting
from the ‘ Epistle to Menaq the Virgin ’ (No. 60 or 61),
Julian of Eclana in 425 accused Augustine of still hold¬
ing Manichean views on chastity; similar doctrines
™ere being taught by Ado of Adiabene (Kurdistan) at
 C1X

Maisan near the Karun River of Iraq. Esnig of

Golp, the Pakrevant Bishop, wrote of the 4 Two Roots ’
derived from Zrwan as a doctrine held by the 4 £andiqs %
i.e.y Elect, then strong in Armenia. In 428 Theodosius
II passed another decree of exile on Manicheans and
other 4 heretics ’, and under this law Nestorius, Patri¬
arch of Constantinople, was sent into exile in Egypt
in 431, for denying that Mary is mother of God. In
430 St Augustine died at his see in Hippo; Cassian
warned his monks against the attraction of Mani-
cheism—by which he must have meant its noble ethics
and devotion, and not the fantastic cosmological myth.
In 439 Genseric’s Vandal conquest ended the long'
Catholic rule near Carthage, but the many Manicheans
still there found little relief, the Vandals within three
years taking up the persecution. Rabboulas at Edessa
(cir. 440) found their scriptures still widespread over
Syria, Palestine and North Arabia. In 443, Pope Leo
I (440-461) complained that there were still many
Manicheans in Rome; he dragged many out of hiding,,
forcing them to betray their priest and teachers, ex¬
posing them to public ridicule, and burning masses of
their beautifully copied and jewelled books before the
church doors. On his incitement, many other bishops
adopted the same barbarous conduct in Gaul, Sicily
and North Africa—Turibius of Astorga in Galicia mak¬
ing himself notorious for his cruelty in 445.
The retribution fell in Persia; in 448 Yesdijerd II
came to the throne and at once began a cruel persecu¬
tion of the Christians, many of whom followed Nestorius.
 cx

Yet the Manicheans found no relief in the West,

for in 445 Valentinian III had repeated the old Hono-
rian law of 405. In mid-century the Faith was still
strong at Edessa, while Proclus (412-485), the great
Neoplatonist, was teaching in Egypt. Theodoret of
Cyrrha wrote against the Manicheans between 451 and
458. In the following twenty-six years Feroz was King
of Persia; during his reign Battai, a Kantean Gnostic
east of the Tigris and south of Khaniqin, became a
Manichean; he edited the scriptures and established a
new sect in the Church.
Odoacer took Rome in 476, putting an end to the
Roman Empire in the West; under his Arian successors
the Manicheans enjoyed quiet for a while in outlying
provinces. Under Zenon (464-490), Aristocritus pub¬
lished at Alexandria his ‘ Theosophy an apology for
Manicheism wherein ‘ Love 5 initiated 6 Urania the
human soul; he showed that the doctrine was the same
as was really taught by Jews, Christians and Heathen
alike. Yet by 484 the Faith had been destroyed by the
Vandals in 4 Africa and in 495 Pope Gelasius repeated
Leo’s cruelties in Rome. Nevertheless in Constantino¬
ple itself many from the highest classes in society, even
at the court, were by the close of the century embracing
Mani’s creed.
3.- Sixth Century. Kobad (488-531) was King in
Persia when, about a.d. 500, Mazdak published his
book, teaching much as Mani did in the ‘ Treasure 9
and the 4 Two Roots ’; he quickly converted many to
his new sect, even from illustrious families. In 505 the
 CXI

^Romans under Anastasius I (491-518) regained Iraq,

Mani3s homeland. . At this time Severus of Antioch
was combatting the Faith, while Heracleon of Chalce-
'don condemned the three books: the 4 Gospel 3, the
,* Treasure ’ and the 4 Book of Giants *. In 510 Pope
Symmachus burned more of their books in Rome and,
.alarmed at the spread of their Church among Byzantine
-aristocrats, Anastasius decreed death to all who were
Joyal to the Faith. Pope Hormisdas burned more of
the scriptures in Rome in 520.
About 521 Eustathius wrote to Timotheus, citing
Epistles to Addas and to 4 Scutian 5 (i.e., 4 the Scythian3,
probably 4 Khabarhat or Gavriav). About four
years later Justin I ordered that even those who failed
to denounce or to boycott Manicheans should also be
put to death. Compelled by this wickedness, Prosper
in 526 became an apostate, and his 4 Abjuration 3 be¬
came a model required from all who later turned from
Mani to the Catholics. By 528 Mazdak had succeeded
in converting King Kobad himself, preaching at Nisha-
pur, and the Denawar sect of Manicheans carried their
stricter life and doctrine to Western Persia, where mem¬
bers had in time become somewhat lax. That same
year, while his father was still King, Prince Khusrau
Anoshirwan, infuriated by the spread of the new Faith,
treacherously massacred Mazdak and many of his
followers at a banquet; after this crime he had eighty
thousand* Mazdakites and Manicheans killed, and the
scriptures were severely proscribed throughout the
Persian Empire.
 CX11

Next year, while Simplicius was still fighting Mani-

cheism in Athens, Justinian (God. lust. I, 5: 11, 16)
decreed that even apostates to Christianity who failed
to denounce or persecute their former coreligionists,
owned or saved from burning any Manichean scripture,,
should be put to death; the Emperor himself came out
to prove by lectures that Mani’s followers were pagans,,
and so beyond the law of a 4 Christian’ State.
By founding Cassino in 529, St. Benedict firmly estab¬
lished Western monasticism, while at the same time
Eustathius was accusing Severus of being a crypto-
Manichean. That year Olympiodorus, the last great
Neoplatonist in Alexandria, passed away, and with him
the world of the old Mediterranean Mysteries. In 533
the Empire overthrew Gelimer’s Vandals in Africa and
brought the desolated province back under ‘ Roman ’
rule, but in 540 Khusrau I of Persia destroyed Antioch,,
and till 579 ruled from the Indus to part of East
Europe and the Red Sea, with a good deal of Central
Asia also.
Manicheans had secretly put copies of the 4 Two-
Roots’ in a Constantinople library and Zarachias wrote
seven books against them, while Paul the Persian was
opposing the Manichean orator Photinus. St. Benedict
died in 543. By mid-century many books were being
translated from Greek, Latin and Sanskrit into Persian,
and by this time at least the Persian original of4 CMT ’
existed, though it is probably far older. Between 563
and .567 the Turks took Soghdiana and other provinces
where Manicheism was still strong, overthrowing the
 cxm

Ephthalite Huns, and they soon showed themselves to

be favourable to Mani’s doctrine.
Manicheism by a.d. 570 could only exist in the West
4 underground 5 or camouflaged in a Christian dress; it
certainly greatly increased the importance of Satan in
Western thought, and spread the idea that Hell is
eternal—both ideas being dualistic and philosophically
quite incoherent with the Christianity taught by Jesus
and the Aposdes. But the Faith was still strong in
Antioch and other parts of the Near East, always
susceptible to ideas of esotericism, asceticism and
soterism. Muhammed’s birth in 571, though then un¬
noticed, opened a new era in the world’s religious
history.
Under Turkish rule in Central Asia, a candle mira¬
culously lit itself, in 584, in some temple whose priest,
probably a Manichean, was seeking leave to preach his
own religion, and in fact the Faith was fully tolerated
in that area for several centuries. There alone was it
treated with wise humanity! In 590 the Turks con¬
quered Tokharistan, Balkh, Herat and other provinces,,
and many of them became Manicheans. By this time
King Hormizd IV had been severely defeated by Hera-
clius,, and his throne became shaky. Syrian Nestorians
had brought to Armenia copies of an 4 Explanation of
Mani’s Gospel ’, with other apocryphal and 4 heretical ’
books. Pope Gregory I (590-604) found many Mani¬
cheans had again appeared in Africa, Sicily and
Calabria, and set to work to chase them out with their
books..
H
 CX1V

< 4. Seventh Century. Early in this century Khusrau

II tried heroically to restore the old days of Persian
glory; in 614 his troops took Jerusalem, and in 616
overran Egypt. But the tide soon turned back; in 622
the Romans conquered Armenia and in 624 invaded
Persia itself. To isolate them from the orthodox Chris¬
tian enemy, all Persian Christians were in 625 compelled
to embrace the Nestorian 4 heresy 5, and many Mani-
cheans seem to have found this a more acceptable
apostasy than was the degenerate and ritualistic
Mazdeism which then prevailed.
- Already in 620 the Denawars were known as the
T?i-ria-pa in Chinese, having doubtless been met on the
great 4 silk route * over Asia. At Seville St. Isidore was
fiercely opposing all 4 heretics 9, most of them holding
■various kinds of Manicheism (601-636), and in 630
Theodore of Raithai, near Arabia, was resisting their
Christology. Hiouen-tsang found them dominant
around Merv in Western Turkestan.
The death of Muhammed in 632 gave rein to a policy
of aggressive military expansion; the simple fiery Arabs
stormed over Iraq in 634, took Damascus in 635,
Palestine in 637, Syria in 638, Egypt by 641; in
651 Khalid, general of Abu Bakr, slew Yesdijerd
III in battle and took the whole of Persia. Islam
became the State religion there, and Mazdeism
was for ever crushed, remnants of it fleeing to
India.
By 645 Songtsen Gampo, Tibet’s great ruler, had
brought Buddhism to Lhasa, where it had long to
 cxv

struggle with the earlier shamanism of the Bon cult.

Manicheism had already entered from the north and
west, and certainly contributed its own elements to the
complex now known as Tibetan Buddhism or Lamaism.
The Manichean centre was more and more east and
north of the Oxus, extending to the Pamir plateau.
Called in to help the Persians, many Chinese embraced
it, and by' 650 it had reached China itself where, as
Jackson points out, it held its footing for a thousand
years. Having long been a victim of Mazdean hatred,
Manicheism at first enjoyed Muslim sympathy; based
on scriptures, it was a c people of the Book’ entitled to
protection under Qur’anic law; its cult was extremely
simple and in effect—despite the multiplicity of names
—monotheistic; it claimed a single Prophet, condemned
the use of idols, and rejected the worship of Saints,
relics and the Virgin Mother.
But when Mucawiya overthrew ‘Ali’s family and
founded the Ummaiyad dynasty (661-750) at Damas¬
cus, everything from Iraq and Persia was suspect as
pro-‘Ali, Shiite; the sect of the 4 Zandlqs 5 (i.e., Tsaddi-
qin, Elect) became a £ pernicious heresy ’, its books
liable to destruction. • The peace-loving followers of
the gende 4 Kindly Light ’, Mani, again met persecu¬
tion. Yet while the Muslims were unsuccessfully
besieging Constantinople itself, the £ Doctrine of the
Fathers on the Incarnation of the Word * was still abkf
to quote two of Mani’s Episdes—those said to be sent
to Zebenas and to Kondaros the Saracen, which I
cannot identify.
 CXV1

In about 650 Paul of Callinice and his brother John

had founded in Armenia a semi-Manichean sect, known
as the Paulicians, which was promptly attacked by
Constans II. In 668, though some date this rather to
705, the Taoist book ‘ Hwa-hu-King \ teaching the
‘ Three Times ’ and the 4 Two Sources \ was already
banned in China for teaching later incarnations of
Lao-tsii, one of which was as Mo-Moni (i.e.,-Mar Mani,
the holy Mani). Between 670 and 692 Manicheism
definitely entered Eastern Turkestan, where the Uighur
Turks were mingling with Iranians and Scyths. Many
of these were soon Manichean or Nestorian, but the
majority were Buddhists—so the outer forms of the
Faith slowly assumed a Buddhistic colour here, and in
return undoubtedly influenced the Mahayana, specially
in such sects as that of the 4 Pure Land \ In spite of
the insecurity of non-Muslims under Islamic rulers, the
Denawars began after 690 to filter back in small num¬
bers into Iraq.
An 4 Aftadan 5 (i.e., one of the seventy Overseers), or
c Fu-tuo-tan5 in a.d. 694 carried through Kashgar,
Kucho and Karashahr to the Chinese court his scrip¬
ture, the 4 Two Sources ’ (Per. Do-bun-namag; Turk.
Bu-iki-yiltiz) which by a.d. 700 he had already trans¬
lated into Chinese. By this time also in Maralbashi,
east of Kashgar and half way to Aqsu, the Saka
-Kingdom had already a Manichean text in its
own dialect; here the month of Buzadina (Bosanti)
was a fast, two months had Soghdian names, and
the State Religion was actually Manichean, though.
 CXV11

it viewed its rivals with a friendly tolerance it never

itself received from others,1 outside Central Asia.
At Constantinople in 695-698 Leontius said that the
Manichean Canon included the Gospels of Thomas,
Philip and the Infancy (all Gnostic in origin), and the
4 Heptalogue 3 of Agapius, now about 350 years old.
At some time during the latter half of this century, one
called by the Muslims Abu Yahya arRais was the
Leader of the Faith (Arkhegos, Imam).
5. Eighth Century. The Catholics still believed that
Manicheism was strong in 4 Africa 3, while it is doubt¬
ful if any openly professed the Faith as such there; yet
it is true that dualistic modes of thought had deeply
penetrated Christianity, and many who were not quite
sure about God had no doubt at all about the Devil!
Islam was still rapidly expanding; already on the
Adantic shore by 700, it overran Spain in 711, having
politically conquered Khiva and West Turkestan in 707.
While Walld I (705-715) was Caliph, one of the Mani¬
chean Elect, Zad-hormizd, founded at Ctesiphon a new
sect, even stricter than the Denawars, and many in the
hills of Media and Kurdistan joined him.. His pupil
Miqlas, became the leader about in 722, of what was
really a movement against the gradual secularisation of
the Faith under its orthodox Leaders.
In 719 Ti-sho, King of Tokharistan, sent a great
Manichean Teacher [mozhag) to China, recommending
1 The friendly relations between Manicheism and its 4 rival ’
religions in Kirghizia at this time are shown by the proximity
of their Temples at AkBeshim in the Chu Valley, excavated in
1954-1955.
 CXV111
t

his vast learning to the Emperor and asking for hint

leave to build a temple there. Thus the Canon, per- '
haps nearly complete,' came to China, and within two
years there were in fact temples there for the 4 Ming-
kiao 9, Religion of the Light, as it was called. By 729
the planetary week appeared in China, the days having
Soghdian (i.e., Manichean) names, and Sunday also
became a fast day (cf. GPM 57: 1); in 731 the docu¬
ment 4 CMT 9 was translated from Pehlevi by imperial
order into Chinese. But things were going too'fast; in
732 an edict refuted the Faith as a fit perverse belief
falsely styled Buddhistic 95—Mani had here attained the
rank of a Buddha!—and allowed its practice only to
the foreign missionaries, called the 4 Masters of the Hu
of the West \ Yet the two favourite scriptures circus
lated freely in Chinese; these were the 4 Eul-tsong King 9
(probably Mani’s Epistle, 4 The Two Roots *) and the
4 San-tsi King 9 (or 4 Three Times 9, probably Mani’s
Epistle to Pattiq, i.e., the 4 Fundamental Epistle 9 so
well known to Augustine). These two gave the out¬
lines of the myth in Mani’s 4 Wisdom 9, and unhappily
the same stress seem to have been laid on this element
in the East as in the West.
Meanwhile the Emir Khalld ibn ‘Abdullah alQasri;.
under 4Umar II, let the Denawars settle freely in Bagh¬
dad, provided they kept clear of the extremist Miqlasis
and were loyal to the famous Mihr (cir. 710-740), the
orthodox Imam or Leader in Babylonia. This Muslim
State support to the orthodox 4 Mihriyand 9 party led
to a good deal of compromise in their way of living;
 CX1X

the adoption of Muslim names and customs became SO'

frequent tnat after 724 Miqlas led his followers into an
open schism while Hisham (724-743) was Caliph in
Damascus.
Their hatred for Ali’s family had alienated the Urn-
mayyad rulers from their Eastern subjects, and the loose
character of several of the Caliphs combined with the
definite check to Muslim advance at Tours in France*
732, to weaken their hold. Sedition rose and spread!
swiftly in Persia, especially in Khorassan, the Mani-
chean stronghold, and in a.d. 750 Saffah Abu5l ‘Abba&
overthrew the Caliph and founded his own Abbasid
dynasty. Aided largely by them in the revolt, the
early Abbasids showed great favour to the Manicheans*
which led to further compromises and to an increase
among the Miqlasi dissidents, while several Persian
ascetic and Sufi sects arose in the East. At this time the
Miqlasis recognised Buzurmihr as their Imam, while
the Mihriyand followed Abu Sa‘id Raha, who came
from Rai, the ancient Median capital and home of
Zarathushtra’s mother. Mansur (754-775) continued
the policy of toleration, and the orthodox Imam*
Abu Hillal adDehuri, an African Manichean, did all he
could in his day to reconcile the Miqlasi schismatics*,
but in vain.
Meanwhile, fairly safe in their Armenian mountains*
the Paulicians continued to increase, led by Constantine
and Simeon about 730; a generation later their leader
was Paul II, followed in turn by his sons Gegnasius
and Theodore. The sect began to attract attention
 cxx

even in Constantinople. In Sicily Pope Gregory II

(715-731) was still hunting for Manicheans to persecute,
eager to extirpate what was now certainly well camou¬
flaged under orthodox life and doctrine. The Faith
had ceased to exist openly in the West and more and
more tended to consolidate itself eastwards in Central
Asia, though in 747 the work of Padmasambhava estab¬
lished Buddhism so firmly in Tibet as to leave no room
there for Manicheism to spread.
At this time, 757, the Uighur Turks had an empire
extending from the Tibetan border right across to
the Yellow River, and in 760-780 Jouei-si and
others were busy translating Manichean scriptures
into their own Turkish dialect. With three other
monks this scholar was sent to Turfan (Orkhon?),
near Khocho,. by the Qaghan of the Uighurs, Boghu
Khan, or toigdn, who had been converted at Honan-fu
by some Manicheans in 762; in this eastern capital of
the T’ang dynasty the ‘ Shapur-aqan ’, the * Gospel %
and the 6 Epistle to Hata 5 (No. 65 ?) were then being
read. That same year work began at Turfan on the
Pehlevi Book of Prayers, the ‘ Mahrnamag ’, we are
told “ on the order of the spiritual chiefs 55; at this
time the ‘ King of the Religion 5 (Ch. Touan-Kong), or
Leader, resided (temporarily?) at Khocho, or Kao-
5chang. The mission succeeded well; many thousands
gave up Buddhism, burned its images, and became
disciples of the * Religion of the Light5. The Leader
praised the zeal of Boghu Khan, and sent a Teacher
(mozhag) and other monks to preach everywhere;
 CXX1

scriptures circulated in Pehlevi, Soghdian, Chinese and

Uighur Turkish, and temples were rising in 768 at the
capitals of Lo-yang and Tch’ang-ngan by a decree on
17 th July. Three years later came the permission to
build temples in four Tangtseu provinces—Hou-pei,
Kiang-su, Kiang-si and Tcho-Kiang—for the “ Light
of the Great Clouds ”, whose monks wore white robes
and coiffures. In May-June 799, the Manichean
* Masters * were ordered by the Chinese authorities to
pray for rain.
Turning back to Iraq: by 764 Baghdad was founded,
and within another eight years exact and literal trans¬
lations of the Manichean works began to appear in
Arabic; being anxious to gain something of Persian
culture, the Arabs read these very eagerly. When
many secretly embraced Mani’s tenets, AlMahdi (775-
785) ended the toleration with a savage persecution in
which thousands lost their lives. The spirit of the time
is well shown by AnNadim’s laconic story; he writes
(p. . 338): “ Now Muhammed ibn ‘Ubaidullah, Al-
Mahdi’s secretary, was a dualist, and he confessed to
that; then AlMahdi killed him.” The Hermetists of
Harran suffered at the same time. The prophet Hakem
was then preaching in Khorassan. By 780 'Abdullah
ibn alMuqaffa was busy translating books from Pehlevi
and Persian into Arabic, glossing them freely in a good
style; this man, born at Huz, the capital of Fars, kept
secret sympathies for the old Mazdean Faith in his
heart; he even tried to write a book to equal the
Qur’an. The famous Harun arRashld (785-809) actively
 CXX11

persecuted the Barmecide house, said to be all Mani-

cheans but one, and fond of pagan thought and the
e traditions of Mazdak
In about 765 Constantine V brought many Paulicians
from Melitene to settle in Thrace, where they enjoyed
full toleration and passed on their Manichean tendencies
to the later sect of Bogomiles. Ten years or so later,
we find Paul IPs grandson Zacharias as their leader,,
and he was followed by Joseph and Baanes his disciple.
With the blessings of Yazd-Mari-Aryansha, the new
£ Master 9 at Turfan, the priest Mari Yishu£-Aryaman
and the deacon Mari Doshlst, one Nishvarlg-Roshan,
son of the preacher Yazd-Amad, in about 790 com¬
pleted the 4 Mahrnamag and by 795 appeared at
Khocho a Turkish translation of the £ Travels of Arm*
(Ammos) the Apostle to Turkestan, and a Turkish
life of the Buddha spread to the West, where strangely
enough he was transformed into a Christian Saint!
At Kashgar in Iraq, Theodore bar Khoni issued his
valuable £ Scholia9 in 791 (K.), quoting the Syriac
original of at least one of Mani’s own books; we have used
this extensively in our own GPM. At the same time
Anastatius knew several of the scriptures personally at
his Sinai home; it is clear that despite all the burnings
copies still survived here and there in the West—and
found people brave enough to read them. A very
striking testimony to the reverence of the copyists dates*
from about 800 in Central Asia (cf. Muller: Hand-
schriften, pp. 3, 5): “The Manicheans take the same
care over adorning their Scriptures as the Christians
 CXX111

over their churches. ... I regret that these people insist

on wasting precious silver to procure fine white paper
and a brilliant black ink, that they give so much value-
to calligraphy and so encourage copyists, for in truth I
have not yet seen any paper comparable to that of their
books or any writing so beautiful.” Even Augustine-
had paid like tribute in his day, four centuries earlier,
referring to the gems and gold inlaid in their covers.
Mani’s last words to his Elect at Pargalia (§18), “ Take
care of my books ”, were faithfully obeyed, even by the
unknown villager who saved for us the three under the
floor of his Fayum hut (MP., ME, and Keph.).
6. Ninth Century. By 806 we learn that the Uighur
Manicheans drank only water and used no milk or
other animal food, eating only in the evening. As an
‘ act of piety ’, the Chinese built for them several tem¬
ples.1 About ten years later Tisong-detsen, King of
Tibet, invited Indian Buddhists to his country to
strengthen their religion. In 809 there was a rebellion
at Samarqand, where the Manicheans now called them¬
selves 4 Sabaeans 5 to secure toleration; Ma’mun (813-
834), tolerant to sectaries, was even suspected by some
of crypto-Manicheism; yet he threatened with death
those who would not formally apostatise by spitting on
a picture of Marti. During his time the Miqlasi leader
was Iazdanbakht,2 whose dreams were criticised by an

1 On 22nd February 807, the Uighurs asked for temples to be

built at Ho-nan-fu (Loyang) in Ho-nan, and at T’ai-yuan-fou in-
Shan-si; they were now treating with the Chinese on equal terms*
one Qutiugh being the Imperial mason.
8 The name means 1 Grace of the Gods *. i -
 CXX1V

orthodox writer, perhaps the Imam Abu Hilal, in

Epistle 59 addressed to the Hearers. When bidden to
accept Islam, Iazdanbakht stoutly defended his right to
freedom of religion. By about 830 he was succeeded at
Gtesiphon by Abu ‘All SacId, under whom the books
of the 1 Zandiqs 5 were again popular in Iraq; after him
we find the name of his secretary Nasr ibn Hormizd,
who continued to water down the tenets of the sect to
resemble more closely the Mihriyand orthodox. In
843 there was, however, a wave of persecution in Bagh¬
dad, wherein seventy Manicheans died; as a disguise
they began to wear the cap and sash of their Muslim
neighbours.
Meanwhile, to the north, Nicephorus I gave all civil
rights to the Paulicians in about 807, their leaders being
now Sergius and Theodotus, who taught by letters a
Christianized Manicheism. But in 812 Michael began
a brutal persecution, killing ten thousand of those who
would not curse Mani’s holy name, and by 815 the
Paulicians rebelled, crossing the frontier to Melitene
under the rule of Ma’mun, who protected them; the
persecution ceased again about 825.
In the East, after a banquet on 28th December 813,
.the Turkish Qaghan ‘ Pao-yi5 sent a message through
Inanchu and his seven Manichean companions, with
an escort of 3000 soldiers, to ask for the hand of Tai-ho,
daughter of the Chinese Emperor Hsien-tang; this
request was refused. When in 821 the new Qaghan
was bold enough to send messengers to China to
fetch the Princess to his court, the Manicheans
 cxxv

were naturally suspected of political aims and fell

from favour. Whereas in 820 Taher’s Turks had
established a dynasty in Khorassan favourable to the
Manicheans,1 and the pro-Buddhist kingdom of Tibet
broke up in 839, at home disaster fell on the Mani¬
cheans. By 841 the Kirghiz took the Uighur capital,
seized the Qaghan c T’ai-houo * himself, and destroyed
the State. There was a swift reaction in China; in
842 Manicheans were forbidden to live anywhere save
in Kansu and the Uighur areas, and in 843 the Chinese
princess was recovered from the Qaghan Uga and taken
home. Out of five temples in Yangtseu two were
closed in 842, the monks being driven off to the north; '
in 843 an edict declared the 4 Religion of the Light*
illicit in all China, ordered the closing of all its shrines-
and the confiscation of all their goods, and the public
burning by officials of their books and images. This
naturally forced the Manicheans to meet at night and
in disguise, the clandestine meetings producing vile
calumnies and further persecution. During the next
seven years* after several changes of fortune the Uighurs
scattered to the south-east, the south and the south¬
west—to Turfan and Qarashar, and to the west towards
Kutch’ar; they founded new Manichean States at Kho-
cho, Kantcheou, Khotan and Turfan.
Around 830 Nicephorus of Constantinople was still
able to use Mani’s Epistles to Addas, Kondaros and
1 Before 820 Ushrusana, between Samarqand and the Jaxartes,
opposed the Arabs and was taken, by the Turks in 821, when they
were called in by King Kavus and his son Fadl, who later protected-
the Manjch.eans from Muslim persecution.
 cxxvi

'Zebenas—not identified in the list given by AnNadim.

Photius (837-863), Patriarch under Michael TIIJ de¬
nounced the 1 Manichean 9 heretics who, fleeing from
the cruelty of Theodore and Justinian continued to seek
Muslim protection; about 850 some of the Paulicians
rebelled and set up, under Karbeas and his son
dhrysochir, the independent Republic of Tephrike allied
to the Caliphs. In 862 Cyril and Methodius converted
•to Christianity Bulgaria, an area already saturated with
Paulician ideas; but much of the old paganism survived
(underground for many centuries.
Round about 860-870, answering a querent in Ispa¬
han, the Parsi scholar Martan-farrukh in his 4 Shikand-
Gumanig Vijar 9 refuted the Jews, Christians and Mani-
•cheans, giving a fair outline of the doctrinal scheme of
the last. At the same time a valuable library was
formed at Turfan—sermons, dogmas, rituals and scrip¬
ture^, but unhappily no history—in Soghdian; parts of
this are now in our hands. The Manichean books
were still held a great danger at Constantinople. During
the cruel persecution under Basil I (867-886) a new
‘ Abjuration 9 condemned by name the Epistles, Gospel,
Treasure, Mysteries of Mani, the 4 Apocrypha 9, Memo¬
rabilia, Commentaries, Heptalogue and Theosophy—
though we need not suppose that all these were still
extant, there. This Anathema also named Mani’s
parents as 4 Patekios 9 and 4 Karossa 9, and his disciples
Hierakas, Herakleides, Apthtonius, Sisinnios, Thomas
the ‘ Evangelist9 (an obvious error), Boudas (? Addai),
Herm(ei)as, Zakouas, Gabriabius, Hilarius, Olympius,
 cxxvii

Zalmaios, Ianneus, Paapis and Baraias; many of these

:are already known to us. Four editions of a history of
Manicheism appeared about this time—all lost now.
While Abu’lHassan the Damascene was the Miqlasi
Leader under Caliph Motammed (870-892), one AlYa‘-
<jubi from Khorassan wrote a history of the £ Zandlqs 5
an 872, about the same time as a Persian dynasty, the
Sofarids, took that eastern province. The actual scrip¬
tures of Manicheism now disappeared from the know¬
ledge of the West altogether, after Peter of Sicily had
visited the Paulicians and described their £ heresy 5 as
dimply Manicheism under another name.
7. Tenth Century. In 902 Isma'Il ibn Ahmad the
rSamanid overthrew the Sofarids in Khorassan; Mukta-
<dir the Caliph (908-932) exiled all Manicheans from
Iraq; many fled to the old refuge in Khorassan, others
went with their Imam to Samarqand, where five hundred
of them were soon arrested, to Soghdiana and Nukat
/

in Ilak. Prior to this, AnNadim had known about

three hundred of them still in Baghdad. •
In 920 the Manichean Uighurs of Ch’en-cheou pro¬
claimed Wou-yi as Emperor of China, being implicated
in the Honan revolt against the ‘Son of Heaven’;1
they were accused of celebrating vile nocturnal rites
and again persecuted. By 950 those in Fukien were
accused of using their books for sorcery, and on
4th April 951 a new embassy of Uighur Manichean
Elect set out from Kansu with gifts to placate the

' i Wou-yi was taken and beheaded along with Tong-yi and
•eighty others.
 CXXV112

Chinese Government. In 961 their c King of the Reli-

gion 9 sent more precious gifts from Khotan and West
Tibet to the Emperor; by 971 they were busy in their
white robes exorcising demons in China.
In 981-984 the Chinese envoy, Wang-yen-to visited
the Turkish areas and reported: “ There are also Mani-
chean temples there, and Persian monks who practise
their own religions 99 (perhaps Nestorians?).
Meanwhile in 925 Persia had come under the rule of
the Bouid dynasty, and by 930 the Manicheans had
formed a powerful, civilised and prosperous State in
Toghuzghuz; the ruler of the land, Nasr II (923-953),
had become their convert. The Khorassan Govern¬
ment now resolved to extirpate Manicheans in their
territory, but when the Toghuzghuz threatened re-
prisals on the more numerous Muslims there, satisfied
themselves with the mere collection of the jezia—poll-
tax. At this time Mas‘udi of Baghdad knew four of
Mani’s books—6 Giants \ ‘Treasure 9, ‘ Mysteries 9, and
‘ Shapur-aqan \ AnNadim in 940 found these four in
the rich Baghdad library (?), together with the ‘ Prag-
mateia 9, the ‘ Precepts 9, and seventy-six Epistles. A
little later, Mahbud, Bishop of Menbij, knew some of
the books, and Gibrail ibn Nuh replied to Iazdanbakht’s
attack on Christianity.
In 940 the tottering Abbasids were overthrown by
the Turks, while the Western Bouids, descended from
the old Sassanids of Mani9s day, controlled Baghdad;
their love for science introduced a glorious age in Iran.
In 977 the descendants of a Turkish slave formed at
 CXX1X

Ghazni a dynasty that conquered Khorassan and, by

1050, much of North India.
Already by 910 the first Catharists, a Manichean sect
of unusual purity, had heralded the second wave oF
Manicheism in the West. It was greatly reinforced
about 960 by the preaching in Thrace and Bulgaria of
one who called himself Bogo-mil, the 4 friend of God
which had swift success there and soon spread into-
Bosnia, sending in a few years the neo-Mani-
chean influences as far as Istria and round inta
Venetia.
A Chinese visitor noticed in 981-984 that Manicheart
temples were common in Khorassan, where about 987
Gardizi the Arab found the majority in the capital city
still professed the Faith. He described how three or
four hundred gathered daily in the house of the Prefect^
probably a high church dignitary, to recite Mani’s,
books, salute him, and then return home. All the
Iranian and Turkish books in use there had been care-.
fully copied. In 988 AnNadim published his wonderful
4 Fihrist a literary history of the Muslimized lands (N);
he gave a most valuable account of Mani, his teachings:
and the history of his Faith—preserving many direct
citations. He says that he at this time knew in Baghdad
only five Manicheans, called the 4 Achari though
many lived as 4 Sabaeans 9 in the Iraqi villages, in
Samarqand, and in other Eastern provinces.
In 996 the Turfan ruler was Arslan; he tried
in vain to effect a marriage with the Liao dynasty.
In 998 Mahmud of Ghazni drove llkan, King of
I
 cxxx

Turkestan, out of Khorassan, which now ceased to be

a safe refuge for the dualists. Next year the Samanids
in Mavaralnar fell, and in a.d. 1000 Biruni reported
that it -had taken him fourteen years to trace out in his
Khiva home a copy of the ‘ Mysteries % called * The
Book of Books 5 by Rhazi the famous doctor, together
with other parts of the Canon. Among the Western
Uighurs most were still Manichean, so too many in
Tibet and Turkestan, but few were any longer to be
found further west outside Samarqand.
8. Eleventh Century. In about 1008 Emperor Lin-
;she-tch’ang slipped the two Manichean books already
noted into the Taoist Canon, but this ruse did not
succeed in winning toleration for the Faith. In 1019
this revised Canon was found secretly circulating in
Fukien, and it was deposited in Lao-tsii’s great temple
in Honan, but this version made by Chang-kiun-fang
was soon rejected by the Buddhists and Taoists, and in
1025 a new Taoist Canon was issued without the inter¬
polated treatises.
By about 1035 Catharism was being openly taught
near Turin in Italy, where many of the faithful were
martyred at the stake as ‘ heretics ’. Yet the neo-Mani-
•chean wave had spread strongly to France by 1050 and
had swept over the Hungarian plains into Germany,
.and out from the Balkans to the Anatolian plateau.
The corruption of many Catholic priests made great
numbers of sincere Christians embrace it as a purer
form of Christianity than their own. In 1061 many
began to imagine Manicheism must have survived in
 CXXX1

.Africa under the Muslim rule, and several Popes

Vainly looked for it also in Sicily and South Italy.
To save them from some invasion, a well-preserved
set of Manichean books, including the Hearers’ 4 Con¬
fession 5 in Turkish, the long Chinese text derived front
Addai’s (?) Pehlevi, and a Code of the Elect in Chinese>
were hidden away in a Kansu cave at Tun-huang, where,
they were found only in 1907 by European explorers.
In 1092 Abu’lMa’ali found a copy of the * Ertenk 5 in
the royal archives at Ghazni.
Under Mas£ud I the Seljuk Turks raided the Ghaz-
navid lands in 1037 and weakened their power; in 1097
they were able at Khiva to found a dynasty of their own
under Atsiz. But they did not share the Uighur sym¬
pathy for Manicheism, which was by now fast dying out
everywhere save in the Tarim Basin and in its Catharist
form in the West. In 1056 the Bouids in West Persia
and Baghdad fell; the last traces of Shapur’s line
vanished from history.
' 9. Twelfth Century. In Constantinople the orthodox
burned Basil the Bogomile in 1118. By now Catharism
had in Italy and France consolidated into a complete
code of faith and ethics. So corrupt and vicious
had many of the Catholic priests become, so worldly
.and greedy of money, that the people’s revolt from them
caused Catharism swiftly to become dominant in South
France by 1150, and very strong also in Lombardy. In
1160 the Catharists celebrated the 4 Bema’-rite at.
Koln in Germany, and in 1163 they were condemned
by the Catholic Council of Tours; 1165 saw a public
 CXXX11

debate between what now seemed like two rival Chris¬

tian systems. Though the Catharists were condemned
%

as 4 heretics naturally, they continued to grow in

strength, and in 1167 they held' a Church Council of
their own near Toulouse, attended by their own five
French Bishops and by two from Lombardy and Con¬
stantinople. In 1177 Raimond V of Toulouse invited
a Roman mission to combat the growing Faith—the
saintly life, devotion and kindliness of whose 4Elect9 had.
won to them the peasants’ hearts; and in 1180 a 4 Cru¬
sade 9 against them was preached, which led to some
persecution and devastation.
Further east, Shahrastani had a copy of the 4 Shapur-
aqan ’ and the 4 Book of Giants 9 in his Khorassan
village, also a text written by the Manichean 4 Imam 9
Abu Sa4id, and a 4 Theology 9 by Abu Tsa alWarrak,
who tells us that there were still followers of Mazdak in
Samarqand, Tashkent, Ilak (Transoxiana) and Susiana_
Some Manichean books were even known to Michael
the Syrian in Antioch in 1166-1199. In 1183 the Ghaz-
navids fell, and Kharasmians overthrew the Seljuks in-
Iraq; the Ghori house in Afghanistan also came to ait
end about 1194.
In the Far East the Manicheans were involved about
1120 in Fang-la’s revolt; their chiefs, we learn, wore a
violet bonnet and black robes. About 1160 Hong-mai
(1123-1202) called the 4 Religion of the Light started
by Mo-moni the Fifth Buddha, a 4 perverse sect
using his same two books in Fukien; in 1166 Lou-
yeou (1125-1209) made a yet fiercer attack on ity
 CXXX111

petitioning the Emperor to stamp it out ruthlessly. He

calls the Manicheans of his day magicians and demoniac
deceivers, and complains that they hid under different
names here and there in Western China, “ deceiving
the people who ran to them ” because of their kindness.
He tells us they were stubborn vegetarians, and thus
tacidy condemned the meat-eating Confucius, and
celebrated vile rituals by night; they taught of a
‘ Messenger of the Light ’ (Ch. Ming-che), used images
and the books of sorcerers and impostors, which he had
seen and condemned, though they used high official
authorities for the printing and plate-engraving for
them. Such books and plates must be burned at once,
and anyone copying, painting, or engraving for them
must be sent into exile for one year. He tells us the Mani¬
cheans wore white robes and black caps, and lived as
batchelors; many of them were even soldiers or magis¬
trates. Such should be given a month to surrender
their pernicious books, images and vestments to the
magistrates and so earn pardon, or a reward should be
given any informer who brought them to suitable
punishment.
10. Thirteenth Century. Papal legates vainly tried to
convert the Catharists back to Catholicism in 1203-
1204, and even St Dominic, living as a mendicant friar
like their own * Elect ’, had little better success in 1205-
1217. In 1207 Innocent III let loose on them the
so-called ‘ Crusade 5; the men of North France invaded
the South with brutal repression. At the capture of
Beziers twenty thousand were massacred, of whom very
 CXXX1V

few in fact could have been Catharists, but war does not
discriminate. When Carcasonne was taken, four hun¬
dred were burned alive and fifty hanged—all on the
pretext of being 4 heretics *; lynch law prevailed. So
naturally the efforts of the friars, even the Pope’s 4 Poor
Christians 9 of 1209, could do little to win back the
people to the 4 Holy Mother 5; as usual, repression only
roused increased resistance. The 4 Elect ’ showed the
utmost courage, visiting and consoling their people,
just as the priests did in England in the later days of
repression there; very very few of them fell away into
apostasy. At Minerve, out of 140 of them 137 were
content to be burned alive as martyrs, and at Gasser
all the sixty taken were burned at the stake (1210-1211).
Simon de Montfort, leader of the invaders and arch¬
persecutor, fell at the siege of Toulouse in 1217.
In 1229 Raimond VII surrendered, letting the In¬
quisition loose in his territories, and in 1232 the Domi¬
nicans undertook that wicked work. With the criminaL
zeal which brought an indelible stain on Catholic
history, they allowed no defence whatever to the ac¬
cused, and so thorough was their work that by 1240;
there were only four thousand of the 4 Elect * alive in
all Europe. The need for reform in Christendom had
been stamped on, for a while, and the seed for the far
more disastrous upheaval under Luther and his fellows
had been sown in fertile soil. The murder of Peter, a
Dominican and the son of Catharist parents in Verona,
by unknown miscreants on the Como-Milan road, was
made the pretext for a savage persecution in Italy also*
 cxxxv

in 1252. So furious was the terror in Provence iii.

1268-1290 that by the end of the century Catharism
was at its last gasp there, and the fairest province of the
old Latin world was made a semi-desert.
•Genghiz Khan (1178-1227) had broken the Seljuk:
rule in Khwarism in 1220, and their dynasty came to*
an end in 1231. In 1258 Hulagu’s Tartars stormed
Baghdad, ending the long-standing Caliphate there~
About 1260 Kublai Khan’s Mongols destroyed the
Toghuzghuz Manichean State, and refused toleration
to the Faith there; yet small communities still survived
in Khotan and West Tibet. In 1280 Abu’lFaraq, known
as 4 bar Hebraeus ’, was able to refer to Manichean
books still existing under the Seljuks in Mosul, where
the Faith had been planted by Mani himself more than
a millennium earlier. But by 1300 Arabic writers
could speak of Manicheism only by hearsay; the
Church had now vanished from their neighbour^
hood.
In the Far East about 1235 one Tsong-kien sum¬
marised and condemned the 4 Two Roots * and six
other Manichean books, named but still unidentified;,
he asked that the teaching and practice of this 4 heresy29
should be punished in China. The Taoist book 4 Hwa-
hu-King ’ was again banned in 1258, and the Buddhist
monk Che-p’an at that time referred to Manicheart
books—the last time they are spoken of as extant.
However, in 1285 an enlarged 4 Hwa-hu-King J called
Mani a reincarnation of Lao-tsti and also of the Buddha,
son of Maya, (i.e., Gautama). This book was once:
 CXXXV1

again, and this time finally, banned; it was lost to us

until a copy was found in the Tun-huang cave in 1907.
11. The End of Manicheism. From 1308 to 1323
Bernard Guy carried on the persecution of Catharist
remnants, and by the time he had finished hisrwork the
most cultured part of France and Europe was a ruin
and its beautiful language, Provencal, was destroyed.
About a century later, in 1420, Gatharism still existed
in Bosnia and Bulgaria; indeed there are traces of it
•even now in the folk-lore and legends of the people
here and there—even as far afield as in pre-revolution
Russia.
In 1345 Baghdad became the Persian capital; 1387-
.1405 was the wild reign of Timurlang; in 1468 the
Turkomans came to brief power in Persia until 1500,
when Mirchond wrote the story of how Mani the
4 Zandiq 9 painted his Gospel in an Eastern cave, and
the Sufids came to the throne in that historic land.
The last but one important edict against Manicheism
was that of 1368 in China; it condemned the Faith as
.a cult of sorcerers and forbade the making of Mani-
chean paintings; at the same time it condemned the
semi-political Societies of the White Lotus, and of the
Black and White Clouds (Payun-tsong). In 1374 the
Ming Emperor issued the following Code of Repres¬
sion, which is the last important historical reference to
the Faith: “ Every Master or sorcerer who pretends to
invoke heretical deities, writes out charms, pronounces
spells over water, . . . evokes Saints, and gives himself
the titles of4 King of the Doctrine ’, 4 Great Protector \
 CXXXV11

or 4 Mother Instructress5—as well as the Societies

which lyingly call themselves 4 The Cult of Maitreya
Buddha 5, ‘ The Association of the White Lotus 5, 4 The
Religion of the Venerable of the Light 4 The Sect of
the White Cloud \ etc., which all give themselves to
the practice of heretical teachings that trouble good
(order)—when they secretly keep images (of their
Gods), burn incense to them, and hold assemblies
where they gather by night and disperse by dawn,
pretend to practise good works and (so) deceive the
people—for the chiefs it (i.e., the penalty) is strangling,
for those who follow them, to each one a hundred blows
with a heavy club and deportation for life to (the dis¬
tance of) 3000 li (i.e., 1000 miles).’5 East, as West, had
found no way of competing with this unwanted fellow-
religion save the brutal and infantile illogic of violence.
I have no idea how many Manicheans perished under
this Edict of 1374, but in 1390 it was repeated—and
the 4 Religion of the Light5 disappeared.
Yet in 1646 we still hear in China of the 4 Sects of
the White Lotus and of the Black Cloud 5, wherein
faint echoes of the perished Faith may have lingered;
in 1813 members of the 4 White Lotus 5 stormed the
Imperial Palace in Peking, and in 1860 a Chinese book
.actually appeared, attacking Christianity and Mani-
-cheism as if they were equally live issues. Last of all,
^ven up to 1911 a law was still in force in Vietnam
(Indochina), proscribing the 4 Religion of the Vener¬
able of the Light5, which could hardly have been
existing there in actual fact.
 CXXXV111

12. Recovering the Traces. For centuries the absurd¬

ities of Hegemonius were our only source for knowing;
Mani the man, and the angry polemic of Western
bigots, with St. Augustine’s gentler and painstaking im¬
maturities, our only source for his doctrine. The word
.* Manichean 5 became a mere term of contempt for the-
ignorant to fling at one another, and the very existence
of a world religion as great as Buddhism or Islam be¬
came the shadow of a memory; men thought it a
.wild and unimportant Christian heresy in the West,
instead.
With Flugel’s fine work in Germany in 1861 the tide*
•began to turn, and when in 1872 he published the
Arabic c Fihrist * even encyclopaedias began to do-
justice to Mani. In 1902-1904 the original Manichean
documents found at Turfan began to be published by
Muller (M) and Salemann (S) in Germany and Russia,
respectively; these taught us how far we could rely on
the Christian opponents, and we found that their out¬
line was in fact remarkably fair, all things considered—
far better than their treatment of Gnosticism. In 1907
came the great discovery of the Tlin-huang library, with.
its many priceless treasures. Using the new materials,.
Alfaric in 1918 brought out his masterly study on the
nature and history of Manichean scriptures. Already
in 1889 Kessler had laid the foundation for a true esti¬
mate of the Faith, and Pognon in 1898 had given us the
valuable publication of bar Khoni’s materials. In
1931 Jackson published his scholarly collection oF
4 Studies many of them previously issued as papers in.
 CXXX1X

various journals. In 1933 came the richest haul to

date; 3500 pages of original Manichean scriptures,
largely intact, were recovered in Egypt—comprising
the fc Psalms % the ‘ Homilies ’ and the priceless 4 Kepha-
laia \ Much of this was published with exemplary
speed and efficiency by Alberry and Polotsky, together
with translations in English or German, in 1938-1940.
the rest still, in 1955, awaits publication.
We have now adequate material for a total reassess¬
ment of the importance of Marii and his 4 Religion of
the Light ’ to the history of human thought. Alberry
himself in England, Widengren in Sweden, Henning
and Nyberg in Germany, with Polotsky in Israel, have
worked and are working on this material, which may
yet be further reinforced by new discoveries,, whether in
Egypt or in the sands and caves of Central Asia. Mani’s
love for his own books, and the reverent care his
disciples bestowed on them, must have saved many in
places where they await our discovery and delight in
this age of restless search for knowledge.

6. Why Was Manicheism So Hated ?

After reading its history, even so sketchy as here out¬

lined, one naturally asks Why. Eleven hundred years
this Faith existed in the open somewhere, yet hardly
ever was it free from persecution. Men and women
gave their lives gladly for Mani’s name from England
(two were burned at York) and Spain to the eastern
provinces of China. As Mani would have said, the
 cxl

world could endure countless worldly tyrants but was

^enraged at his very name and rejected his gentle yoke.
What really caused this bitter insensate hatred ?

Christians. Manicheism was long the strongest rival

of their Faith, for it could parallel or excel all its assets.
As a personal Redeemer, the deified Mani was not
notably less attractive than Jesus; and by honourably
incorporating Jesus in its own scheme it robbed Chris¬
tendom of most of this its greatest advantage. The
noble ethical code of the Gospels and Epistles was equal¬
led or exceeded; the organisation was equally simple,
^centralised and charitable; the claims of its priests to
• superior wisdom and divine guidance were excelled by
those of the Elect; the barely intelligible Jewish psalms
were replaced by psalms and hymns of great literary
beauty, more easily spiritualised and with the gende
lure of coundess allusions to the ‘ mysteries * of the
Doctrine; they were reinforced by the free use of con¬
gregational refrains which made the ordinary believer
.a sharer in actual public worship, and by a very wide
extension of education which opened the Scriptures of
Mani to coundess believers everywhere. Calligraphy
and accuracy and beauty in translation-work were
further attractions to the Manichean books. The great
reliance of Christians on fancied Jewish prophecies to
bolster up their doctrines was undermined by the total
rejection of the Old Testament by Manichean writers,
if not by Mani himself; at the same time their free use
of Jewish and Christian apocrypha (Alfaric gives a
 cxli

long list) naturally led to their being taken as Christian

Gnostics and so accused of being merely 4 heretics *.
Legitimate complaints against their teaching include
the untenable idea of a 4 corruptible God 5 implicit
therein, repulsive to every philosophic mind of the age;
the difficulty of the Trinitarian dogma was intensified
by what looks like crude polytheism; their greatly ex¬
aggerated dualism—Evil or Matter being all but equal'
to God, as among many ignorant Christians even today
—with its consequent hate of the body, led to the exal¬
tation of virginity—already the mood of that age—and
of asceticism in food, etc.; this was, of course, suited
and practicable only for world-renouncers and monks.
All religions have a substratum of myth, carried over
from the childhood of the race, when 44 Where did it
come from? *’ 44 Who made it? *’ are natural questions.
The Bible stories of Adam and Eve, Noah and Jonah
are adapted to the mental age of about six, but the
Manichean myths were, in elaborating the grand Gnos¬
tic concept of Sophia and the Prodigal Son, even more
childish and incoherent than these; and they were rightly
rejected by an age which could produce an Augustine,,
an Origen, and the great Neoplatonists and Stoics.
The grand truth of God’s omnipresence immanent in
every speck of what we call 4 Matter though almost
instinctive in lands permeated by Upanishadic thought,
seemed merely funny to the less philosophic, less mature.
West. To its spokesmen it seemed a fitting butt for
sarcasm and for undergraduate humour—which some¬
times transgressed the ordinary canons of decency-
 But we must remember that Manichean vegetarianism
was imposed on, and voluntarily adopted by, only the
Elect—as it is equally imposed on the Carmelites today;
it is no funnier in the one case than in the other, nor is
it in either case sprung from hypocritical claims to
purity. Ignorance of the real reason for its adoption—
too subtle for superficial thinkers—does not justify
ridicule.
Persecution started as soon as the Christians had
power in their own hands under Constantine, and it
drove Manicheism largely underground. The in¬
evitable secrecy of their rites and the hiding of their
scriptures from bigoted pyromaniacs gave the Christians
the same excuse for inventing scandal against them as,
under similar circumstances, the pagans had used
against themselves. The known Manichean contempt
for marriage, as entangling the Spirit still deeper in
Matter, thus naturally led to charges of immorality and
of sex-aberration—to which the little we know of the
Manicheans in fact most emphatically do not point.
Lastly, the ignorance of the original languages of
Manichean Scriptures among Christian priests and
writers forced them to rely almost wholly on what had
been translated and could circulate freely in their own
Latin or Greek. Unhappily, the translators seem to
have attached far too much importance to their Myth,
whose absurdities were obvious to all but the pious
believers; where they presented the devotional side, as
in the books of the Psalms, the appeal was direct, and
it£ effect was great and immediate.
 cxliii

But beyond all other reasons for the Christian hatred

of Mani and his Church stood the simple fact that it
-alone—after the failure of the antifeminist Mithraism—
•could meet it as a rival on equal terms in nearly every
phase of religious life and teaching, and far excelled it
on the life after death.

Mazdean Parsis. Underlying all outer causes for their

hatred for Mani was certainly the dark suspicion that
he had secret political motives. A scion of the overi
thrown Parthian house, he could and did receive help
and support nowhere in the Empire more than in the
old Parthian homeland around Khorassan, and in
Armenia where the fallen dynasty still survived. Loyalty
to the Mazdean State of the Sassanids inevitably de¬
pended on loyalty to the Sassanid faith of Zarathushtra
—in the face of which Manicheism could, in a warlike
age, only seem a foreign innovation corrupted with
Chaldean myths and contemptible 4 Christian5 effe¬
minacies, like gentleness and humanity. Nietszche
and Bahram I might well have become good
friends 1
Dr. Dhall, in his Zoroastr^an Theology, lists specific
oppositions between the rival faiths: (i) while Mani¬
cheism sought to draw the good Soul out of an evil
world, Mazdeism taught the Soul to fight under God
to banish evil from the world, (ii) While Mani said
the flesh is evil and the Soul should flee from the body,
Mazdeism says that only the passions are evil, and that
the Soul must strengthen its body as an ally in the
 cxliv

spiritual war. (iii) Mani held marriage impure, a

hindrance to union with God, and child-bearing a sin
that imprisons 4 God * (i.e., the Soul) in flesh; Zara-
thushtra had taught that celibacy is a vice, and man’s
duty is to rear up children to be God’s warriors, (iv)
While Mani said that property tempts the Soul away
from reliance on God and increases worldliness, Maz-
deism holds that honestly earned and wisely expended
wealth is meritorious and mendicancy is a hateful thing,
(v) Mani believed in subduing the body through
fasting and penitential prayer, while the Parsis hold
that fasting, which weakens the body to be used in
God’s war with evil, is a great sin. The unbiased
student can certainly see the truth in both points
of view.
But the two great Faiths had much in common; their
concepts of the origin of Evil, the ages of struggle and
the eventual triumph of Good; the idea that God is
manifest in great Forms, like the Ameshaspentas and
the 4 Emanations ’; their ideas of the Saviour’s descent
to rescue the Light on which Darkness has aggressed,,
of the 4 Maiden-Image ’ embodying the merits of the
righteous in the hour of death, and of the ascent of the
liberated Soul to Behisht, the Land of Light—and many
many others, were almost identical. The enmity be¬
tween them may well base partly on the envy of the
Magi, intolerant of any possible rival system; but it
Seems equally due to blind patriotism and xenophobia
as to any philosophic divergence from the people’s
norm at the time.
 Muslims. At first they were attracted by the simpli¬
city of its organisation, so like their own, its freedom
from a ritualistic and idolatrous priesthood, as that of the
Christians seemed to them, its reverence for Scripture so
like their own for the Holy Qur’an. It was only when,
being identified with Iraq and Persia, it began to incur
suspicion of alliance with ‘Ali’s fallen family, that it
fell from the favour of the Ummayyads. The cAbba-
sids came to power through a revolt in Khorassan, no
doubt aided by the large Manichean elements there;
r

so the early Sultans favoured it again, until they found

that the lure of Persian learning to which Mani¬
chean studies led was slowly drawing important Muslims
away from their own God-given Faith. Then intoler¬
ance became the rule; the Manicheans were henceforth
safe only where as in Toghuzghuz, they were physically
strong enough to threaten reprisals. Most fled from
Islamic lands to the peaceful Tarim basin and the out¬
lying plains of Khiva and Samarqand. Here they
showed in their day of power that tolerance.to he,
expected of them, and it was probably the ravages
of Tartar and Mongol which at last blotted out ,
the Faith. But on the whole the Muslims seem
to have been the least cruel of all the enemies of
Manicheism.

Confucians. Here too the causes for hatred were

somewhat involved. First, the foreign origin, always
enough to prejudice the somewhat complacent Chinese
mind; then, the dark suspicion of hidden political
K
 cxlvi

scheming, for which the Manicheans in a.d. 821 cer¬

tainly gave some grounds. As in the West, persecution
forced them to meet in secret under the cover of night,
and here too this led to charges of vile rites, sorcery by
means of the names of foreign Gods, necromancy, and
the like. The adaptability, necessary if a religion is to
spread beyond its homeland, led to their adoption of
Buddhist and Taoist legends, names and doctrines—
and this led to Manicheism being regarded as a deceit¬
ful heresy. The strict vegetarianism of the Elect, and
their ascetic life, seemed a standing reproach against
the principles of their own great Prophet and Sage,
Confucius; their very kindness and countless charities
to the people seemed an underhand ruse to entice them
away from the sound rules of life held by their
ancestors from time immemorial—-just as in our own
times in the case of foreign Christian missionaries.
China has always been suspicious of and hostile
to innovations, particularly . those coming from
abroad;

7. Can a Religion Die?

In combating German militarism mankind has twice •

in our days been taught that violent resistance does not
achieve its end; it merely spreads the evil into new
fields of activity—the vanquished infect their victors
with their own disease. Apparently £ the free world 9
has yet to learn that the same is true in fighting Com¬
munism—atom bombs and a ■* sanitary cordon * only
 cxlvii

.-spread the unwanted system further and convert those

most bitterly opposed to it.
“ The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the
Church,55 said Tertullian. Persecution may drive out
from a body its weaker members, but it strengthens the
strong and draws in brave and sturdy souls from out¬
side. Thus the persecuted Faith grows stronger, the
more its foes try to strangle it with their violence. Yet,
in the story of Manicheism, history does show that a
Faith can be destroyed by persistent and widespread
brutality. The outer form of it at least vanishes from
the earth, its name is no longer feared or hated by its
rivals—it goes underground.
Where is Manicheism today? A superficial glance
would answer, “Nowhere; it is dead.55 Look again.
The, physical body of this great religion, once spread
over the known portions of three continents, has indeed
^vanished. All physical forms and bodies are perish¬
able, fleeting, even our own; all external churches and
creeds, founded by infinite Wisdom, mediated through
the goodness and labours of great Saints, to help, inspire
and guide mankind on the road to God, they serve
their time and later centuries—but at last they fade
and disappear. Some still lingering on the earth are
visibly doing that even now. Yet as the body of each
one of us will vanish in its turn, dissolved back into the
inchoate elements of earth, to be reused, modified, by
our children’s children, while the Soul lives on its time¬
less life under its own conditions; so too, while the
names and forms of a Religion vanish, return to the
 cxlviii

vast ocean of the subconscious mind—thence to arise

again and again, as Jung has shown us, in modified
forms of human thought and faith—the soul of that.
Religion lives on unshaken in the dreams, aspirations
and ideals of mankind.
It was so with Manicheism. Built upon the noble
life, the love and devotion of the Founder and his early
followers, formalised by the Scriptures which they left
behind, encouraged to heroic self-abnegation and
vigorous evangelism by the cruelty they always had to-
face, lit and rejoiced by the glory promised to the faith¬
ful after death’s brief pains—the 4 Religion of the Light ’
served its time and disappeared from our eyes. Yet
the light of Religion still shines upon us and, being the
inevitable product of the human mind, illumines even
the humanist side of materialistic Communism as well,,
though it be the greatest seeming enemy of Religion in
our present-day world.
Manichean thought survived—in the ascetic life of'
countless monks and nuns striving for sainthood against
the restless clamour of the world, the flesh and the devil
in the passionate personal love for God as the Spouse
of the human spirit so typical of Catholic, Sufi and Sikh
devotion; in the fierce defence of God as being all Good,
totally opposed to the very existence of any kind of
Evil, which characterises many sects today; even in the
childish love of fairy stories so typical of the seven-
year-old, which produced the Myth of Man out of the
rags and tatters of a hundred earlier forms, and which
in our present world still fashions myths of other kinds..
 cxlix

“ The proper study of mankind is Man/’ said Pope;

"all that the human mind has produced is of interest to
the truly catholic, i.e., the cultured, human mind.
Whether that product of human thought still lingers
visibly among us in the present, or has faded into the
mists of a forgotten past, it is still our concern, still gives
delight in its Sympathetic study. The 4 dead 5 religion
is as vital as those still deemed to be 4 alive 5; 44 there is
no death, what seems so is transition,” the poet dec¬
lared of the human soul, and it is equally true of every
human thought. Like the wave from a stone dropped
in the water, it goes on and on through all space and
eternal time.

8. On the Rationale of Dualism

The way Dualists reason is well shown by the follow¬

ing epitome drawn from ^orocistrmn Theology, by Dr.
M. N. Dhalla, the eminent Parsi scholar, with which
the Manichean would be in full agreement: 44 Evil is as
•complete and independent as Good, sharing with it the
pairs of opposites. God cannot be the source of both,
nr He would be a contradiction and a chaos. If Evil
comes from Him He cannot be all-Good or deserve our
worship; if He is all-Good, Good only should exist; but
Evil too exists, so it must be independent of His will.
If He, for some purpose, wills both Good and Evil,
then His will, He Himself, is imperfect; if He
wills only Good, then someone else wills Evil, the
Devil.
 cl

- “ To say God created Evil that man might choose

and value Good, is to say He poisons men that they
may seek the cure. The all-wise God would not will
to create His own opponent; if He did not foresee the
consequences of such a creation He is not omniscient; if
He created Evil as a test or means of training, then He
is cruel and not Good. The wise could not knowingly
produce an enemy to afflict and even destroy men;
the wise always act for the good and happiness of all..
As the Devil is always for the hurt of all beings, God
must have been unwise to create him. If God cannot
uproot Evil, then He is imperfect, ignorant; but He is<
perfect and does know how to uproot Evil. Being
both merciful, all-knowing and omnipotent, He both
can and will ultimately destroy Evil.
“ Quoting from Sg. 51: 95-97: ‘ If it be said that the:
Adversary was created originally good by Ormazd (i.e.,.
Qod), from whom he afterwards revolted and became-
evil,1 then it shows that the Adversary possesses a more
powerful will than that of the sacred Being, since in
that even the power of Evil is thus able to break His
commandment and diffuse more harm in the world,
than the good of the sacred Being.5 God should not
then have created a rival thus to defy and to triumph
over Him, and God is to blame for creating in the Devil
so strong a will, tending to all evil. If it is to be com¬
pensated later on, this shows God5s inefficiency, beings
unable to give happiness in Heaven without first giving,
misery in the world.
1 The normal Christian explanation; cf. App. III. 17.
 cli

“ God cannot be both Good and Evil, blessing and

cursing, helping and injuring, nor could He harm His
creatures and still be their Friend. All Evil comes
from the evil spirit trying to take this world to be his
own. God cannot create Evil and then punish men
for falling into it, and still be just; no justice could:
inflict a boundless punishment for a limited sin, or give
endless pain to His creatures for yielding to the Evil
He has Himself produced. But as God is infinitely just.
Evil cannot be produced by Him.
“ If He is merciful He cannot let demons loose among
His children to afflict and ruin them; if He can destroy
Evil and does not, yet punishes the wicked, He is neither
just nor merciful. He created the world for a wise
purpose, for happiness, so He cannot will ruin and,
slaughter; this must be the will of a hurtful Evil spirit.
If it be said Evil arises from man’s perverted will and
man is set up to frustrate his Creator’s will to Good,
this too is inj us dee, for when God has to punish the
wicked He could not have created in them a will that
leads to sin and penalty. Man falls into sin because
his goodness is imperfect, corrupted by the Evil spirit.
Evil is primeval and does not arise from the will of
man, but is rather associated with the dominance of
flesh over spirit ”—or, as the Manichean would add,
is inherent in the very nature of flesh, of Matter

itself.
Answers to all this have been framed by those op¬
posed to the dualistic view, but this is not the place
for considering their validity or otherwise. It is a
 clii

tremendous problem, the crux of all human philosophy,

how to reconcile the omnipotence and omnipresence of
Good, whereon faith must ever rely, with the obvious
existence of its active opposite ; and the last word there¬
on will probably never be spoken while man is only
man.

9. The Organism of the Church

The Manicheans were organised in a five-rank hier¬

archy symbolised by the five-stepped * Bema and
relating to the five stages of spiritual unfoldment in the
human and Divine mind. On the pinnacle of this
pyramid, like the Messenger on his Bema, sat the per¬
sonal successor of the Prophet.
- The Leader (Copt. Arkhegos; Per. Aethrapaiti, Erpad,
High Prelate; Ar. Imam\ Ch. Fa-tchou, the c King of the
Religion s) was, like all the senior Manicheans, at first
a wanderer among the churches. His diocese was the
world from Spain to China, where the Faith had pene-
»
trated; his work was to encourage amid persecution, to
prevent corruption of the Teaching, to guard against
any falling away from the Founder’s lofty ideal of fife.
The first seven Leaders died as martyrs, and then
some fixed place where the supreme authority could
be found was needed, so their successors came to reside
at the capital Ctesiphon, and then at Baghdad—until
they were forced by prudence to withdraw to the safer
Samarqand, and finally, so it seems, to the Chinese
borderlands.
 cliii

1. Under this 4 Father * were the twelve Masters or

'Teachers (Per. afurensar; Ch. afu-yin-sa, or mou-sho; PehL
Arebatagan;Sogh. mwck*; Turk: mozhag). Like the
Christian Apostles, each of these took one country for
his scene of labour. There they organised the churches
and, touring constantly from place to place, held the
faithful loyal to their ideals. They were known as
* the Sons of Gentleness (or Patience) 5, and Chinese
texts tell us they were in charge of the 4 blessings 5,
presumably of mankind.
2. Next, their sphere perhaps limited to provinces,
came the seventy or seventy-two Illuminates or Overseers
(Ar. musammasin, the sunlit ones; Turk: 4espasag; Per.
Khurokhwan; Ch. hu-luAwan). These were sometimes
called 4 Bishops * and were known as 4 the Sons of
Knowledge’; they were, we are told, in special charge
* of doctrine.
3. The third rank was that of the Elders or Priests
(Pehl. Atarwanan; Per. arghwangan sahpdsak; Ch. ngo-
.hwan-kien sai-po-sai; Turk, maghistag; Ar. qissis, clergy¬
men). They were called the 4 Sons of Reason (or
Intelligence)J; each was in charge of a single local
* church and responsible for reciting the scriptures,
prayers, hymns and confessions of public ritual and
worship.
4. We now come to the Elect (Per. dendwar; Pehl.
Mcxdagan; Turk, dintar; Ch. ts’iuan-kien; Ar. saddiqln, the
—a word which later corrupted into 4 zandiq 5 be¬
came a contemptuous term for dualistic heretics).
"These were called 4 the Sons of Discretion (or Secrecy) s,
 cliv

doubtless because the esoteric teachings and explanations

were entrusted to them. Unable to enter their Order*
St. Augustine wrote against them with all the bitterness
of frustration. Their other names in Persian—the
Celibates, and the Righteous Pure Ones—bespeak the
lofty character of their life, and down to the later Mid¬
dle Ages among the Cathari their history belies the
unworthy slanders of the Christian polemist, who saw
his own boyhood vices reflected outward on the lives of
others. They were easily picked out for persecution by
their paleness and ascetic looks, and even by their
enemies no word could be uttered against their gentle¬
ness, courage and nobility. They are compared in.
GPM 40-41 and in Keph. 83 to the Perfect Pearl sought
out by the Divine Fisherman.
Like their superiors, the Elect too had to live lives of~
ceaseless wandering. The temples (Turk. caidan\ Ch.
tchai-Van, or fa-Van) had a library, a lecture-hall, (her-
meneia), a hospital, a place of worship, and a refectory,
being five-fold like everything else Manichean. But
they had no dwelling-rooms; the Elect took monastic
Vows to regard no place as their home on this material
plane, but moved here and there preaching the Faith
to all, and sleeping as guests of Hearers, or under the
trees. Their only property might be a single black
robe, to be replaced each year when worn out. They
might not labour with their hands or earn a living, but
must depend wholly on pious offerings, and when
Hearers did not bring them any food on a certain day
they might beg that evening. They must always deal
 civ

humbly and gently with the outer world, and carefully'

avoid giving even the slightest pain or offence to animals
or plants—so they naturally forswore meat, eggs, strong'
drink and agriculture, which includes weeding, pruning'
and the killing of insect pests. Their food was limited
to a single meal a day, to be taken in the evening, with
a light collation in the morning. They fasted very
often and observed the great4 Chakhshapat-Fast’ during
the month when the Sun moves through Aquarius
and Pisces, ended by the great Bema-Festival. They
might not build or own a house, nor ever be alone by
day or night lest the breath of slander blow upon them;
nor might they even touch a member of the other sex,,
even while accepting food at her hands. A Manichean
made no other distinction between men and women, it is
pleasing to learn; and it is certain that the higher ranks
were open to all alike. Apparently membership of this
Order accrued to those able to control their passions
and to live up to the very high demands the rank re¬
quired of them.
5. Those who could not embrace these lofty ways of
life formed the masses of the Manichean Church, the
Hearers or Catechumens, of whom St. Augustine once was
one, (Pehl. niyosagan; Turk, nighoshak; Ch. t’ing-tchd;,
Copt, katekhoumenoi). They were known as 4 the Sons
of Inquiry (or Understanding) and were bound by
the simple code of the Manichean ‘ Ten Precepts ’, or
Chakhshapat, and observed the Four Daily Prayers,
adding the three optional ‘hours’ when they could -
They undertook to protect and support the Religion, to
 clvi

train for its service a child of their own, an orphan or a

slave, to accept the onerous duties of the higher Orders.
They were allowed to marry one wife only, and might
labour in the fields, but were totally forbidden to take
•any part in war. Every Sunday was a fast to them till
a. common meal at sunset, and they spent most of the
day at prayer or hearing the Scriptures read and ex¬
plained; there was also a partial (?) fast on seven days
in every month, Mondays also being days of prayer in
honour of Mani’s death that day. Kneeling, they
offered to the Elect of their own local church a sacra¬
mental alms (miyazda), consisting of wafers, with fruits
and vegetables like melons, grapes and cucumbers,
together with fruit-juices and sherbets, but of course no
wine. The violence involved in producing these was
no sin because dedicated to the purifying of the Light-
Sparks through contact with the Saints (GPM 59: 2).
The fragment M 135 tells Hearers to “strive for
the salvation of your souls so long as there is strength
in your bodies ”, and to give one part of every day to
social duties, another to their worldly business so as to
Leep the family above want, and the third part to their
spiritual needs. A very noble picture of the dignity of
the common Hearer is outlined in GPM "42-44 and 47.
We can have no doubt whatever that great numbers of
the men and women drawn to Mani’s feet did much to
five up to that high ideal and then, dying with their
inner eyes fixed on their beloved Lord, went straight
to dwell with him for ever in the lovely Land of
Light.
 clvii

10. The Books of Mani

Of most of these books we possess only a very few

tiny fragments, so efficient was the work of the des¬
troyers, and we are left for the most part to speculate
on what they may have contained.

1. Shdpur-dqan, written first of all, and in Persian to*

honour King Shapur I and perhaps to assure him that
Mani had no hostile political aim. It was probably
written in a.d. 242, soon after he went to India;
AnNadim, Biruni and Ya‘qubi name it, but the Western
and Coptic writers do not seem to have known it, at
least under that name. Possibly it was largely replaced
by later books, in the better-known Syriac. There is
likelihood however that the Syriac c Apocrypha * (i.e.r
Hidden Things), noted by Photius and the 9th century
Greek ‘ Anathema 3 as Mani’s fourth book, may have-
been a translation of this, for Manicheans were swift
and efficient in translation work. It was, in fact, a Reve¬
lation, derived from Mani’s ‘ Angel-Twin 5, and must
have contained a generally Gnostic type of cosmogenesis
and eschatology.
Biruni gives us the opening passage (used in our
GPM 30: 1), which evidently narrated the origin of the
following revelation, with an account of Mani’s own
birth and his call to Prophethood. It probably includ¬
ed the long passage about death in our Appendix I
preserved by AnNadim, and the striking story of the
Last Judgment given in M 470-482; Ya‘qubi tells us-
 clviii

that it also described the Soul and the Universe. It

seems to have been one of AnNadim’s chief sources,
including the long and unsavoury story of how evil
took root in Adam’s family. A fragment was found
in a Turfan manuscript, probably part of the
whole text.

2. The Great, or Living, Gospel, said by Mirchond to

have been written and illustrated in a Turkestan cave
•during a one year’s retreat, for an illustrated copy of it
is probably the same as the 4 Ertenk ’ or 4 Eijeng ’ also
called by Hadju Chalfa the 4 Destur-Manl ’ (Mani’s
Law), and in Coptic the 4 Eikon ’, or 4 Image It is
generally given first place among Mani’s books, and
the Psalmist (MP. 46) says of it: <£ He has the antidote
that is good for every disease; there are twenty-two
-compounds in his remedy, his Great Gospel, the good
tidings of all those who belong to the Light.” To this
is added (MP. 139) that it is 44 the King of the Writings*
. . . his New Testament, the Manna of the Skies, the
Inheritance of the Earth (?) Yet neither Faustus
nor Augustine shows sign of having heard of it.
Biruni tells us that it contained twenty-two chapters,
each beginning with one of the letters in the Syriac
alphabet; he complains that while it refutes all Christian
beliefs, the Manicheans claim that it alone contains all
truth. A Turfan list of books refers to the Alaf and
Tau (first and last letters of the alphabet) Gospels and
to
the 4 Gospel of the Twenty-Two which included the
story of Jesus. Another fragment gives us its opening
 clix

■words: 44 I Mani, the Messenger of Jesus the Friend, in

the love of the Father, of the Glorious One 55 (cf. the
opening words of the Epistle quoted by Augustine),
followed by the extract from M 17 we have used in
GPM 33: 2. To it also seem to have belonged several
surviving fragments on the Crucifixion and Resurrec¬
tion of Jesus. J
But in fact we know very little of its nature or con¬
tents. Photius tells us that it distorted Christ’s life in
docetic sense; Diodorus of Tarsus and Heraclion
refuted this. A commentary on it was carried by cer¬
tain Syrians to Armenia, says Samuel of Ani. It was
well known later in the West, at least by name; an illus¬
trated copy was in the royal archives of Ghazni as late
as a.d. 1092. It is just possible, as Alfaric evidently
thinks, that it was a sort of explanation of the lost
4 Gospel of the Twelve as implied by Theodore Abu
Kurra of Harran (Alf. 2: 36). Ibn’ulMurtada shows
that it began with an account of the almost omni¬
present 4 King of Light ’ who 44 dwells in the navel of
His world ”. Ya4qubi adds that it treated 44 of Prayer
and the means to be used to free the Spirit ”, while
Biruni puts in that it proclaimed Mani as 44 the Com¬
forter foretold by Christ ” and the 44 seal (i.e., standard)
of the Prophets

3. The Treasure of Life, called in MP. 13 9 44 his second

great book, the remedy and the cures, . . . the shame of
the Sons of Error ”; on this MP, 46 has the interesting
comment: “ His waterpot is the 4 Treasure5, the
 clx

‘ Treasure of Life \ In it there is hot water; with it there

is also some cold water mixed.” An Nadim calls it ‘ The
Book of Vivification \ The work is referred to by most
writers, from Hegemonius and the 6 Kephalaia ’ down
to the 13th century, and it evidently enjoyed popularity.
The main theme seems to have been a detailed account
of the Myth of Man; Ya‘qubi says it taught “ what
parts of the Soul came from the pure Light, and what
parts proceed from the vicious Darkness ”. From
Mas‘udi we learn that one chapter refuted the Mar-
cionite dogma of a third, intermediary, Principle-
Named quotations by Augustine, Euodius and Biruni
deal with various incidents briefly told in our GPM
8: 2, 7, and 87; one of these is cited as from ‘ Book 2 >-
and another from c Book 7 \ It is probable that the
long extracts in Severus of Antioch and in S 9 derive
from this book, and a long section of the Chinese
‘ CMT 5 is probably epitomised therefrom.
Evidently the need for a shorter version of the story
was soon felt, and Epiphanius speaks also of a ‘ Little
Treasure 5, while Cyril, Nilus and Heraclion mention
e The Treasures 5. It is quite possible that the famous
‘Fundamental Epistle 5 was in fact that epitome, or it
may have been the even more enduring book, ‘ The
Two Roots \ Ianou (? Innai) wrote a Commentary on
the original longer version (Syr. Simethd), which ac¬
quired canonicity among later Manicheans.

4. The Book of Mysteries, whereof MP. 46 says: “ His

knife for cutting is the ‘Book of the Mysteries5”—:
 clxi

which implies that it was largely a polemic or refuta-

tory work, to prune away ulcerous doctrines from the
world. AnNadim gives us a list of its eighteen chapters,
which supports this idea; it evidently dealt with the
esoteric life of Jesus (? from a Gnostic angle), refuted
the special teachings of both Bardaisan and the Hebrew
Prophets (as several later writers also aver), and clarified
Mani’s own relationship to his Gnostic predecessors.
The nature of Soul and Body was defined and, accord¬
ing to Biruni who quotes from chapters 12, 13 and ( ?)
18, clearly it taught reincarnation as a purgatorial
misery till the world’s end; Biruni adds that Mani
adopted this doctrine while in India. At least a part
of the book was in the form of a dialogue between Jesus
and his apostles, as often in Gnostic and later apocry¬
phal literature. Alfaric deems it probably an answer
to the ‘ Book of Mysteries * used by Bardaisan’s followers.
Commented on by Abdial in the apostolic age, it was
known to most authorities down to the time of Rhazi
(a.d. 1000), who quoted from it with enthusiastic
praise, as Biruni tells us. From Allranshari the latter
cites the passage we have used in GPM 25, from a con¬
text denying that Manicheans idolatrously worshipped
the Sun and the Moon, which must have been a very
early charge against them,

5. The Pragmateia, i.e., “ What ought to be done

AnNadim, not understanding this Greek word, simply
transliterated it into ‘ Faragmatiya ’ and referred else¬
where to a Book of4 The Precepts of the Hearers J with
a chapter appended on those of the Elect. The book
L
 clxii

is named by MP. 46 and called 44 his soft sponge that

wipes away bruises ”, i.e., removes the injury done to
Soul by the corrupt flesh. It probably covered in
greater detail the ground of our GMP 54-66 and much
of that dealt with in the closing chapters of the 4 Kepha-
laia \ Augustine (AMM. 74), when speaking of “a
rule of life drawn from an Epistle of Mani ”, is probably
referring to one of the Epistles 2, 13, 14, 19, 21 or 11;
but these in their turn probably summarised or ex¬
patiated on parts of this lost book. In his refutation of
Faustus, Augustine often seems to be citing this book,
which must have spoken of the fasts and feasts, the
offerings to the Elect, the liturgy of hymns and psalms
to be sung at home and in the churches, the rules for
entry into Religion, the 4 Ten Commandments 9 and
the 4 Seven Alms ’, the Precepts of the Elect governing
their clothing, diet, non-possession and ceaseless home¬
lessness. In the 4 Preface 5 to the 4 Kephalaia 5 it ranks
third after the ‘ Gospel5 and the 4 Treasure \

6. The Book of the Giants, which MP. 46 calls 44 his

excellent swabs ”, i.e., perhaps, 4 purifier \ It is said to
have been written in Syriac and then translated to
Middle Persian, thence to Soghdian, and so to Old Z'

Turkish and Arabic; and also from Syriac direct to

Greek. It was known to the later Byzantine and Muslim
authors and, as AlGhadanfar says, was full of stories of
the great ‘ Giants ’ or ‘ Heroes ’, Sahm and Nariman,
and of the fallen * Watchers ’ of primeval times (cf. GY
2a), drawn from Semitic and Iranian folklore.
 clxiii

W. Henning, in his 4 Neue Materialen zur Geschichter

-des Manichaismus in the Bulletin of the School of
Oriental and African Studies (1943), vol. ii (cf. ZDMG
1936), collected many fragments of this book which had
been found at Turfan and elsewhere, but it is hard to trace
in these any coherent story. But there was evidently
-a close connection with the story told in 1 Enoch,
•Shahmizad and Hobablsh being clearly the 4 Semiazas 5
and 4 Khobabiel5 of the earlier Jewish apocryphon.
In the 4 Kephalaia 5 (24, 27 ff, and 92-93) there are
-allusions to this book, the name of which in Middle
Persian seems to have been 4 Kawan The fragments
we have are mostly in Uighur Turkish, Soghdian and
Middle Persian. Apparently one section (M 363) told
how Jesus brought 4 the Religion s to Shitll (i.e.,
.Seth-el), Mani’s prehistoric predecessor, and Enoch
himself is, in TM iii. 23 and M 101, 911, called 4 4 the
-Messenger5’—4 Khunoch Burkhan ? (cf. 1 Enoch 10, 17).

7. The Book of the Letters, called by MP. 46 44 the

marthex (vestibule) of every cure ”, and by MP.
13 9 44 the zeal of the Elect, the joy (?) of the Hearers,
..... the Robe (?) of the the judgment of the
Righteousness ”. It was known to AnNadim in the
10th century, and contained seventy-six 4 Epistles ’,
mostly addressed to (or in some cases perhaps written
by) individual disciples, or to churches—among which
we may note India, Kashkar in Iraq, Armenia, Ctesi-
phon, Babylon and Ahwazj while others are named by
their subjects. These last are very numerous, and
 clxiv

seem to have covered the whole field of Manicheait

theology, ethics, liturgy and social customs. Nothing-
could better restore our ‘ knowledge of this vanished'
religion than the much-to-be-desired discovery of this
lost book. We have in fact considerable portions of
4 Epistle 7 ’, 4 the Great Letter to Patteq ’, thanks to
Augustine’s refutation of it; and 4 Epistle 1 ’, the famous
book' on 4 The Two Principles, or Roots ’, must be
largely on the lines of the first chapter in our present
4 Gospel of the Prophet Mani
a. The Two Principles. This seems to have been the-
main source used by bar Khoni, Alexander of Lycopolis,
Titus of Bostra, Theodoret of Cyrrha, and to have-
been used also by Severus of Antioch, AnNadim, and
the compiler of the Chinese text4 CMT \ The Turkish
Hearer calls it 44 this holy book of the Two Roots
and Tsong-kien says (13th century) that in it men and-
women are taught not to marry or converse together,,,
not to rely on human medicines, and to be buried quite-
without possessions, even nude (JA 1913, pp. 354 ff)..
It seems to have covered much the same ground as-
4 The Treasure of Life but without its copious details^
b. The Fundamental Epistle seems to have been the
one Manichean work with which Augustine—as an
African Hearer of the 4th century—was really familiar,
and of which he possessed a copy. He gives us long
verbatim quotations, including the first words, which
definitely recall the opening of the 4 Great Gospel ’:
k hlani, an Apostle of Jesus Christ, by the providence*
of God the Father ”. This form seems to be modelled
 clxv

on that of St. Paul, but it was quite a usual mode of

address in the formal Epistles of the age. The style
shows the usual oriental overloading with metaphor,
and the rather longwinded sentences usual with Mani
—in whichever language he is translated. There is
not the slightest doubt that Augustine has kept exactly
to his text, so far as he goes. Unhappily, he breaks
it off in the middle, and isolated citations else¬
where do not help us to restore with certainty the argu¬
ment of the latter half of the book. But they do suggest
a fairly close parallel with 4 The Two Roots ’, and seem
to have covered the whole story of Satan’s revolt, the
creation of Man around a Spirit caught in Matter, the
Mission of Jesus, and how Evil was deceived by his ruse
and his disguise, and so on to the Last Day, with its
Heaven or Hell as the fruit earned by every soul.
This book was known to Ephrem as the essence of
Manichean faith, and it seems to have been the main
source of Mardan-farrukh in his 4 Shikand-Gumanik
Vijar \ It is probably the book that was known in
‘China as 4 The Three Moments (i.e., Ages) 5 and laid
<lown by the Tiin-huang Code and the e Khuastuanift *
as vital for converts.
c. There are fragmentary references and citations
from the Epistles to Hata (M 733), and to Menaq
(Menoch) the Virgin, Meson (M 731) and perhaps
a few others also.

8. The Two Psalms, called by MP. 139 “ the Citadel

of the Angels, the Life of the Living, .... the Day of
 clxvi

. . . . , the Salvation of the Hearers (?) In MP. 46-

this book is coupled with 4 The Words and in the
Preface to the 4 Kephalaia 5 with 4 The Prayers * of
Mani—both of these being probably the same; it was
probably bound along therewith. The 4 Kephalaia 5
tells us that 44 these three Words are the expression of
the whole Doctrine; all that has been, all that shall be,
is written in them ” (p. 5, line 28). It is just possible
that from them are derived several passages we have
used in GPM 36-37, 88, and they may well be reflected
also in many passages of the 4 Manichean Psalmbook
as also in S 502.

9. The Prayers of our Lord. This, noted in our Coptic

texts along with the foregoing, was evidently unknown,
in the West. It may well be the source for the long
prayers recorded by MP and the 4 Kephalaia 5 as having
been uttered by Mani in his last moments. I do not
think it probable that AnNadim’s daily ritual of prayer
is drawn from this book—it seems in its tone late or
definitely secondary.

IX. The Sources of our “ Gospel99

A. Coptic

Inevitably, the first and main source is the wonder-

ful group of original Manichean books found in early
Coptic translation in Egypt, so far as it has been avail¬
able to me in published form.
 clxvii

One day in 1930, a Cairo antiquity dealer offered

Mr. A. Chester Beatty a bundle of inscribed papyrus,
evidently very ancient and taken from bound
volumes. His story was that it came from a wooden
box in the cellar , of a ruined house at Medinat MadI,
in swampy land to the south of the Fayum. The damp,
the crystallised salt in the desert water, the action of
worms or 4 white ants ’, did great damage to the manu¬
script, sticking the pages so fast together that some
could be parted only in fragments. The costly wooden
cover, probably once inlaid with jewels, had been
anciently torn off, and the dealer himself had roughly
broken the mass into smaller pieces, so as to find easier
sales; indeed, it is a happy chance we have as much
as we do have of this most tremendously important and
unique find. Mr. Beatty at once bought it on the spot,
entire, and handed it over for study to competent
scholars.
The whole mass was neatly written, by several scribes,
in the ‘ sub-Akhmimic dialect 5, on stout papyrus of
very superior quality and buff-white in colour, slightly
glossy in surface; it was bound together but not as a
roll, in the form of a codex, as was already known to
have existed even in the second century. It proved to
fall into three natural groups of texts, most of which
have now been published.
1. The long-lost ‘ Kephalaia (Keph.) J (Copt, nkepha-
laion mpsah; i.e., ‘ Headings (of the doctrine) of the
Teacher5). This book had been translated 4 from
Syriac, and was in the 5th century regarded as a part
 clxviii

of the Manichean Canon. It contains the record of

conversations between Mani and his disciples, not
included in his own books, and may well have been
written by about a.d. 275-280; the Coptic manuscript
has been dated to about a.d. 340. It, or the published
part of it, contains 95 chapters on varied topics on 244
pages—some of these went to Vienna, while the bulk
was printed with a German translation in 1935-1937 by
Dr Carl Schmidt, H. F. Polotsky and Bohlig, in Berlin.
2. The Manichean Psalmbook (MP.), written clearly
and mostly in one fine handwriting on pages in size 27
by 17.5 cms, the writing covering on an average a space
of 17 by 10.5 cms. It is believed to derive from an
earlier Greek translation, save for the ‘ Psalms of
Thom *, which seem to have come straight from Syriac
and may well have been written by a.d. 290 and
translated by a.d. 325, or earlier. The other Psalms,
written by Herakleides and others, may have been
translated by about a.d. 340. Our actual manuscript
is dated by Schmidt at about 350-400; it may therefore
even be a first copy of the original translation into
Coptic. Many of the Psalms have metrical form and
great literary beauty, while the parallelism of older
poetry is also found; the majority use refrains and end
with a victory-wish for certain saints or martyrs, among
whom 4 Mary 5 is the most popular (possibly she was a
relative of the copyist). The metres are simple and
have analogy with those of ancient Egypt and the
Syriac texts of early Mandean scriptures, to which the
4 Psalms of Thom5 are specially close. C.R.C. Alberry
 t

clxix

published the Second Part of this book with an English

translation in 1938; this has been available to me*
Part One was then under study, and is said to have
included liturgical psalms for Sunday fasts, for Vigils,
and for the Paschal season—45 pages in all, while Part
II contains 234 pages, including a fragmentary index.
A few additions stand in another hand, and the index
covers only part of the extant texts, which now include
seven distinct collections with fragments of two others.
This book is four centuries older than other known
poetry in Coptic.
3. The Manichean Homilies (MH.), consisting of four
very early books, of the utmost value to a portrait of
Mani as man and as teacher. The Threnody of Salmai
(Copt. pthrenos hsalmaios) was written between a.d. 277
-and 300, by a personal disciple; it bewails his cruel
death and expresses eternal love for Mani. The
Story of the Great War (Copt, plogos mpnac mpolemos)
was written by Kushtai, Mani’s personal secretary;
it purports to trace the history of the Church
through an age of persecution to the age of peace
.and righteousness, with an apocalyptic story of
the return of Jesus and the Last Judgment. Based
ultimately on the 4 Little Apocalypse 9 of Mt. 24-25,
etc., and directly perhaps on parts of Manias lost
4 Shapur-aqan it has close parallels with the apocry¬
phal Jewish Apocalypses of Elijah, etc. The Limb of
the Crucifixion (Copt, pmeros mptewo ha-tstaurosis), ap¬
parently an all-but eyewitness account of events around
Mani and his first two successors, from the death of
 clxx

Shapur I in a.d. 273 to the death of Bahram II, who>

granted tolerance, in a.d. 294; it was certainly written
within nine years of this event, before Innai’s martyr¬
dom in a.d. 303. At the end comes a short but fervent:
Epilogue on the greatness of Mani who, ascended to the
Light-World, yet dwells with his Church on earth.
The whole collection may have been put together by
Amu (Ammos), who is named, and a collaborator; the
Epilogue seems to have been added not much after"
a.d. 330 by the later editor, who translated the Syriae
text into Coptic for the use of Egyptian Manicheans.

B. Chinese

4. Moni-chiao Hsia-pu-Tsan (British Museum Or.-

8210/2659: cited asBM.). This is a long roll, 750 cms-
in length, well preserved. On the back are an account
of Amitabha’s Light-Realm, and other Buddhist works,
this bespeaks the friendly relations of the two Faiths at
Tun-huang. Translated from ‘ Parthian which the-
translator calls e Sanskrit5, into Chinese, it includes
twenty-seven hymns out of an original three thousands
As Tao-ming converted couplets into quatrains, he much
enlarged his source and preserved for us a complete
collection of hymns of his selection, including several ofo
apostolic age, by Sisin, Amu and others. Some have
even a phonetic transliteration of the original to facili¬
tate their recitation by those ignorant of the meaning-
of the 4 Parthian 5; most have rubrics guiding their use.-
W. B. Henning published an English translation in the--
 clxxi

BSOAS 1943 and JRAS 1926, pp. 116-122. There are

in all 423 stanzas.
5. Moni Kuang-fo-Chiao Fa-yi-lio (i.e.. Epitome of the
Religion of Mani, the Buddha of Light), usually cited
as ‘ Chinese Manichean Text (CMT.) s. This too was
found at Tlin-huang, by d’Ollone in 1908, and it was
published with French translation and valuable notes
by Chavannes and Pelliot in JA 1911, pp. 499-621, and
JA 1913, pp. 99-383. This translation I have been
content to use. Translated by Imperial order in a.d.

731, the manuscript we have dates from about a.d.

1000; it contains portions derived from ManiV own

books, probably mainly verbatim.
6. Rules for Entering the Religion (CRER.), probably
dating from the 8th century, were published by the
same two scholars with a French translation in
JA 1913.

C. Syriac

7. Theodore bar Khoni's Scholia (K.), written to refute

Mani and other {heretics contains long passages
which are almost certainly direct citations. The re¬
levant portion was published by Pognon in 1898 (In¬
scriptions mandaites des Coupes de Khouabir), and again in
Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium (Script.
Syr. II, vol. 66)—which St. Mary’s College at Kurseong,
Bengal, very kindly made available to me.
8. Ephrem Syrus: Prose Refutations of Mani, Mar-
cion and Bardaisan, in C. W. Mitchell’s two volumes
 clxxii

(London, 1912); of this only extracts cited by other

authors have been available to me here (Epb.).
9. Titus of Bostra; his refutation (cited as TB.),
written in Syriac, has been available to me only in the
Greek of Migne PG vol. 18, cols 1069-1264, kindly lent
by St. Mary’s College also, with many other sources.
10. Severus of Antioch, published in Cumont’s Re- .
cherches sur le Manicheisme, vol. I (Paris 1908), for
the most part available in translations only.

D. Arabic

11. AnNadim's ‘ Fihrist aVUlum ’ (N.), a study of the

pre-Muslim literatures of the Islamic world, including
a most valuable account of Manicheism from books and
oral traditions extant in Baghdad late in the 10th cen¬
tury. There are ten large pages in the Arabic text,
which was published by Fliigel at Leipzig in 1872; his
translation of 1862 was not traced out here. This work
-contains many verbatim and epitomised citations from
the Scriptures, lists of the Epistles and of chapters in
two books, and incidents from the history of the Church.
AnNadim’s attitude is very fair and factual.
12. AlBirunVs India, and the Chronology of Ancient
Nations, both translated by C. E. Sachau, 1879; I could
not find a copy of the Arabic text. There are several
direct quotations from the Scriptures.

E. Iranian

13. Shikand-Gumanik Vijar (SGV.), in Pazend; Mar-

dan-farrukh, the Parsi scholar about a.d. 860, reports
 clxxiii
the Myth of Man, Jackson publishes the text, along-
with West’s translation from SBE. vol, 24: £ Pehlevi
»

Texts, V ’. For a polemic writer, this author seems to

have been very fair.
14. Turf an Fragments, found in Central Asia after
1902 and published in various books, of which I have
had only citations to use, made by Jackson, Alfaric,
Reitzenstein, etc.: Muller’s 4 Handschriften-Reste in
Estrangelo Schrift aus Turfan 2 vols., 1904, and
C. Salemann: 4 Manicheische Studien I, St. Petersburg,.
1911, etc. Many of these fragments, being in Mani’s
original tongue, are probably his own words.
15. W. Henning: Ein manichaisches Bet-und Beicht-
buch, Berlin, 1937, cited as BuBb.
16. Andreas-Henning: 4 Mittel-iranische Manichaica
aus Chinesisch-Turkestan in 1932-1934-—not avail¬
able here in India.
17. Mahrndmag, sadly broken fragments of a Liturgy,
translated in the book of Alfaric.
18. Injunctions of Mani, in Pehlevi, a caricature
issued by Atarpat in the 4 Denkart’, (III, 200: 1-13),.
and published with translation by Jackson. The au¬
thor was minister of Shapur II, unable to look at
Mani without hostile bias.

F. Turkish

19. The Khuastuanift (i.e., 4 Own Confession ’), found

by Stein in 1907 in the cave temple known as the 4 Hall
of a Thousand Pillars ’ at Tiin-huang. This is a roll
 clxxiv

14 ft. 8 ins. long and 4 ins. broad, supported on a stick

of hard wood. Tough paper of the T’ang period is
A

covered in fine Manichean script, the leaves of paper

being carefully pasted together to form the roll. It
contains in all 338 short lines, and falls into 22 sections,
-each dealing with a particular group of sins. Another
fragment is in Leningrad; this continues from line 28
but has no vowels written; it was published by Radloff
in 1909. The whole text, with English translation,
appeared in JRAS, 1911, pp. 277-314; in Le Coq’s
original publication it bears the number T. II. D. 178:
1-3. See our Appendix II.
20. Tiirkische Manichaica, by A. von le Coq (cited as
T. II. D. etc.,), comprises fragments from Turkestan,
many of them translated from Mani’s original books.
Here also I have had to rely on citations, with frag¬
ments only of the Turkish text.

G. Greek

21. Hegemonius: Acta Archelai, cited as 4 H.5, publish¬

ed in Migne’s PG 10: 1405-1528. Here we have a
reliable account of Mani’s teaching as seen from a
hostile angle, yet remarkably fair; Hegemonius adds a
wholly fictitious story of Mani’s life, which was un-
intelligently copied by later writers and has prevailed
in encyclopedias even to our own days.
22. Alexander of Lycopolis: contra Manichei Opiniones,
cited as ‘ AL.5, a briefer but valuable outline found in
Migne’s PG 18: 414 ff.
 clxxv

23. Theodoretus: de Fabulis Haereticorum, cited as £ T.5,

^.n angry but accurate comment on the Myth Story,
found in PG 83: 377-381.
24. Epiphanius: Panarion, ch. 66, found in PG 42:
-29-172, and cited occasionally as ‘ E.’; this is a long-
winded and almost wholly secondary account of very
littie value.
25. Serapion of Tmuis: contra Manichaeos, a writing of
very little importance and found in PG 40: 90-924.
26. The Greek 4 Abjuration 5 of the 9th century is
found in PG 1: 1461-1472; it gives a fair account for
its late date.
27. Euodius: de Fide contra Manichaeos; a few passages
from his extracts from Mani’s own books have been
cited here.

H. Latin

28. St. Augustine of Hippo (388-405 a.d.), one of our

chief hostile authorities. His facts prove correct, but
his arguments are worthless and often childish. His
chief books on Manicheism are: On the Manners of the
Manicheans, (‘ AMM ’) (Migne’s PL 32: 1345-1378);
-against Faustus (j AF.5) (PL 42: 207-518); against the
Fundamental Epistle (4FE5) (PL 42: 173-206); on the
Nature of the Good (*NB.*) (PL 42: 551-572); and
-against Fortunatus (PL 42: 11-130).
29. The Commonitorium, an 4 abjuration 5 found in
PL 42: 1154-1155, and translated in our Appendix III.
30. Prospers Conversion from Manicheism, dating
from a.d: 526 at Lyons, an important refutation or
 clxxvi
*

anathema found in PL 65: 23-30, and in part translated

in our Appendix III.
Through the courtesy of St. Mary’s College, the rare
and valuable set of Migne’s Patrologies, Greek and
Latin, was put at my disposal, and I was able to copy
the texts of most relevant passages. Other important
sources from which I had to draw materials will be
found noted in the Bibliography. My work on gather¬
ing these materials was spread out over the years 194$
to 1954. v

THE FRONTISPIECE

The speculative portrait of Mani here used is derived from a con-

temporary coin of Characene (near Maisan), whose ruler seems to
have been a convert, combined with the Chinese portrait found in.
the cave frescos at Tun-huang, probably dating about A.D. 800
and another source. No claim for its absolute accuracy can be
put forward, though it may not differ gready from the actual
appearance of the Prophet at about A.D. 255.
 A BRIEF MANICHEAN CATECHISM

1. How did this Universe come into existence?

It has always existed on the subder planes:
Two Realms, one of Light ruled by God, and one of
Darkness ruled by the Evil Spirit. When Evil irrupted
into the Light-Realm, the physical universe was “de¬
signed for their gradual separation.
2. What are the ‘ Two Sources ) ?
All existing things derive from one of these
two: the infinite Light of spiritual Goodness, the bot¬
tomless Darkness of evil Matter, coexistent and totally
opposed to one another.
3. What is God?
The infinite and ineffable beneficent King of
the Light, manifesting Himself in vast cosmic Powers or
Emanations to overthrow the aggression of evil Dark¬
ness on His spiritual Realm, and also immanent through¬
out the universe.
4. Has the physical world any real existence?
Certainly it is real, but it exists only until its
purpose is achieved by the separation of the Light and
Darkness. Compared with the Light-World’s eternity,
it is only a fleeting shadow dissipated by the dawn.
M
 clxxviii

5. Is it Good or Evil?
It is a mixture of Good and Evil, Spirit and
Matter, Light and Darkness. So it will be dissolved
when these eternal opposites are separated from each
other, the Light having been cleansed of all contami-
*

nating shadows.
6. Why was it created, and by whom?
The Divine Mind, or ‘ Living Spirit5 fashion¬
ed it as a means of liberating Soul from Matter, the
Light-Sparks of God from the enslaving Darkness—
through the practice of the twelve virtues and the loving
labours of the Luminaries or Saviours.
&
7. What is Man?
Man is a divine Spirit imprisoned in a body
of flesh created by the demons to ensnare his divinity
in their world of darkness.
8. What is the Individual Soul?
The Soul is a Spark of God’s Light, a part of
His very Being, separated off from Him to be absorbed
into the darkness of Matter and gradually to refine and
purify as much of it as possible. Divine in source and
end, its powers are limited while held captive in the
body.
9. What brought the body into being?
Charmed by the spiritual beauty of the Light,
the demons of the Darkness tried to capture it for them¬
selves; so they made the body, to draw the Soul’s atten¬
tion away from God, its full perfection, to the lower
pleasures of the flesh.
' 10. What is Sin?
 clxxix

Sin is the Soul’s disloyal turning from God to

Matter, accepting the sensual delights in place of spirit¬
ual ecstasy. Certain acts which tend to this have been
listed as sins—such as violence, sex-lust, and possessive¬
ness.
11. How did Sin come into existence?
Intoxicated by the Light of God, the Evil
Spirit rebelled against Him and sought it for himself.
This egoistic act of pride was the fountain-head of all
Sin.
12. Is Matter eternal?
Yes, it has existed from before time, and will
survive time itself. But it is only now that it is in re¬
volt; it will at last be vanquished by the Spirit, bound
for ever in the Abyss, its Powers totally destroyed.
13. What are the 1 Three Moments 9?
The Past, wherein Evil and Good were wholly
separate from each other; the Present, wherein the
former’s aggression has caused a mingling and confusion
of the two; the Future, wherein they shall again be
separated—the Light in eternal peace and bliss, the
Darkness in the ruin of perpetual captivity.
14. Why did God create the Individual Soul?
To cooperate with Him in freeing all Light or
Spirit from its slavery to Matter, herself the first, by
warring ceaselessly with spiritual weapons on Evil
everywhere} and by helping to refine and uplift all
beings—human, animal, plant and even mineral—
through intimacy with the holiness of Saints. This,
then, is our duty on earth. .„
 clxxx \

15. How was Soul imprisoned in the flesh?

Sent forth by God to enter and subdue re¬
bellious Matter from within, the Soul is caught and
swallowed up by the evil powers of its Darkness and
forgets its real nature and its mission. Thus it becomes
a miserable and helpless slave.
16. How can it become free?
By uprooting the desires those evil powers
personify, and by gradually refining and spiritualising
itself from all that is gross, material, it will at last be
freed.
17. Can it do this unaided?
Possibly, but in fact the Soul is helped at
every stage by God’s grace and the assistance of His
Saints.
18. How does God help it to he free?
Manifesting as Intuition in the Soul, as the
light of Conscience and of Grace, He works from with¬
in, eliminating the vices and dark desires, and plant¬
ing the fragrant flowers of every virtue in the
heart.
19. What disciplines should the Soul follow?
The mortifying of the flesh by chastity and
prayer and fasting, the observance of total harmless¬
ness, and a life of humility and loving kindness, with
purity of thought and diet.
20. How does the Evil Spirit gain control of a man?
When his mind is off its guard, evil thoughts
and desires enter in through some weak point in his
nature, opened by some sense-impression; then they
 clxxxi

encroach step by step until the whole has been cor¬

rupted.
21. How does the Divine Mind free him from that control?
Entering the heart through the spoken word
of God’s Messenger, it replaces all downward with up¬
ward tendencies, all vices with the opposite virtues,
until the whole nature henceforward is a pure throne
for the Christ to reign upon over his life.
22. Has Man the power to choose aright?
His power is limited only by the effects of his
own past choices, which set up a habit only the utmost
effort can break. This effort is made possible by the
awakening call of God’s Messenger—Mani, Jesus, or
another.
23. Is there such a thing as ‘ Fate 9?
Fate or Destiny results from the Individual
Soul’s past choices of action, and it binds until those
actions have been undone by other actions. It is there¬
fore ultimately under our own control.
24. What causes the instability of moods?
The Soul is sometimes nearer to Spirit, at
times to Matter, according to the prevailing planetary
aspects in its horoscope, and to the purity or coarseness
of the foods it allows the body to consume.
25. What is the reward of righteousness?
The purifying of the Individual Soul from all
defilement, and its victorious entry upon eternal life in
the blissful Land of Light with God and all the Angels
and happy Souls.
26. What happens to the wicked?
 clxxxii

Those who deliberately prefer Evil to Good

make the freeing of the Soul from Matter impossible
for themselves. Then they take birth after wretched
birth in Matter, till they become so grossly mater¬
ial that there can be no escape. And that is
Hell.
27* So Manicheism teaches Reincarnation?
Yes, as a Hell, or as a purgatorial suffering
involved in being attached to the fleshly body and its
delights. Love for the body necessarily causes its re¬
production age after age.
28. How do Rebirths come to an end?
When the Soul turns from bodily desires to a
full yearning after the Spirit, from worldly pleasures to
devotion for God, His Messengers and His Church, it
can no longer be born on a material plane, nor can it
even wish to be.
• 29. What is Death?
Death is the temporary or final release of the
Spirit from its material prison. When the Light-Spark
is purified, death is its entry on eternal bliss and glory
in God’s Realm of Light.
30. What happens to the Soul at death?
The good, pure, righteous Soul is adorned by
the Angels in its robes, crowns and garlands of light,
and led into the Light-Kingdom; ordinary Souls are
driven back on the paths to rebirth in the physical
world; evil Souls are dragged by the demons into their
hells of darkness, fire and misery.
31. How does God check the victory of Evil?
 clxxxiii

He Himself comes forth in some Divine Ema¬

nation to war upon and overthrow the Evil, or He sends
a Messenger of the Light to encourage and strengthen
men in resisting it.
32. Can true Knowledge be given by another?
The Saint or Messenger of God comes to en¬
lighten men with the Teaching and the Ethics, the
* Wisdom * and the £ Righteousness ’, which lead to
freedom. But only those in whom the Intuition, or
* Light-Mind is awake will welcome or benefit from
his Message.
33. What, then, is the Teacher's part?
To awaken the Soul to its own latent divinity,
to guide it on the purifying path, to carry it through
the liberating door of death into the endless glory of
the Spirit.
34. What are the Qualifications for this Path?
The knowledge that one is the Soul and not
the Body, a firm resolve to live only for the spiritual
aim, devotion to God and His Church which keeps that
resolve a living power in the life, loving humility and
gentleness to all, and persevering effort for self-purifi¬
cation.
35. Is it necessary to renounce the world?
Yes, for its attractions must be overcome and
ultimately its standards and ways of living be aban¬
doned; no, in the sense that it is here and in the world
that the Church, and each component Soul, must
labour for God’s plan of liberation until its purity has
set it free for ever.
 clxxxiv

36. Is there only one code of life for all Manicheans?

The ordinary moral and religious law is bind¬
ing on all alike, but the 4 Elect % who resolve on swift
treading of the Path, have voluntarily embraced for
themselves a code of higher standards,
v 37. How does man find God?
Roused by God’s Messenger from the drunken
sleep of fleshly ignorance, he realises his identity with
Spirit and his temporary bondage to the body; then he
resolves to be free and patiently works at his own libera¬
tion—refining his thoughts and practising. all spiritual
virtues till he is pure enough to see God in the hour
pf death.
38. Where then is God?
As eternal King of the spiritual Light-Realm,
He dwells transcendent over all that is; as manifest in
the Powers of the Light, He wars for its total liberation
from the aggressing Darkness; as immanent in every
atom of Matter everywhere, He awaits that liberation
which He alone can bring about.
39. Has He any real Temple?
He is immanent in everything and manifested
there to the seeing eye; therefore God’s Temple is the uni¬
verse and every particle within it, sacramentally, but more
especially is it the heart of the Saint who longs for Him.
40. What are the Gods and Angels?
They are Emanations or Expressions of the
nature of the One God, the King of Light and Father
of all, come forth from Him to bring about His final
victory over Evil,
 clxxxv

41. What is our relationship with them?

They aid our struggle to escape the darkness
of Matter, and we must not fail to reverence, love and
worship them as our Champions, Protectors, Friends.
; 42. Who are the £ Messengers of the Light? ?
Saints and Prophets sent by God from age to
age to teach men the truths of life and how they can
attain to Him in whom alone all happiness is found.
43. What is the Church?
It is the organised assembly of the faithful
Souls called by God and His Messenger to choose the
Light, and to labour for its freedom everywhere from
the Darkness. It is a wonderful Unity in Him, based
on Love and Wisdom fully shared.
44. What happens when Soul is wholly freed?
The physical worlds created for its freeing
cease to exist, the Light becomes supreme,., while the
Darkness and all Evil, together with those who choose
to merge therein, are forever subdued or sunk into
oblivion.
45. What is the Final Goal of all life?
The freeing of the Soul from all defilement, so
that it shines with God’s pure glory and can live eternal¬
ly in the bliss of His realised Presence and a sort of
mystical unity with Him.
46. Is this a Dualist Religion?
Most certainly it is, in the fullest possible
sense, for Good and Evil, Spirit and Matter, Light and
Darkness are eternally independent and opposite Forces,
between which every Individual Soul must choose.
 clxxxvi

4-7* Can you sum up this Religion in a few words? ■

It is the teaching of God’s Prophets which
awakens the Soul to a knowledge of its spiritual nature*
so that it strives under its guidance to purify and free
itself from the defilements of material darkness and
ignorance.
 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

A and M Ancient and Modern

AF Augustini contra Faustum
A. Fort. Augustini contra Fortunatum
Akkad. Akkadian
AL Alexander of Lycopolis
Alf. Alfaric
AMM Augustini de Moribus Manicheorum
App. Appendix
Ar. Arabic
Av. A vesta
Bab. Babylonian
Bir. Ghr. Biruni: Chronologies
Bir. Ind. Biruni: India
BM British Museum Chinese Hymns
BSOAS Bulletin of the School of Oriental and
African Studies
BuBb. Bet- und Beichtbuch (Henning)
CE Catholic Encyclopedia
Gh. Chinese
CMT Chinese Manichean Text
God. Greg. Gregorian Code
God. lust. Justinian Code.
Gopt. Coptic
 clxxxviii

Cor. Epistles to Corinthians

CRER Chinese Rules for Entering Religio
E Epiphanius
Eccl. Ecclesiastes
Eno. Books of Enoch
Eph. Epistle to Ephesians
Eph. Ephrem
Eth. Ethiopic
Ezek. Ezekiel
FE Fundamental Episde
Gal. Epistle to Galatians
Gen. Genesis
GG Gospel of the Gnostics
GGS Gospel of the Guru-Granth Saheb
GH Gospel of Hermes
GI Gospel of Islam
QJ Gospel of Jesus
Gk. Greek
Gk. Abj. Greek Abjuration
GMC Gospel of the Mystic Christ
GP Gospel of the Pyramids
GPM Gospel of the Prophet Mani
GY Gospel of Israel
GZ Gospel of Zarathushtra
H Hegemonius: Acta Archelai
Haer. Augustini de Haeresibus
Handsch. Muller’s Handschrift-Resten
H.E. Eusebian Histories of the Church
Heb. Epistle to Hebrews
Hip. Ref. Refutations by Hippolytus
 clxxxix

Xgn. Eph. Epistle of Ignatius to Ephesians

Isa. Isaiah
JA Journal Asiatique
JAOS Journal of the American'Oriental Society
Jn. John
l.Jn. First Epistle of John
JRAS Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society
K Scholia of bar Khoni
2 K. Second Book of Kings
Keph. Kephalaia of the Sage
Lat. Latin
Lk. Luke
LXX Septuagint Version
M Muller’s fragments
Mahr. Mahrnamag
MH Manichean Homilies
Mir. Man. Mitteliranische Manichaica
Mit. Mitchell
Mk. Mark
MP Manichean Psalms
Mt. Matthew
Mull. Muller’s book
Mus. Museon
N AnNadim’s Fihrist
NB Augustini de Natura Boni
N. T. New Testament
O. T. Old Testament
Parth. Parthian
Per. Persian
PG Migne’s Patres Graecorum
 cxc

Phi. Pehlevi
PL Migne’s Patres Latinorum
Ps. Psalms
q- quoted by
Rev. Revelations
Rom. Epistle to Romans
S Salemann’s fragments
SBE Sacred Books of the East
Sg. a Parsi work quoted
SGV Shikand-Gumanik Vijar
Shahr. Shahrastani
Skt. Sanskrit
Sogh. Soghdian
Sol. Solomon
Syr. Syriac
T Theodoretus
T. II. D. etc. Turkish fragments from Turfan, etc.
TB Titus of Bostra
Thes. Epistles to Thessalonians
TM Tiirkische Manichaica
Turk. Turkish
ZDMG Zeitschrift fur die Morffenland
Gesellschaft

Ordinary abbreviations, common in all books, are omitted

from this list: e.g.} lit:, i.e.} A.D., etc.
 SYNOPSIS

Chapter One: THE MYTH OF THE SOUL. !. There are

two eternal Opposites: Good and Evil, Light and Dark; 2. The
evil Darkness having irrupted into the sphere of radiant Goodness,
3. God brought about a mingling of the Soul—a Spark of the
Light-—in dark Matter in order finally to overcome the Evil. 4. In
great agony the Soul cried out for aid, and the Christ came down
and, showing its divine origin, woke it from the sleep of illusion.
5. As the theatre for its gradual release, the physical world was
brought into being from the blend of Spirit and Matter, 6. the
human virtues being designed as the means of liberation, 7.
drawing the Soul up to God by way of the Luminaries (human
teacher and divine Enlightener) and the Ideal of humanity. 8. The
very beauties of creation are used to awaken its aspiration and so
to tend towards release; 9. to check this trend the Dark Powers
invent the counter-attraction of sex-desire and the host of fleshly
delights. 10. Incarnate Man, imprisoned in the body’s dark
desires, is enlightened by the Messenger of the Light, 11. who '
plans and builds the horoscopic sphere as the field for his gradual
escape from its planetary bonds, 12. until when all Souls who so
desire are freed the balance is destroyed, together with the whole
root and source of Evil, and Righteousness is restored to sole un¬
challenged power at last.

Chapter Two: POWERS OF HEAVEN AND HELL. 13. The

one true God is the eternally blissful Father of the Light, 14. who
manifests Himself in threefold Aspects running through the whole
of life and form, 15. and in many Emanations, the first of whom is
maternal pity and understanding, 16. and the second a comradely
 CXC11

fellowship that rewards the efforts of the Soul, 17. the third
constructs the details of the life which the final victory of Righte¬
ousness will crown. 13. Then comes the Demiurge, who fashions
the environment of that life, ths ksetrajha wherein the Soul must
fight till victory, 19. followed in turn by the Soul’s five Qualities or
Aspects—the clear Intuition, 20. the penetrating power of Thought,
21. the mighty heroism of Reason overwhelming dark illusion,
22. the kindly Consideration, 23. and the steadiness of Decision or
Will, based on the commonsense of worldly experience. 24. To
aid their work comes forth Enlightenment, personified by the
radiance of the Sun and in the twelve Virtues of the godly life, 25*
taught by the glorious Messengers divine and human, 26. and so led
from the darkness of ignorance to the glorious light of Holy Church,
the communion of the Saints, 27. over which preside the perfect
chastity of a beauty that captivates even demons from their evil
schemes, 28. and the immaculate incarnate Word of God, Jesus
the beloved Light and Friend of all, first Rose in the Father’s
Garden, the life that shines in every form. 29. Against these
glorious Beings the Evil Spirit dares to rise, helped by the cor¬
rupting demons of Greed and Wrath and all their host.

Chapter Three: MESSENGERS OF THE LIGHT. 30. To rouse

men to spiritual life, God sends an unbroken line of Messengers
of whom Mani himself is one, 31. and they can be recognised
by their perfection in virtues and by five glorious attributes. 32:
Their work is to purify the heart of every evil, and to enlist the
Souls in the mystical unity of the Church, 33. but those who
understand and who yearn for freedom will alone benefit by their
labours. 34. Great among these Messengers was Jesus, who
liberated countless thousands, gave his life as a sacrifice for perfect
Love, and founded a living Church; 35. now has Mani shone
forth, the new Enlightener, who comes to renew and complete the
work of his predecessors, to the joy of all suffering Souls. 36.
Greatly indeed has Mani laboured, more than all before him, to
enlighten, comfort and bless all beings with the Truth. 37. What
can be compared with the glory of the Spiritual Teacher who frees
 CXC111

the Soul from the misery of its darkness, 28. and dwells evermore
among his children as their Guide, their Friend, and King, helping
them by absolution to new efforts on the spiritual Path and to the
joyful confidence of a certain final victory? 39. His love for us
is a perfect reflection of God’s infinite Love for all, a sacrificing
ecstasy of Love.

Chapter Four: THE CHURCH OF THE LIGHT. 40. The

.blect are those who take on themselves the higher laws of a life of
strict asceticism and total harmlessness, sharing lovingly with
■others the spirituality they gain; 41. they are a link between
heaven and earth, so we should not worry about any human
frailties that they may show. 42. The Hearers are those who try
to live noble and abstemious lives of devotion to God and to His
Church; 43. those who are really sincere are the glory and
strength of the Religion, 44. while those who live in the world
■with the perfect detachment of the Elect share their glory and
are liberated in this very life. 45. To share what we have with
others is the greatest joy, and thereby also we gain a fuller posses¬
sion of our graces and build up the spiritual oneness of the whole,
46. the happiness of which is our one real aim. 47. Enriched and
served by such worthy members, the Church will tread the path
to a future glory that can know no limit.

Chapter Five: THE WAY OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. 48. The

Soul in bondage recalls her heavenly origin and remembers why
she came down to mingle in the world, 49. whereby she has now
become entangled in the toils of flesh and kept away from God,
the Source of all bliss, in constant chains of birth and death. 50. To
the Soul thus imprisoned comes the loud summons of the spiritual
Enlightener or Guru, calling her to return to her Father’s Land of
Light on high, 51, and reminding her of the^transitory worthless¬
ness of embodied life. 52. The Soul at once arises and determines
to renounce the futility of flesh, and to carry out the liberating
work for which she came. 53. But as only the Free can liberate
another, the Soul cries to God for aid in this agelong struggle
N
 CXC1V

against the gloominess of Evil, 54. and the Messenger from God
tells her how to carry on the fight until success, 55. encouraging
her to face all the difficulties and oppositions which her efforts
will arouse—for only struggle can prepare for rest, and suffering
for joy. 56. Nor should she be anxious at the ebb and flow of her
changing enthusiasms, which are due to the planetary aspects and
the varying purity of her food and outer contacts. 57. Fasting can
give great help in subduing the cravings of the flesh, 58. and so can
constant joyful prayer and aspiration, 59. and generous kindness
with the giving up of properties which fetter the Soul to earth;
60. the highest road is a total harmlessness which carefully protects
even the humblest spark of life from ruthless clumsiness. 61. Gentle¬
ness and integrity of heart are the twin attributes of all the Saints,
62. and of those who are wholly devoted and will certainly attain
the goal. 63. In them the Divine Mind works to transmute their
human qualities into the Divine, to establish in them the Image
of the Father of the Light, 64. in any one of His five great Forms,
manifesting the primal Faculties of Mind in helpful wisdom for the
uplift of our whole creation. 65. It is a long hard fight to be
free of all that would drag us down, but if we struggle steadily and
bravely from today the final victory is sure, 66. and the Soul
finds herself liberated from the world and lifted into unison
with God.

Chapter Six: LIBERATION OF THE LIGHT. 67. The

final battle is when the body makes its last attempt to hold back
the escaping Soul from the joy of death. 68. The hour for that
fight is very near, and the Soul eagerly looks forward to its entry
on the higher life, 69. bidding its earthly friends rejoice in its
dawning bliss rather than mourn for the form about to disappear.
7But this last struggle demands all her strength and more, so
the Soul calls for help to her beloved Lord, who is bound to help
His devotee in the hour of need, 71. for she has given her whole
life in His service, crucifying the clamours *>f the flesh. 72. So
close has always been the union of their wills that the Soul feels
she goes to her beloved Spouse to become wholly one with Him;
 cxcv

73. the Lord indeed assures her that He will be ever with her and
guide her into every bliss. 74. Thus inspired, she breaks the
chain that holds her down, 75. and while the demons of the
Darkness flee in dismay receives the tokens of her victory, 76. when
every deed and motive stands revealed to the pitiless gaze of the
awakened conscience in the light of the eternal Law of Righteous¬
ness. 77. Joyfully the released Soul goes on her bright way to
Heaven, and the ecstasy of spiritual Marriage, 78* carrying with
her the blessed memories of all that her love for God has helped
her to achieve, the reward for which is now the eternal Presence
of the Lord and all whom she has loved. 79. The Lord Himself
leads her into that blessed Land, 80. where she shares the infinite
blessedness of the redeemed, 81. sending back to those left behind
a cry of joy that stirs them to like efforts, that they too may come
to that which she has won.
%

Chapter Seven: THE END OF THE WORLD. 82. At last

the Light-Sparks will all be freed and the Darkness overthrown;
83. then will be revealed the perfection of our Humanity which
reflects God’s loveliness, 84. and incorporates every Soul capable
of forming part of that great beauty. 85. This world is growing
old and hastens towards decay, from which we can easily see how
near the Consummation must have come, 86. when the Souls will
face that final tribunal which puts apart for evermore the Darkness
and the Light, and frees Righteousness from the contaminating
cruelty of Vice and Ignorance. 87. Those who prefer to join the
powers of the Darkness have their will; they are made one with it
and share its gloomy fate. 88. Mani implores the millions of
humanity to hear his call, to choose the Light and so avoid the
misery of the Darkness; he does all he can to win them round, but
the decision rests in their own hands. 89. Not one of those who
seek for God, who yearn to be of His, can ever fall away, for the
petty merits of his own life are infinitely enriched by those of the
Church’s Saints to whom he has attached himself; 90. the faithful
therefore speed happily on the tide which runs to the feet of God
and the realm of endless peace and joy.
 CXCV1

Chapter Eight: EPILOGUE. 91. How can we adequately thank

the God-inspired Teacher who has opened these infinite glories to»
our hearts, and who constantly guides and strengthens us till we
can enter on our joy? 92. It is only by a full surrender of all we
have and are to that divine Master and the Church that he has
formed on earth that we can give a token of our love and gratitude*
93. But more than all else our adoration pours forth to God, the
Source of every Good, the loving Father of our Souls, the King of
Paradise, 94. whose loveliness is too sweet for us even to com¬
prehend, whose power and omnipresent love and wisdom draw
our hearts continually to Him. 95. Let us then aspire ceaselessly
to return to Him along the path of Righteousness laid down by
His Messenger to us, and so shall we attain the endless joy and
peace of His radiant Presence and' merge our very beings in
His love!
 CONTENTS
, Page:
The Gospel of the Prophet Mani . . . vii
PreTace ♦••••• XI

Introduction: The Third Century—Mani, the

Messenger of the Light—Mani, the Man and
His Work—Sisin and Innai, First Manichean
‘ Popes 5—Manicheism down the Centuries—
Why Was Manicheism so Hated?—Can a
Religion Die ?—On the Rationale of Dualism
—The Organism of the Church—The Books
of Mani—The Sources of our “ Gospel ” xvii
A Brief Manichean Catechism . . clxxvii
List of Abbreviations . . . clxxxvii
Synopsis ..... cxci
Contents ..... cxcvii

CHAPTER ONE: THE MYTH OF THE

SOUL

1. The Two Sources, 2. Darkness Invades

the Light Realm, 3. Soul Enters Matter, 4.
The Rescue of the Soul, 5. Creation of the Sky
and Luminaries, 6. The Role of the Virtues, 7.
The Work of Moon and Sun, 8. The Maiden of
the Light, 9. Man Comes from the Demons, 10.
The Coming of Jesus, 11. The Great Builder’s
Work, 12. Last Things ....
 CXCVlll

Page
CHAPTER TWO: POWERS OF HEAVEN
AND HELL
13. God, Supreme Father of the Light, 14.
"The Holy Trinity, 15. The Mother of Life, 16.
The Friend of Lights, 17. The Great Builder,
18. The Living Spirit, 19. The Custody of
Splendour, 20. The King of Honour, 21. The
Light-Adamas, 22. The Glorious King, 23. Atlas
the Supporter, 24. The Third Envoy, 25. The
Sun and the Moon, 26. The Column of Glory,
21. The Light-Maiden, 28. Jesus, 29. The
King of Darkness . . . . .45

CHAPTER THREE: MESSENGERS OF

THE LIGHT
30. Earlier Messengers, 31. Signs of a True
Messenger, 32. The Work of a Messenger, 33.
Is Acceptable to Some, 34. The Mission ofJesus,
35. Mani’s Birth Brings Joy, 36. Mani’s Mis¬
sion, 37. The Glory of Mani, 38. The Bema-
Festival, 39. Love Divine . . . .88

CHAPTER FOUR: THE CHURCH OF

THE LIGHT
40. Who are the Elect? 41. The Glory of the
Elect, 42. Hearers of the Wisdom, 43. The
Greatness of the Hearer, 44. The Perfect Hearer,
45. Mystical Unity of the Church, 46. Prayer for
the Religion, 47. The Religion’s Glorious Future. 130
 cxcxx

Page
CHAPTER FIVE: THE WAY OF
RIGHTEOUSNESS
48. The Fall of the Soul, 49. The Body is a
Prison for the Soul, 50. The Awakener’s Call,
51. Death is Inevitable, 52. The Soul Resolves,
53. And Appeals for Aid, 54. The Way
to Life, 55. Courage under Suffering, 56.
Fluctuating Moods, 57. Fasting, 58. Prayer,
59. Holy Poverty and Almsgiving, 60. True
Harmlessness, 61. A Sure Path, 62. Sincerity of
Heart, 63. The Work of the Light-Mind, 64.
Five Kinds of Masters, 65. Exhortation to Spirit¬
ual Effort, 66. The Soul is Righteous Now . 156
CHAPTER SIX: LIBERATION OF THE
LIGHT
67. The Agony of Death, 68. The Righteous
is Called, 69. He Comforts His Friends, 70.
And Prays to Jesus for Help, 71. Having Always
Preferred Him to the World, 72. The Bride to
her Spouse, 73. The Lord’s Reply, 74. The
Soul Breaks Free, 75. Deathbed Scenes, 76.
Individual Judgment, 77. Joy of the Freed Soul,
78. Depart, O Manichean Soul! 79. Jesus
Takes her Home, 80. The Land of Light, 81.
The Triumph of a Holy Death , . , . . 207
CHAPTER SEVEN: THE END OF THE
WORLD
82. The End is Near, 83. The Last Statue,
84. Perfect Justice will Prevail, 85. Signs of the
 cc

Page
End, 86. The Universal Judgment, 87. The
Fate of the Wicked, 88. The Messenger’s Appeal,
89. None of the Faithful Perish, 90. The Path
•of the Redeemed . . . . 254

CHAPTER EIGHT: EPILOGUE

91. Thanksgiving to Mani, 92. Total Sur¬
render, 93. The Eternal Infinite, 94. Is Endless
Love and Sweetness, 95. Mani’s Last Message . 276

.Appendices: I. Fragments of the Scriptures: The

Coptic Summary of the Myth, From “ The Fun¬
damental Epistle ”, Severus on the “ Two
Sources ”, AnNadim on the “ Two Realms ”, The
Soul is Aroused, From “ The Treasure of Life, Bk.
VII ”, The Work of the Great Builder, The Vivi-
hcation, AnNadim on the Religion, AnNadim on
the Three Kinds of Death .... 295
II. Kkuastuanift, the Hearers' Con¬
fession .... 326
III. Anathema against Manicheism . 336
IV. Fading Footsteps of Manicheism:
'The Bogomile Book of John, Extracts from a
Catharist Gospel, Extracts from the Yazidi Books . 340
Index J .... 363
Bibliography ; . . . . 369
The World Gospel Series . . ; .373
 CHAPTER ONE

THE MYTH OF THE SOUL

*

This great parable, like those of the Prodigal Son

in the Bible and the fallen Sophia and the sleeping
Prince in the Gnostic books, tells how the human Soul,
a 4 spark ’ of divinity, came into the exile of flesh, of
ignorance and helplessness. The story begins by stress¬
ing the total contrast between Spirit and Matter,
Good and Evil, Light and Darkness; then it tells how
the condescension of the one and the arrogance of the
other led to the two being mixed in a real 4 bondage \
Then we learn how, to separate the fallen pure Spirit,
God devised the machinery of the universe and the
virtues, which gradually refine and free the Soul
from its chains, with the aid of His 4 avatars 5 and
Messengers. At last, when its work is ended, the
6 world J ceases to be, Good triumphs, and Evil is for
ever made harmless or destroyed.

1. The Two Sources

1. There are two Sources1 (K. 313 : 13-14)

unborn and everlasting (T. 1 : 26), God and
Matter, Light and Darkness, Good and Evil
1 Syr: tryn hww kynyn; the Gk. word used is phusis, nature. These
two are the fountains out of which all comes, both good and bad,
respectively.
2 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

-—in all ways quite opposite, for the one

shares nothing with the other 1 (E. 14), God
being good and having nothing in common
with Evil 2 (H. 24). For while the Light is a
good Tree full of good fruits, Matter is an
evil Tree bearing fruits consistent with the
root 3 (T. 1 : 26). Now the fruits of that evil
root are fornications, adulteries, murders,
avarice and all evil deeds, . . . which God
has not planned (H. 17). (It is) as when two
Kings are fighting against each other, being
enemies from the first, and having each his
own property (H. 7).
2. Now the Good Source dwelt in the
Region of Light, and He was named the
* Father of Greatness’,4 and His Five Glories 5
1 Gk. hos kata meden epikoinanein thateran thateroi; Theodoret has:
f< God is remote from Matter and knows it not at all, nor Matter
Him”. The Chinese version reads: “ In the Former Time there
are yet no heavens and earths; solely Light and Dark exist, one
apart from the other. The nature of the Light is Wisdom, the
nature of the Dark is Folly; in all their movement and in all their
rest there is no case where these two Principles are not opposed ”
(CRER. 2a). Cf. also App. I. 3. They are, in Chinese, the
Eul-Tsong.
2 “ God excels more in Good than Matter in Evil ” (AL 2).
3 Cf. the Good and Bad Trees of Jesus in Mt. 7:17-20.
4 Syr: Abhd de Rabbuiha; Phi: Ptd ct vazurgii; Ar. AbiflKabir;
Gk. Pater tou megethous; Copt, plot hte tmntnac.
5 Syr: sekinath. These 4 Five Tabernacles ’ of God are parallel
to the five aspects of the human mind or soul, variously named
(cf. GPM 3:1 etc.). They are also directly related to the five
 THE MYTH OF THE SOUL 3

-were dwelling with Him: Mind, Knowledge,

Reason, Memory, Will (K. 318 : 15-17); and
there is no limit to the Light from above,
nor to the right or left (N. 329 : 9-10). And
lined up with God there are other Powers,
just like handmaids, all good: the Bright and
the Light and the Above—all these are with
God (AL. 2).
3. But the Evil Source, named the c King
•of Darkness 5, he was dwelling in his Dark
Earth, in its five worlds1 (K. 313 : 18-19):
Smoke and Fire and Hot Wind and Danger-
Water and Gloom; . . . nor is there limit to
the Darkness from below, either to right or to
.left (N. 329 : 8-10). And with Matter are the
Dim and the Dark and the Below . . . and
others like them, all evil (AL. 2).
Mani begins by proclaiming the eternal co-exist-
ence of the two opposing Forces of Good and Evil,
each with its own set of five manifestations to express
:its own nature. Though limited by the very existence
of its antithesis, Light is the greater and more powerful
in all ways save those tainted with the evil nature.
“ Sons of the Living Spirit” (GPM 19-23), i.eof the Demiurge—
the Mind being in fact the actual creator of the universe, as in
•GA 6. The Syr. names are hauna, madde'a, remand, mahfabhthd and
.tarlithd\ the Gk. names are Nous, Eruioia, Phronesis, Enthumesis,
Logismos; the Copt, names are Nous, Meeu, Sbo, Sajne, Makmek.
1 The dark equivalent of God’s Five Glories; the various
languages name these phases of Evil variously. See also the
account in GPM 29. 4
4 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANX

2. Darkness Invades the Light-Realm

1. Now after many ages Matter was

divided against itself,1 and its fruits against
each other (T. 1 : 26); Matter became dis¬
orderly, and it produced and increased and
kept emanating many Powers.2 So then,,
having increased, it pushed on, not knowing-
the existence of the Good (TB. 1 : 12); and
when the War had begun, and some were
chasing while others were being chased.
(T. 1 : 26), as it rose up more and more, it
saw both the earth and the light of the Good.
(TB. 1 : 12); in the course of conflict the Dark¬
ness passed beyond its own boundaries (H. 7).
2. So after each of them had come to*
know the other, and the Darkness had begun,
to contemplate 3 the Light, having as it were
acquired a passion for the better thing,4 it
1 Gk. diastasiasai pros heauten ten hulen, disharmony being a tv
essential quality of Evil, and so too of Matter.
3 Cf. the picture given in GH 2:2. There was a close parallelism*
between the various soteristic doctrines of the age.
3 Or: gaze at.
4 The aggression was actually prompted by a desire for self¬
betterment natural after a sight of God. So too the ambition to-
be “ like Gods ” led to the fall of Adam in Gen. 3:5, and the
demon “conceives in his heart a desire for Enlil-ship” in the
Babylonian Genesis (Heidel: KB. 6:1, p. 46). “They were induced
to invade God’s Region because of the beauty they saw ” (AF.
21:10),
 THE MYTH OF THE SOUL 5

pressed on to mingle with it (H. 55), in order

to attain to what was not its own 1 (TB. 1 :12),
and even desired to occupy this Source, dis¬
possessing God.2 . . . Moving irregularly, for
such is according to its nature, Matter came
to God’s own place, or to Light and Bright¬
ness and all such things (AL. 3, 8), and
resolved to proceed, as it were, to a certain
haste, taking this as a proof of familiarity with
the Light (TB. 1 : 20).
3. Therefore Matter rushed on, with the
demons and the phantoms,3 and the fire and
the water, against the Light that had appear¬
ed. . . . Then having gazed at the Light,
they (began) to enjoy it and to wonder at it,
and to resolve on warring against and seizing
it without delay, and on blending their own
darkness with the Light (T. 1 : 26).
4. When the King of Darkness had decided
to go up to the Region of Light, then the Five

1 “ The Race of Darkness coveted the Realm of Light bordering

•on their territory, and from a desire to possess it formed a plan
to invade it . . . wishing to take by force the good they desired
Lor its beautiful and attractive appearance ” (AF. 19 : 24).
2 So too in GY 1 A, Satan’s pride led to his fall and ruin.
3 or: mental images, Gk: meta ... ton eidolon; there may be here
some hint of the word ‘ idol/, false religions and idolatry being one
•of Evil’s strongest lures.
6 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

Glories trembled (K. 31 3 : 21-23), and God.

was alarmed at the mass charge;1 for He had
no fire to strike with bolts and lightnings, nor
water to cause a flood,2 nor iron, nor any
other weapon that can be devised (T. 1 : 26)-
So then He determined to avenge Himself"
upon this (Matter)3 although lacking evil to
punish it with, for there is no evil in God’s
House (AL. 3).
Aggressive violence is of the very nature of Evil, so¬
on its first view of the beauty of its Enemy it naturally^
tried to attack and secure for itself what seemed so
attractive. As in many other faiths, Pride led to the
first rebellion against the Divine Order. And the
absence from God’s nature of all such evils as the'
mind or the means for violence gave the Aggressor
an initial advantage in the fight for supremacy, so that.
God had to plan some other way to restore the menaced
peace and happiness of the universe.

1 Augustine taunts Faustus: “The repose of your God (is);

shaken by the revolt of the Race of Darkness and suddenly disturbed
by the attack of enemies.” Cf. the Coptic: “The Great (?) Father
therefore took the first step. He strengthened all His Angels,
saying, ‘Assemble, all of you, and guard yourselves from the eye-
of the Evil One which has looked up! * One of the Sons of Light
looked from on high and saw him; he said to his rich brethren: ‘ O
my brethren, the Sons of Light in whom there is no waning or
diminution, I looked down to the Abyss, I saw the. . . . Evil
One, the Son of Evil, desiring to wage war. ... I saw their cruel'
armour which is ready to make the war, I saw snares set and nets
cast and spread, that the Bird which should (come) might (be)
caught (and that) it might not escape from them ”* (MP. 204 : 4-21)-
1 i.e.} the fire that burns, the liquids which drown and poison,
instruments of evil.
3 “God too has desires, but they are all good; and Matter
likewise, which are all evil *' (AL. 2).
 THE MYTH OF THE SOUL

3. Soul Enters Matter

1. Then the Father of Greatness con¬

sidered and said: “From these five worlds of
Mine I will not send the Five Glories 1 (even
one) of them to the War, because they were
created by2 Me for rest and peace, but I
Myself will go out and see to this revolt55
(K. 313 : 23-27). He devised the plan against
Matter just because it had desired the Good,5
... to send on that account towards Matter
a certain Power which is called the Soul,
which should wholly permeate it4 (AL. 10, 3).
Now the Soul in men is a part of the Light>
while the Body is of Darkness and Matter’s
handiwork; . . . and there are these names
1 In Chinese wou-pen-ming-shen; the Greek Abjuration calls them
“ the five Splendours gifted with intelligence ”, and the Syriac,
“ the five bright gods” (hamja alahe ziwane), the Turkish, *'‘ the
Light gods” (yaruq tangrilar). The Gk. list is also found in the
Gk. Acts of Thomas.

2 lit : to, for.

3 Even Evil merited upliftment by its aspiration to attain the

Good j God used the Soul, a part of His own Being, to pervade
and refine at least most of Matter.

4 “ The member of God has been mixed with the substance of

Evil, to repress it and to keep it from excessive ferocity ”
(AMM. 36), and “ before the establishing of the world, Souls were
sent in this way against the Hostile Nature in order that, subduing
it by their suffering, the victory might be given to God ” (A.
Fort. 2 :22). Augustine, though hostile, seems usually a fair
summariser of Manichean dogma.
8 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

of the Soul: Mind, Thought, Intention, Con¬

sideration, Reason (H. 7, 9).
2. So that there might be no more evil
for it but all things good (AL. 12), having
taken a certain portion of the Light, He sent it
out as a sort of bait and fishhook for Matter1
(T. 1 : 26)—a Power of the Good, not yet
sensible Light but an emanation of God2
(TB. 1 : 20). (First), the Father of Greatness
called forth the Mother of Life,3 and (then)
the Mother of Life evoked the First Man;4
then the First Man called forth his five Sons,
like a man who puts on armour for war.5

1 Surely, if matter had been wholly evil, it could not have been
attracted by the Light it saw ! Nor could a totally evil Matter
hold the perfect Soul. Gk. : hoi on ti ddear kai ankistron tei hulei
prosepempse.

* The inherent radiance could only shine forth vividly when

the Soul had attained to maturity.

8 Syr. Emma de Hayye; cf. GPM 15.

4 This * First Man * is the Cosmic Christ, the * Word *, the

Divine Man of the Gnosis; Syr. ena$a qadmdya,; Ch. Sien-yi. He is
the * Perfect Man * or the ideal of all humanity, manifesting God
before the beginning of the worlds. “ Our Father the First Man,
the Lord of Richness, (owner of the) armour of Light (MP. 137 :
17-19), whose victory and garland are blessed ” (MP. 1 : 26-27).

5 “ The First Man, who came down from the Race of Light to
war with the Race of Darkness, armed with his Waters against the
Enemy’s waters, and with his Fire against their fire, and with his
Winds against their winds, . . . was armed against smoke with Air,
and against darkness with Light ” (AF. 2 : 3). The Coptic writer
says: “ Since the time when he stirred himself and rose up against
 THE MYTH OF THE SOUL 9

^Before him went out an Angel called Nahash-

bet,1 holding a crown of victory in his hand
—so the First Man spread the Light in front
-of him. Then when the King of Darkness
.saw it, he considered and said, “ What I was
seeking from afar I have found near by55 2
(K. 313 : 27—314 : 6)! For Matter, having
;gazed at the Power sent forth, longed (for it)
like a sweet-heart, . . . was infatuated with
the Power seen as if altogether forgetful of its
own nature. . . . (Meanwhile) Evil was still
advancing and straining itself and coming
nearer to the Light (TB. 1 : 21, 36), and that
was laid open and spread out beyond it
(T. 1 :26).
3. The First Man gave himself and his
five Sons (K. 314 :6-7) in the five Elements 3
the Light (that) he might come and reign over the Land o the
Living, then the First Man came forth against him; he emerged out
of the House of the Living and hindered him ” (Keph. 67).
1 Possibly Nahas-sebet (snake-staff, i.e.} lightning), or JSfehsa-bed
(lord of augury); in Gk. he is called Stephanephoros, the wreath-
hearer. The concept appears again in the Angel who approaches
the dying with the three Gifts (GPM 75 : 2).
2 The same sentiment is used by Augustine, who was, after all,
.a Manichean for nine years and never wholly threw off the old
influence.
8 These are the purest forms of subtle matter, used by the descend¬
ing Redeemer as protection from the coarser vibrations of the lowest
planes of gross Matter. “ The Primal Man . . . mixed up with the
Jlace of Darkness his members or vesture or weapons—that is the
10 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

(N. 329 :21) as food for the1 five Sons or

Darkness, just as a man who has an enemy
mixes deadly poison in a cake and gives it to
him 2 (K. 314 : 3-10). Then, warring on him
in return, the Rulers of Darkness (H. 7)
charged up, . . . snatched from the Light
(TB. 1 : 36), swallowed what had been sent
(T. 1 : 26), devoured from his panoply what
was the Soul (H. 7) and distributed it to their
own Powers (TB. 1 : 20). When they had
eaten these, the intelligence of the five Bright.
Gods 3 was taken from them, and they were
Five Elements—which are also a part of God’s substance, so that
they were subjected to confinement and pollution ” (AF. 11 : 3).
Tammuz too, in Chaldean myth, was stripped of his “ shining
adornment ”, and Ephrem (IV 629 : 2) has: “ My beautiful gar¬
ments were (swallowed up) and do not exist.”

1 lit: his, an obvious error.

* Such vivid similes, characteristic of Mani’s own style where -we

have it, vindicate the authenticity of bar Khoni's sources.

8 “He waylaid (them) with his net, which is the Living SouL
. . . (They found no) possibility to escape (his net), ... he shut
them in like fishes ” (Keph. 58). “ After that he drew the Good
Soul out of the Five Elements^the armour of the Lord First Man,,
and bound it in the pollution. He(made it like one blind and deaf,
senseless and debauched, so that it knew not its first Origin and its-
own Source. He made his pollution and bound the mute Soul in
prison; demons . . . tormented that prisoner . . . and mocked it;:
he made it hateful and wicked, hostile and malicious ” (S 9). The
Chinese has: “When these five Bright Bodies had endured such
sufferings day and night, and were imprisoned by the demon and
chained in the body of flesh, they forgot their first feelings as does -
a madman or a drunkard” (CMT. 14). “The substance and.
nature of God was in danger of being wholly corrupted by the Rac&
of Darkness; to save the rest a part was actually corrupted”'
 THE MYTH OF THE SOUL II

like the man bitten by a mad dog or a snake,1

because of the venom of the Sons of Darkness
(K. 314 : 10-13).
4. So in this way . . . was the Soul mixed
with Matter,2 one unlike thing with an (other)
unlike, and in the mixing the Soul has come
to feel with 3 Matter (AL. 3), and has been
fettered and, as it were, snared in a sort of
trap 4 (T. 1 : 26).
To combat this danger, God sent out a part of
Himself, sacrifice being of His very nature, and so the

(AF. 11:3); “He covered Himself with a veil that He might not see
His own members taken and plundered by the assaults of the
enemy’* (AF. 18:7). This ‘veil* was the darkening of the ‘Five Bright
Gods the five aspects of the Mind, the £ Five-God ’ (bi$-tangri) of
Turkish documents, each corresponding to one of God’s ‘ Glories *
and to one of the ‘Elements’; Manicheism delighted in the
detailed working out of such correspondences, on the principle “ As
above, so below ”,
1 In Ephrem (II, p. 166 stanza 86) also, the confusion is caused
by the bite of a snake. There are many signs of the familiarity of
Syrian writers with Manichean and earlier ‘ heretical ’ writings.
2 “ The whole Rulership was fastened, . . . being mixed with
one another, the Light with the Darkness, and the Darkness with
the Light” (Keph. 131). “A member ... of the Divine sub¬
stance itself must be sacrificed to the whole host of demons by
being introduced into the nature of the Hostile Race” (AF. 32 : 22) ►
3 or: assimilated; Gk. sumpathein. The Coptic gives a brighter
picture: “ fighting (?) for my holy Robe, for my shining Light that
it might lighten their darkness, for my sweet fragrance that it
might sweeten their foulness. ... A part therefore went forth
from my Robe; it went and lightened their darkness; my sweet
Fragrance went and sweetened their stench” (MP. 205 : 15-23).
4 “ The five kinds of demons clung to the five Bright Gods just
as the fly attaches itself to the honey, as the bird is caught by the
lime, like the fish that has swallowed the hook ” (CMT. 3).
12 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

liuman Soul (and that pervading everywhere) came

into being to subdue the enemy from within, to over¬
throw its evil tendencies by its own sufferings and its
yearnings to return to the blissful Light above. Soul
manifests in the five mental qualities, which have to
tame the lower nature’s savage desires. Stage by stage,
through spiritual realm after realm personified by
Divine emanations, Soul came down into the dim
borderland where the Light blended with the Dark,
and so prepared for the War which ends with the
final elimination of gloom and the restoration of every
■divine c Spark ’ to its primal home of bliss.
Seeing in the Soul a flash of the so desirable and
■coveted Light, the evil spirit of Matter rushed on it
impetuously and absorbed it in the prison of his own
darkness. Hidden by this mass of gloom from the glory
■of its own nature, the Soul forgets its inherent godliness
and loses the sweetness of reasop and of piety, being
fettered fast in the bondage of its body and deceived
by the false flickers of its adopted separativeness and
aggressive pride.

4. The Rescue of the Soul

1. Then the First Man was cruelly afflicted

down there by the Darkness (H. 7). When
the First Man came to his senses,1 he put up
seven times 2 a prayer to the Father of Great¬
ness (K. 314 : 13-14), and the Father heard
when he prayed (E. 46). God therefore pitied
1 lit: mind (hauna).
2 So the Elect had seven daily prayers, of which the Hearers
observed at least four (cf. GPM 58, and the prayers in * Pistis
Sophia ’).
 THE MYTH OF THE SOUL 15

him (AL. 3) and called for the Second Evoca¬

tion, the Friend of Lights; and the Friend
of Lights evoked the Great Builder; and
the Great Builder called forth the Living
Spirit1 (K. 314 : 15-17)—another Power ema¬
nated from Himself (E. 46).
2. Then the Living Spirit called his five
Sons:2 the Holder of Splendour from his In¬
telligence, the Great King of Honour from
his Knowledge, the Diamond of Light3 from
his Reason, the King of Glory from his
Thought, and the Supporter 4 from his Delibe¬
ration;5 these came to the Region6 of Dark¬
ness and found the First Man absorbed by the
Darkness, he and his Sons (K. 314 : 17-22).
1 The Manichean Demiurge, Cosmic Mind planning the * all
2 Their names in Syr. are £aphath-£iwa, Malka, Rabbd de Iqardy
Addmos Nuhra, Melekh Subhha and Sabbala (?), and in Ch. Siang
(Thought), Sin (Feeling;, JVien (Reflection) Sseu (Intellect) and Ti
(Reasoning)—parallel to the five * Bright Gods ’ of GPM 3:1. It
is a further elaboration of the concept of personified aspects of
Mind, Cosmic as well as individual.
3 The word * Adamas * means what is hard, unbreakable, clear
and invincible; this Being parallels Mithra, the f Sol Invictus *'
who overthrows evil in open conflict, like St George and the
Archangel Michael.
4 Atlas, from Gk. tlao, suffer, endure; also called Omophoros,.
with similar meaning of bearing a load. The old Greek myth
of Atlas is used here.
5 The equation between the aspects, sons, of Mind and the
personifications of Cosmic Mind, is here worked out; see also-
GPM 19-23.
• or : earth, world; these words interchange freely.
 14 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

8. Thereupon the Living Spirit called with

a (loud) voice,1 and the Living Spirit’s voice
resembled a sharp sword (K. 314 : 22-24) swift
as the lightning; and it became another God 2
(N. 329: 31-32) and revealed the form of the
First Man. Then it said to him: “ Peace to
thee, O good one among the wicked, light
amidst the darkness, god dwelling among wild
beasts who know not their honour! ” 3 Then
the First Man answered him, saying, “ Gome
in peace, bringing the merchandise4 of calm
and peace! ” He also said to him, “ How are
our Fathers, the Sons of Light, faring in their
City?” The Caller said to him, “ They are

1 This is the mysterious ‘Gall* (Khroshlag), paralleled by the

awakening cry of the Saviour in GPM 73, answered by the Soul
in its ‘ Reply * (Padvakhtag) or the ‘ Resolve * of GPM 70-72.
These Turkish names correspond to the Syr. Qarya and *Anya, the
Ch. Chouo-t'ing and Houan-ying; they resemble in one way the
Mazdean pair Haurvatat and Ameretat, and join the Five Sons to
make up the list of the Seven Mahraspands.

2 A striking phrase: Ar. wa kana ilahan akhira. The Soul itself

in GPM 66:1 is said to become God, though the usual concept is
rather that it is to live for ever with God in light and bliss, cf.
GPM 66 : 2, 72 : 2, 75:1, App. I. 10 : 1.

3 or: wild beasts ravening in hell.

4 The word is generally used to refer to f merits * or good deeds

brought home with it by the soul, but is here evidently the grace
or merits brought to the soul by its Redeemer while rousing it
from the * sleep ’ of (spiritual) death with the cry: “ Awake, you
who slumber and sleep in the cavern (?), that you may be told the
news ” (MP. 197 : 16-17)!
 THE MYTH OF THE SOUL 15

prospering5’1 (K. 314 : 24—315 : 3); and

-coming down he gave him a right hand 2 and
led (him) up out of the Darkness (H. 7).
4. Then the Caller and the Answerer3
united and went up towards the Mother of
'Life and the Living Spirit;4 5 6 and the Living
Spirit put on 5 the Caller, while the Mother
•of Life put on the Answerer, her beloved Son;6
and they went down to the Earth of Darkness,
to the place of the First Man and his Sons
(K. 315 : 3-7).
Afflicted by this bondage, the Soul knows enough
to cry to God for help, and the merciful Father at

1 The Psalms of Thom give a full version of this conversation;

■cf. our Appendix I 5.
2 Hegemonius (7) tells us, “ For that reason if the Manicheans
meet each other they give the right hand as a sign of having been
•saved from the Darkness there is much in the Kephalaia about
this Right Hand, and the Kiss of Peace, and the Salutation which
^accompany it.
2 They represent the cooperation between the one to be saved
-and his saviour; the former must respond to the latter’s invitation.
4 “As the Call and the Reply went up from the hell into the
height, then came Living Spirit and the Mother of the Living
hither speedily. They make the God First Man ascend out of
hell and come forth, and they send him to the heaven of the
Gods. And the Mother of the Living, and the God Living
Spirit, these separate (?) the * Five-God ’ from the God First
Man, and (then) they prepare themselves to create and make
the earth and the heaven (T. II. D. 173 b)”—a Turkish transla¬
tion evidently from an original Scripture.
5 The technical term for a mystical at-oning with.
6 She is the 4 feminine * aspect of God, the ‘ Mother * who
intercedes for fallen man, as in GPM 6
 16 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

once puts forth certain of His own Powers to create a

means to save the Soul from its self-sought suffering-
Those who were to create, to rule, to teach the worlds
came into manifestation, and so we have the Divine
Persons and Names whereby Mani seemed to give
free rein to the old polytheistic trends which had al¬
ready begun to mould Christian theology. Especially
came the Living Spirit, the e Autoeides5 of another
school, the e letter * that came to the Prince in Bardai-
san’s (?) lovely poem (see GG), to awaken the Soul
to a realisation of its own inherent divinity—the Guru,
like the lion that led a cub brought up by goats till its
roaring became a feeble bleat, and then showed it its
reflection in a pool. So is the Soul reminded of its royal
destiny and helped by the spiritual Voice to invoke
more potently the help of the redeeming aspects of God
the Light.

5. Creation of the Sky and Luminaries

L Next the Living Spirit ordered three of

his Sons,1 the one to kill and the other to flay
the Rulers, Sons of the Darkness, and to
deliver them to the Mother of the Living.2
The Mother of the Living spread out the
heavens with their skins and made ten

1 Only two are noted specifically here. “ The Rulers rebelled

and lifted themselves against the Living Spirit . . . because they
knew and felt he would bind and fetter them with a strong chain ”
(Keph. 58). 6

2 “ The great mighty God Living Spirit (proceeds to) tuck up

his robe in the tenfold heaven and to don the Water-eod as his
shield ” (T. II. D. 121). B
 THE MYTH OF THE SOUL 17

heavens/ while their bodies were flung to the

Region of Darkness and made eight earths 2
(K. 315 : 7-12). Then this Living Spirit
created the universe and, having brought the
three other Powers 3 and gone down, he led
up the Rulers and fastened (them) in the
firmament, which is their sphere 4 (E. 48).

1 A very ancient element from mythology—the skies being

formed out of the skin of a gigantic demon. The text here has
4 eleven ’, an obvious error for the usual 4 ten \ 44 There are eight
worlds and ten heavens ” (AF. 32:19).
8 As made of the grosser portions of flesh, the 4 bodies ’ form the
material for the eight earths. The fragment S 9 gives a full
account of these creations, with which cf. our App. I. 6. 44 For
this reason the Messenger of the Light named Pure Spirit, out of
the five kinds of demons and the five Bright Gods, by combining
the two forces, constituted the ten heavens and the eight earths
of the universe ” (CMT. 3).
s 44 Having put three other Powers on himself, he came down
and brought away the Rulers and fastened them in the firmament
which is their body, the Sphere” (H. 7). Ephrem is in error
when he says this was done by the First Man, going on: 44he
flayed them and made this sky from their skins, and out of their
refuse he compacted the earth, and some of their bones he melted
also and piled up the hills”. SGV. says: 44 The sky is from the
skin, the earth from the flesh, the mountains from the bones, and
the plants from the hair of the Demon Kuni: the rain is the
seed of the demons who are bound on the Sphere” (10-14).
We learn that 4 Adamas * kills the Rulers, the 4 King of Glory >
flays them, the 4 King of Honour ’ delivers them to the Mother
of Life; these are the 4 Three Servants ’ (telatha ‘abhdin) of
GPM 8:2.
4 So we have the demon referred to as 44 the prince of the power
of the air ” in the somewhat Gnostic Eph. 2:2. 44 He fettered
them in the heaven and the earth; he placed every one of them
on the place suited for him; he measured each one of them by his
pride and his humility. A few of them he confined (in a prison),
others of them he hung up head downwards, a few (were) Cruci¬
fied, others sat down always, a few of them were tied under their
2
18 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

2. Then the five Sons of the Living Spirit

were each one inducted into his work: the
Holder of Splendour, who holds the five
Bright Gods by their waists while the heavens
are spread out below their waists; the Sup¬
porter, who kneels on one knee and bears the
earths; and after the heavens and earths were
made, the Great King of Honour sits in
heaven’s centre and keeps watch over all of
them1 (K. 315 : 12-18).
3. After having crucified 2 the Rulers in
the Sphere (E. 49), the Living Spirit then
showed his forms to the Sons of Darkness, and
from the Light which had been swallowed by

comrades, tortured by means of a hard fetter. Under himself he

has given others authority over one another to work his will on
those who are under them” (Keph. 51-52). “ Their root is fast¬
ened to it, so that they may not escape from the bonds of their
chain ”... u so that not one of (them escapes) his hand **
(Keph. 88, 55). u He bound 1800 Rulers in every Aeon
and set 360 over them, and he set five other great Rulers as lords
over the 360, and over all the bound Rulers who are called in
the whole world of mankind these names: Saturn, Mars, Mercury,
Venus, Jupiter ” (Pistis Sophia, p. 360).

1 It is noteworthy that here too, as in para 1, only a few of the

Sons are actually referred to in detail.

a As in the story of Mani’s own death, and perhaps in Christian

books of the same age—the apocryphal Acts, etc.—the word is
often used for fastened, tied up, tortured—in any way. So too,
Widengren tells us, Marduk, in the Chaldean myth, put 300 con¬
quered deities in the heavens, forming the universe from the
slain Tiamat, demon of the deep, and man from her consort
Kingu.
J
 THE MYTH OF THE SOUL 19

them out of these five Bright Gods he refined

the light and made the Sun and Moon.1
(K. 315 : 18-21). From Matter he withdrew
as much of the Power as had suffered nothing
much from the mingling, . . . which in spite
of the mixing retained its own virtue; so the
Sun and the Moon came into being (AL. 3),
the Luminaries that are remnants of the Soul2
*(H. 7). But what had come to appreciable
fiarm (became) Stars (AL. 3) more than a
thousand3 (K. 315 : 21-22) and the all-
embracing heaven (AL. 3). Of the Matter,
then, whereof Sun and Moon were created,
the part was thrown out of the universe and
is that Fire which burns indeed but darkly
and dim quite like Night 4 (AL. 3).

1 “ Now they so distinguish those Ships, namely the two

Luminaries of heaven, as they say the Moon is made of good
Water, and the Sun of good Fire’* (Aug. de Haer. 16). This is
confirmed by passages in the Kephalaia.

* Because the Sim and Moon are from the purest of the Light
first recovered from contamination, they fittingly become the
•gateway, path, and means of refinement for other Souls, leading
them up to the Source of Light (cf. GPM 25).

s Syr: nuhra yathir men alpa. Reading elpe Cumont takes this as
“the stars beyond the vessels” (i.e. Luminaries), but Jackson
Tejects this. The originating light is less pure, and this is why the
rstars are not so bright as the Sun and Moon!

4 Dark Fire, derived from the dregs after removing the light
-of the Sun and Moon from the contamination.
 20 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

4. Then again Matter of itself created the

plants (H. 7); and in the other elements*
both plant and animal, in these the Divine
Power is unequally mixed1 (AL. 3). Now
the Evil Spirit by foresight knew that the
Light, being attracted by Sun and Moon,
would soon be purified and freed, ... so he
planned this microcosm, such as humanity,
cattle and other creatures, as an exact copy
of the Macrocosm,2 together with the rest of
embodied creation. . . . The world is a bodily
formation of the Evil Spirit, formed of the
bodily elements of the Evil Spirit (SG\A
16 : 23-24, 8-9); from the mixture of both
Natures, that is, of Good and Evil, the world
has been made 3 (AMM. 36).
. To rescue Soul bound up in Matter, this very
Matter itself had to be fashioned into a universe
subject to law; this very obedience imposed upon its
1 Gk. anomelos . . . memigmenen. Some have the Light in them,
purer and more plentiful than others; among the brightest were said
to be fruits, melons and cucumbers—the butt of Augustine’s-
humour«
1 The Kephalaia works out this correspondence in some detail.
“ When these were carried off by some of the Rulers as spoil,
they took power from all of them individually and made up the
man who is the image of that First Man and united the Soul in
him ” (H. 7)—but this anticipates GPM 9 : 2.
3 A basic doctrine preserved, it is clear, in exact quotation by
Augustine: de commixta utraque natura, id est boni et mali, mundus est
fabricate. Man feels in himself the duality of his own nature, the-
spirit warring with the flesh, as St. Paul puts it.
 THE MYTH OF THE SOUL 21
,evil qualities of disorder—C£ crucifying the demons 55
and binding them to a form moulded of their own very
nature enabled God to overcome the rebelliousness
inherent in every form of Evil. So the Divine Mani¬
festations of Mind each took over the control of a part
of this vast universe, and the luminaries—Sun and
Moon and Stars being themselves formed from Light—
were devised as means to attract the Light-Spark held
in dark Matter, to draw it up to its eternal Source,
and so to free it from the entangling impurity.

6• The Role of the Virtues

Now when the Living Father saw the Soul

afflicted in the Body (H. 8), then the Mother
of Life and the First Man and the Living
Spirit stood up in prayer and implored the
Father of Greatness.1 So the Father of Great¬
ness heard them and called forth the Third
Evocation, the Messenger2 (K. 315:27—
316:2). Having come, then, he prepared for
himself the work for the saving of the Souls; he
put together a machine with twelve Buckets 3
1 “ Then the God First Man prayed to his Mother, and his
Mother prayed to the Righteous God: £ Send a Helper to my son,
for he has fulfilled your wish and (so) has come to distress 5 **
(M 21).
2 44 The prototype of all God’s 4 Prophets ’ and 4 Saviours *
who come down to help man to Liberation.
3 The water-wheel, or sakiyah, still used in countries of the
Middle and Near East. The twelve 4 buckets * which descend into
the ocean of samsara to lift up the 4 living water ’, the Soul, are the
rwelve virtues to be cultivated—each of them the gift of the higher
side of one of the Signs of the Zodiac, expressing consecutive stages
22 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

(H. 8), the twelve ‘Virgins’1 with their

robes and crowns and characteristics. The
first is Royalty, the second Wisdom and
the third Victory; 2 the fourth is Content¬
ment,3 the fifth Purity4 and the sixth
Truth; the seventh is Faith, the eighth
Patience 5 and the ninth Sincerity; 6 the tenth
is Kindness,7 and the eleventh is Justice,3
while the twelfth is Light (K. 316:2-8). On
being turned round by the Sphere this
(wheel) draws up the Souls of the dying.
(H. 8).
Matter then formed itself into a counter-attraction,
a physical universe to draw the Soul’s desire back
from the glory of the spiritual and to fasten its atten¬
tion upon this visible, so that it might again forget the
in spiritual growth. Astrologers will easily identify the Signs from
the lists of the Virtues here and in GPM 31:2; e.g. Royalty,
Aries; Justice, Aquarius, esoterically viewed.
1 These are the “twelve Daughters of Time (J^rwan) ” of T. II
D. 171, and the “twelve Light-Sovereigns ” of the Chinese texts.
Le Coq III p. 16 speaks of “ the twelve Majesties which emanate
from the God of the Majesty of Law and resemble the bright Sun-
god with his twelve divine Virgins ” (cf. GPM 13:2).
g i.e. that bringing final liberation (boxtageft).
8 or: Joy, Persuasion, Reconciliation (peydsa).
4 Another reading is Modesty; Phi. Splendour, Majesty; Gh.
Religious Zeal.
6 Gh. Endurance of Wrongs (Skt. titik$a).
• or: Integrity, Justice, Righteousness.
7 or: Grace, Goodness (taybuiha).
8 Gh. Uniformity of Heart; i.e., Impartiality, the brotherly
feeling with another conferred specially by the eleventh Sign.
 THE MYTH OF THE SOUL 23

beauty of the yet unseen. So God replied by sending

out to the human Soul a divinely illumined Teacher,
the Messenger of the Light, who revealed the first steps
up by the Path of Righteousness, the twelve great
virtues symbolised and conferred by the zodiacal signs
after conquest of the opposite evils innate in them.
While the rotating universe pursues its ceaseless course,
the practice of these virtues gradually refines and
elevates the Soul towards the endless Light of perfection.

7. The Work of Moon and Sun

1. The Sun and the Moon . . . are Ships

conveying the Souls of the dying1 from
Matter to the Light2 (T. 1 : 26), always
separating the Divine Power from Matter and
escorting it to God. . . . For in waxing the
Moon receives the Power . . . and becomes
filled therewith in the due time (AL. 3-4);
then it brings about (its own) waning by dis¬
charging the 'freight (H. 8) to send (it) on to
the Sun, and that returns (it) to God.3 And
having done this, it receives again a migration
1 Gk. thneskonton.
8 This is the doctrine forcibly condemed in our App. Ill 13. The
Ch. text puts it thus: “Further Pure Spirit had made two
Luminous Ships, which he sent on the Sea of Samsara (constant
life and death), to let them carry good across to men and to bring
them back into their first world, so that their Bright Nature (Soul)
might at la$t be calm and happy ” (GMT 15).
3 A curious explanation for the waxing and waning of the Moon!
Mani had to convey spiritual teaching through such materialistic
fantasies because his audience were mostly at that mental stage.
And the base of the Moon had the type of a Ship, while a male
 24 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

to itself of the Soul from the next full Moon

and ... . lets it pass on automatically to God
(AL. 4). And so the Ferry fills and again disem¬
barks the Souls drawn up by the c buckets 5,
until it has saved its own share of Soul (H. 8).
2. When the Moon, then, has handed
over the freight of Souls to the Aeons 1 of the
Father, they remain there in the Column of
Glory which is called the ‘ Perfect Man 5; . . .
it is a pillar of light because loaded with the
Souls , that are being purified 2 (H. 8). Now
the Moon . . . first receives the radiant Souls
from Matter, and then deposits (them) in the
Light (T. 1 : 26), and it does this continuously
(AL. 4); this is the way in which the Souls
are saved (H. 8). So the Sun began to purify
the Light which was mixed with the demons

and female dragon steered. . . . The figure of a Babe was on the

Moon’s stem, who guided the dragons that robbed the Light from
the Rulers ” (Pistis Sophia p. 359).

1 The ‘ Aeons ’ play a prominent part in Gnostic thought also.

They seem almost to correspond with the Jewish and Christian
Archangels and to the ‘ Glories * of GPM 1:2, Ameshaspentas of
Mazdeism.

* GPM 26 This concept goes back perhaps as far as the

Divine Ladder of GP 33 or beyond, together with the washing and
clothing of the Soul in a lovely Robe. It corresponds with the
Church of elect souls, with the ‘ Perfect Man ’ or Christ, whose
mystical body these are. To join this, or the equivalent * Last
Statue* of GPM 83 and 87, is the purport of religion, the aim of
all effort at spiritual self-purifying.
 THE MYTH OF THE SOUL 25
of Heat, and the Moon began to purify the
Light mixed with the demons of Cold;1 that
(Light) rises up in the £ Column of Praise5
with the hymns and worships, the good deeds
and kind works which are sent up2 (N.
'330 :23-25)
Luminaries always draw the heart of man towards
the Infinite Light, the Source of all their beautiful
brightness. This truth was mythically expressed by
the Soul being drawn Godwards by the changing and
lesser light of the waxing Moon and then passed on to
the steady and changeless greater brilliance of the Sun.
Purified by the twelve virtues, countless Souls are thus
continually raised from the dark ignorance of a wicked
world into the glorious Ray of Light which leads
straight to God—the mystical unity of liberated Souls
which forms the hierarchy of the Church, the glorious
Ladder which Jacob saw raising souls to heaven,
whereon God’s angel messengers come and go. This
Ladder is built of prayer and praise and kindly deeds.

8. The Maiden of the Light

1. (The Living Spirit) made the Wheels3
-—the Wind, the Water and the Fire;4 and
1 Demons of Heat and Cold come also in App. I 5:4.
2 The Souls are uplifted by all the prayers and praises, and the
meritorious deeds of the faithful who compose the true Church and
share its 1 treasury of merits ’.
3 Syr. aggane; Turk, tic t'ilgdn; Ch. san-luen; Copt, psamet ntrokhos.
The exact significance of the Wheels escapes me, unless they repre¬
sent the three gunas, the triplicities of Astrology; they are ‘ of use
to ’ the five aspects of mind or soul, and protect them from the
poisoning by evil. See note to GPM 18:2.
4 Perhaps the. Fixed, Mutable and Cardinal of Astrology.
26 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

he went down and formed1 them below near

the Supporter. Then the King of Glory
evoked and raised over them a covering, so
that they might ascend over these Rulers con¬
fined in the earths and be of use to the five
Bright Gods, lest they be burned by the
Rulers5 venom (K. 315 : 22-26).
2. Now when the Envoy came towards
these Ships,2 he ordered the Three Servants 3
of Manbed 4 to make the Ships move; he bade
the Great Builder construct the New Earth,5
and the Three Wheels to go up. Now when
the Ships rose and came to the centre of the
sky, when the Envoy6 showed his male and
female forms and was seen by the Rulers, Sons
of Darkness, male and female (K. 316 : 8-14),.
. who were in the firmament. ... A certain
Virgin, fair, bedecked and very alluring, . . .
1 Jackson understood this as: ‘ he made them glide \
* i.e., the Moon and the Sun, which probably represent, in one-
sense, the Personality and Individuality through which the Soul
gradually evolves towards perfection in the c Church * or e Column
of Glory \
a Apparently corresponding to the ‘ Three Wheels *, or can it be,
as suggested by others, the Three Servants of the Living Spirit in
GPM 5:1-2?
4 The Persian name for the Supporter, Atlas or Omophoros.
6 Syr. area hedatha. Cf. the work done in App. I. 6.
• Here, clearly, the f Third Envoy* of GPM 24; also the * Mes¬
senger * of GPM 6.
 THE MYTH OF THE SOUL 27

appeared to the males as a comely female,

and to the females as a handsome and attrac¬
tive youth (H. 8), and in the Sun was seen an
Image somewhat in the likeness of a Man
(AL. 4). Now at the sight of the Envoy, who
was lovely in his forms, all the Rulers were
filled with desire for him—the males for the
shape of the female and the females for the
masculine shape.1 In their desire they began
to emit that Light which they had swallowed
from the five Bright Gods2 (K. 316 : 14-17).
1 ct An Image of Light was revealed (in) the home of the beasts,.
... in the land of the foul stench, . . . They came to see his
Image, they grovelled, they became mad because of its brightness,
they arose that they might mark his likeness, they fell, . . . they
arose that they might mark his beauty, they were sweetened with
his fragrance. . . . They bent their knees, (they) worshipped
him, . . . they sang to him: . . . ‘ Thou hast come in peace,
O Son of the Brightnesses that shall be the illuminer of our worlds.
Come and rule over our land and set peace in our city! * The
demons were saying this with their mouth, yet planning evil
nevertheless in their heart” (MP. 214 : 1-17).
This Myth, in all likelihood pre-Manichean, was fully narrated
in 1 The Treasure of Life cf. App. I. 5. The Christian polemists
scathingly condemned it, but it is no more unsavoury than some
stories related almost with relish in the Old Testament. Beauty,
and the desire for it, is in fact used as a means of rescuing the Soul’s
higher nature from enslavement to the gross, the ugly and unspirit¬
ual. A similar story is that in the Hindu Puranas, where Mohini,
an avatar of Vishnu, so charms the demons’ senses that she wins
away from them the immortality (amritam) destined for the Gods.
Augustine taunts Faustus with believing such a story: “ Remember
thy beautiful gods and goddesses exhibiting themselves to excite
desire in the male and female Rulers of Darkness, so that the
gratifying of this passion might effect the liberation of this God
who is in confinement everywhere, and who needs the help of such
self-degradation ” (AF. 15 : 7).
‘28 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

3. Thereupon that Sin which, like the hair

in the dough,1 was shut up in them mingled
with the Light which came out of the Rulers.
. . . Then the Envoy hid his forms; he parted
the Light of the five Bright Gods from the
Sin which was with them, and it fell upon
the Rulers from whom it had dropped; 2 but
just like a man disgusted at his own vomit1
they did not accept it (K. 316 : 18-24).
4. Then it fell on the earth, half of it on
the Wet and half of it on the Dry 3 (K. 316 :
24-25); now that which fell on the Dry sprang
up in five Trees (K. 317: 2-3)—from that are
grown plants, trees and grain4 (SGV. 16 : 35),
while that (on the Wet) became a horrible

1 Two more typically vivid Manichean similes; we speak of a

* fly in the ointment * with a similar purport.

2 So evil falls back on the head of him who works it: the ( Law
of Karma *!

3 “ (The Sin) entangled itself with the Light; it got out and
•came down from the Dry and the Moist; (out of) the Dry it formed
the trees, but in the Sea it immediately formed itself and made a
great rebellion in the Sea ” (Keph. 92). Cf. the ‘ beast from the
Seai in Rev. 13:1. The * Sea * is as usual a symbol of the emo¬
tional nature wherein Lust arises.

4 “ Among those used in forming the heavenly bodies were some

pregnant females. When the sky began to rotate (cf. GPM 6), the
rapid circular motion made those females give birth to abortions
which, being of both sexes, fell on the earth and lived and grew
and came together and produced offspring. Hence sprang all
animal life in earth, air and sea ” (AF. 6:8).
 THE MYTH OF THE SOUL 29

monster 1 in the likeness of the King of Dark¬

ness. The Diamond of Light was sent against
her; he fought with her, defeated her, turned
her on her back, struck her in her heart with
a Spear,2 thrust his Shield on her mouth, and
placed one of his feet on her thighs and the
other on her breast3 (K. 316: 25—817 : 2).
Here is the myth which, in the crude form taken
over bodily by Mani from an earlier Chaldean pagan¬
ism, aroused the understandable ire and ridicule of
Christian polemists. Let us, in trying to follow its
strange symbolism, remember the painfully intimate
relationship of spirituality and sensuality—the one being
but the reverse of the other; the fallen priest flies from
his God-devoted chastity to the poor consolation of a
sexual entanglement; the artist drowns his genius in
women’s arms and drink; the demon of Lust lurks
in the very heart of the spiritual Light and Fire. We
may not like this, but the whole universe was designed
to trap Evil in its own snare, and desire can be con¬
quered—only by another desire! So the story tells how
the ‘ Maiden of the Light’s ’ beauty snared the demons
by the very force of their own unholy lusts for what is
eternally immaculate, beyond the reach of all their
coveting. In the very act of their aspiring after
the unattainable loveliness, which attracts each

1 lit: hateful beast—the female demon. Lust.

2 Syr: dortiyay the Syr. word ortiya, being confused with the Gk.
doration.
3 A symbol of the 4 Three Seals’ of Manicheism. The Redeemer
controls the evil one in thought (heart), word (mouth) and deed
(body), trampling on the lower instincts (thighs) and the higher
passions (breast). This is the ancient theme of Marduk and Tiamat,.
God and Chaos, St. George and the Dragon, a favourite among;
myths. Gf. the similar story in GPM 21:3.
30 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

^according to his own tendencies, the higher life

hidden and held in the darkness of sensuality escapes
into the brightness of the spiritual life and knowledge,
while the dross left behind sinks into a deeper gloom
and vileness. So were born the lower creatures, void
of sense—the plants and stones, and the ancient mighty
Dragon, personifying Evil and Darkness in his very
form, strives in vain against the Hero-Warrior known
to other myths as Perseus, Michael or St. George.

9. Man’s Body Comes from the Demons

1. These Daughters of the Darkness 1 were

-already pregnant from their own Nature, and
-at sight of the beauty of the Envoy’s forms
their foetuses dropped,2 fell on the earth, and
ate the buds of the trees. Then the Abor¬
tions 3 consulted together ; they remembered
the Envoy’s form they had seen, and asked,
“ Where is that Form we saw (K. 317:3-8) ?”

2. Then said Ashaqlun,4 the son of the

King of Darkness, to the Abortions: “Bring

1 i.e.f the female Rulers suspended in the air: “They have been
hung to the revolving Wheel on account of their hardheartedness;
so that because of the Wind and the movement by which they
turn they may not know the place whereon they stand ... on the
revolving Wheel of the Stars ” (Keph. 119).
*

2 Syr: neheth here, probably, should read ihet, aborted, we are told.
8 The idea of the Abortion was also common in Gnosticism; cf.
1 Cor. 15 : 8.
4 Gk. Saidas; note that he is not the original Demon Ahrimen,
but his * son \ Cf. the story as in App. I. 2 : 9-14.
 THE MYTH OF THE SOUL 31

me your sons and daughters (K. 317 : 9-10);

come, give me some of the Light we have
taken (H. 10); it is I who will make for you a
form like what you have seen (K. 317 : 10-11),
which is the first man1 (H. 10).55 Then they
brought it and gave it to him 2 (K. 317 : 11),
and, moved by jealousy, Matter made Man
out of itself by mixing with the whole of the
Power, having also something of the Soul
(in him).3 However, the form did much to let
Man gain somewhat more of the Divine
Power than other mortal living things, for he
is an image of the Divine Power4 (AL. 4).

1 i.e.y the human f Adam not to be confused with the heavenly

■* First Man * of GPM 3-4, though he is a sort of reflection thereof
on a lower plane.
2 “ He said to his companions: ‘ Give me your light, and I will
set up a form like the Form of the Lofty One.* As he had said,
(so) they did and gave (it) to him, and he on his part established
(the copy) ” (Keph. 138)—an example of how close the Greek
mid Syriac refutators kept to their sources.
3 “ The good things drew him to Life because of their image and
their form which was laid on him, while the evil things drew him
to Death in order to rule by means of him and to take the King¬
dom and through him to swallow the whole universe ’* (Keph. 157).
The Mandean Book of John (52: 3) says: “ Out of fire (evil) and
water (good) was the body of Adam created.** Hermes also
recognises this dualism in man’s nature (GH 40 : 5).
4 Syr. deva taqifa. Man’s dignity is somewhat preserved by this
asserdon that he is not wholly the child of demons: Gk. huparkhein
gar auton tJuias dunameos eikona. Man ts indeed the ‘ image ’ or
reflection of God (cf. Gen. 1: 26, in GY 1: 8), to be eventually built
into the Shining Image which is the ‘ Last Statue *, the t Column of
Glory *.
 32 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

3. So Man was fashioned, not by God

. . . but by the Ruler of Matter1 (T. 1 : 26);
he consumed the males, and the females, he
gave to Nebroel 2 his mate. Then Nebroel
and Ashaqlun united together,3 and she con¬
ceived from him and bore a son whom she
called 4 s Adam 5 ; she conceived again, and
bore a daughter whom she called ‘ Eve5 &
(K. 317 : 11-15), (both) giving her some of
their lust to seduce Adam 6 (H. 10).
1 A teaching forcibly refuted in App. III. 4. “ When the Demon
of Greed had seen these things, he conceived anew a wicked plan
in his poisoned heart; then he ordered Saklas and Nebroel to
imitate Pure Spirit and Excellent Mother. . . . They formed the
body of Man, and there imprisoned the Light Natures to imitate
the Macrocosm. So then the flesh body, with its corrupt and evil
Greed and Lust, was the faithful image point by point, though
smaller, of the heavens and the earths; . . . there was not a single
formation of the universe they did not reproduce ” (GMT. 7). This
idea is elaborately traced out in the Kephalaia.
2 The name also appears as Nemrael, both forms suggesting a
Semitic origin like those of Michael, Gabriel. Perhaps the earlier
form is N'aplcfan.
3 In Ch. they were known as Lou-yi and Yelo-yang.
4 lit: and she called his name.
5 Syr. Hawa. AnNadim gives us the very unpleasant continua¬
tion of this barbarous mythical story down to the third generation,
to show how Lust and Greed established power over humanity.
4 The usual unfair suggestion that female lust is stronger than
male, that, in fact, it is woman who is the tempter! “ When the
Demon of Hatred, the master of Greed, had seen that, he therefore
conceived feelings of annoyance and jealousy; then he made the
forms of the two sexes, male and female, to imitate the two great
Luminaries which are the Sun and Moon, and to deceive and
harass the Bright Nature till it embarked on the Boats of Darkness
and, led by them, entered hell, passed through the five states of
existence and underwent all sufferings, and so that finally it might
be hard for it to be delivered ” (GMT. 16).
 THE MYTH OF THE SOUL 33

Out of the fallen Matter from which spirituality

has fled, lured by the dream of loveliness glimpsed in
its brightness as the * Maiden of the Sun 1 (Sun is a
feminine word in Semitic languages)—the Demon King,
son of Satan, Ahrimen, the Enemy, fashioned from
Matter’s darkness forms in human shape. In these he
imprisoned the sparks of Light which had not yet es¬
caped. Because man, even in his fallen state, has a con¬
sciousness of the Light which we call his 4 conscience %
he is the highest of all mortal things. His outer form,
the 4 man 5 we see, is constantly renewed by the union
of the twin demons Wrath or Pride, and Greed or
Lust. These two rule his life until God’s Messenger
awakes in him the yearning for the lost Light; then he
struggles through to freedom by conquering all desires
that lead to slavery. . .

10. The Coming of Jesus

1. Now whereas Adam was created beast¬

like, Eve was lifeless 1 and motionless; but the
male Virgin 2 whom they call Daughter of the
Light and name loel, gave Eve3 a share of
Life and Light. Next Eve freed Adam from
bestiality,4 then was she thereupon stripped
naked of the Light (T. 1 : 26).
1 Gk. apsukhon, soulless.
2 Spiritual beings like this loel, who appears also in the Gnostic
Book of Baruch, had for the Manichean no separative sex. loel
seems to be perhaps the ‘ Maiden of the Light ’ of GPM 27.
3 The Greek Abjuration (3) says: “ Eve forsooth received her life
when a male Virgin was invoked, while Adam was freed from
savagery through Eve ”.
4 Note that it is Woman who takes the first steps towards civili¬
sation, inventing pottery, basketwork, cooking and agriculture, as
3
34r THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

\ 2. So they (both) asked for the Redeemer, r

and the~ Mother of Life and the First Man
and the Spirit of Life 2 (decided) to send to
that ‘ first child 3 one who should free him
and save him, show him the Knowledge and
the Righteousness,4 and rescue him from the
demons (N. 331 : 7-9). Being kindly and
pitiful, . . . the Good Father sent from the
bosom . . . His beloved Son . . . into the
heart of the earth and into its lowest parts
. . . for the saving of the Soul. . . . Now
while coming the Son changed himself into

the reward, she becomes subordinate to man and loses the chance
to develop and liberate the Light in her mind as easily as man can
do. She is ^stripped \

1 Lit: the Messenger of Good Tidings, the Evangelist (Ar.

alBasiru). This awkward phrase refers to the 4 Gospel * of GG, the
Awakening Call, or the King’s Letter which rouses the sleeping
Prodigal. The part was played by Jesus, as by all other true Men
of God who have striven to rouse their brethren 44 lost in earth’s
dark night”. 44 Now every Five-Light (z.*. Soul) (being involved)
in the struggle implored the God First Man : 4 Leave us not in the
body of the Darkness, but send us strength and the Helper!’ And
the God First Man replied to each one praising (him): * I shall not
leave you in the power of the Darkness!’ . . . 44 If they have
not prayed, then they will not be helped by the God First Man;
but their glory is in every prayer ” (M 2).

a Note here the same three who interceded with God to send
the help for the heavenly prototype ‘ First Man ’ in GPM 6.

3 i.e., the first one to be born or generated (Ar. alMoludVlqadimi).

4 i.e., the Doctrine and the Ethics, essential parts of all religion:
How man was parted from God, and what practices draw
him back to Him again.
 THE MYTH OF THE SOUL 35

the .form of a Man 1 and appeared to men as

a man, being no man, and men fancied him
to have been born (H. 8).
3. Jesus the Radiant 2 approached Adam
the Innocent,3 and awoke him from the sleep
of death,4 so that he might be rescued from
the Great Spirit;5 and like a righteous man
who meets a man possessed by a mighty
demon 6 and quietens him by his art,7 so too
was Adam when that Beloved had found him
sunk in the deep sleep.8 So he woke him,
1 The power to change his form in plane after plane was
essential to the true Messenger (cf. GPM 31:1, GMG 8:4 and in
the Gnostic Ascension of Isaiah). Forcibly refuted in App. Ill 8,
this doctrine seems yet to have been hinted at in the remarkable
passage ‘ in Phil. 2:7-8. Western Manicheans found much in
St. John and St. Paul to support their teachings.
2 i.e.. the glorious Jesus, before descent and after resurrection:
Syr: Teso‘a zivana; Copt. Iesous perrie, the dawn, the splendid one.
3 Syr. tammimd, simple, harmless; evil does not originate in man,
who is only the 4 child ’ of evil forces.
4 A favourite metaphor in all mystical literature; cf. the Tamil
woman-saint, AndaJ, in her ‘ Tiruppdvai * (w. 9, 11, 15): <c Is it a
light slumber, or does she lie through some enchantment in deepest
sleep ? . . . O favourite of His, why do you sleep and neither stir
nor speak? . . . Are you still asleep? ” It is the c sleep s which
overcame the Prince in Egypt, in Bardaisan’s poem.
5 Syr: ruhd saggitha, actually dual: Lust (Ch. T’an-mo) and
Greed (Gh. 'Tuan-mo-t’an-tchou; Turk. Soq-yak) together make up
the Great Demon, Shumnu or Ahrimen (Ahrimainyu).
0 A ‘ righteous man *, like Jesus or Mani himself, naturally had
power to drive out evil spirits.
7 Ephrem says in a hymn: “ He too healed the wound with
commands and not with drugs.”
8 Syr: besenta saggitha; lit: in a great sleep.
36 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

took hold of him, and shook him (K. 317 : 15-

21), Then Jesus. . . spoke to the ‘ child *
who was Adam, and made clear to him the
Gardens and the Gods, and Hell and the
demons, and the earth and sky, and the Sun
and Moon. Then he warned him against Eve,,
showed him her reproach,1 and forbade him
(to touch) her (N. 331 : 10-11); he drove away
from him the Seducer,2 and bound the Great
Queen3 far from him. Thereupon Adam
examined himself and realised whence (he
came);4 and Jesus showed him the Fathers
on high and his own Self in everything,5’
thrown into the teeth of leopards and . . ..
elephants, swallowed by the greedy and
:chewed by the gluttonous, eaten by dogs—-
1 The constant tendency, even unawares, to awaken lust—which,
results in drawing Spirit down into Matter, a new birth of fallen
spirituality. Thus Mani condemned all sexual intercourse as
demoniacal: “ It is not proper to arrange for posterity, because that
is to co-operate with the Evil Spirit in maintaining mankind and
cattle, and forcing Life and Light back into bodies—nor even to*
cultivate plants and grain ” (SGV. 16 : 39-41).
2 i.e.y Lust.
3 i.e.y Greed. Lit', female Ruler {le Arkontta saggitha).
4 or', what he was. It is like the old Indian fable of the lion-
cub brought up among goats, who realised his nature and assumed
the qualities of a lion when showed his own image in a pool.
5 This is of course the “Jesus hanging on every tree”, in-
Augustine, the immanent pantheistic universal Soul crucified in.
Matter, the ‘ Cross of Light * in Coptic texts {e.g.t GPM 60).
To ununderstanding Christians the idea seemed a wilful blasphemy..
 THE MYTH OF THE SOUL 37

mixed and imprisoned in all that is, and

bound in the stench of Darkness (K. 317:
21-27).
4. Then (Jesus) raised him1 and made
him taste of the Tree of Life;2 and thereupon
Adam looked and wept, he mightily lifted up
his voice like a raging lion, saying: “ Woe,
woe to the maker of my body, and to the
binder of my Soul,3 and to the Rebels4 who
have enslaved me! (K. 317 : 28—318 :4)5\
The extremity to which the ‘ Sparks has now
been reduced leads then to an appeal to God for help,
and immediately that help descends—in a human
form, but in reality a total Divinity without dilution
with human nature. This anointed one, known to
Mani also as ‘Jesus the Son of God came down to
fallen man, roused him from the drunken sleep of
ignorance, showed him his royal destiny on high as a

1 The word could also mean ‘ baptized as Widengren shows.

Exorcism, baptism and a sacramental eating of the Tree of Life
(Syr. ilan hayye) was normal to Mesopotamian ritual—even as in
the Catholic Church today. This £ Tree 5 is in the West Jesus, in
the East Srosh—the Living Wine; or it is the Cross (Ephrem,
Hymns IV 769:2). In Hymns II 521:11, Ephrem says, “ The
Tree of Life which was hidden in Paradise grew up in Mary ”.
2 This ‘ tree ’ is, in one sense, the Living Vine of Jn. 15:1.
Note that it is Jesus here who rouses the Soul to its inner divinity
and gives it to eat of the Tree, while in Gen. 3 it is the demon who
Las lulled it into apathy and complacency—reversing the roles.
3 Syr. sal gab ho l paghri we* al asoreh de naphsi; the last word may
well be ‘Self’.
1 The same Rebels, of course, who revolted against God’s
.-supremacy in the Land of Light and succeeded in capturing the
Soul during the subsequent War (GPM 3:3).
 38 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

part of God’s eternal Glory, warned him against the^

sexuality and degradation which corrupt his sensual
nature, let him glimpse the immanent Deity, the
‘spark of Light’ hidden and suffering in all that isl¬
and helped him to resolve to strive for freedom.

11. The Great Builder’s Work

Now for every sky he made twelve Gates

with their Porches high and wide, every one
of the Gates opposite its pair, and over every
one of the Porches wrestlers in front of it-
Then in those Porches in every one of it&
Gates he made six Lintels, and in every one
of the Lintels thirty Corners, and twelve
Stones in every Corner. Then he erected the-
Lintels and Corners and Stones with (?) their
tops in the height of the heavens; and he
connected the air at the bottom of the earths*
/
with the skies.
•
Next round this universe he . \

put a Moat,1 to throw into it the darknesses*

that are distilled from the Light,2 and behind1
that Moat he set a Wall,3 so that of that

1 “ The Moat which is full of terror (and dread of) the shackling-
of the attacking demons ”, says the passage in die Stellimg Jesu
p. 112.
2 “ But the dregs and the darkness were gathered together ahA
thrown down into the Abyss” (Keph. 133). Cf. Rev. 20:3.
3 Cf. GPM 35:3. The whole passage may usefully be compared,
with those in M 98-90 and in our App. 17. •
 THE MYTH OF THE SOUL ; 39

Darkness separated from the Light nothing

should escape (N. 330:16-22).
This section is hard to place. It relates equally to
the first creation told of in GPM 5 and to the second
creation of the perfect universe in GPM 12. The
symbolism is largely astrological, based on the twelve
zodiacal signs, the six aspects, the 360 degrees, and the
guardian Wall with the Pit wherein corrupting Evil
finally perishes at the end of time. This is the 4 field *
wherein Man’s fight for liberation must proceed, the
4 kuruksetra ’ of his own nature, which is an exact re¬
flection of the Macrocosm that exists c without \

12. Last Things

1. Now all the Emanations—Jesus, who is

in the Small Ship,1 and the Mother of Life,
and the Twelve Pilots,2 and the Maiden of
the Light,3 and the Third Envoy4 who is in
the Large Ship,5 and the Living Spirit, and
the Wall of the Great Fire, and the Wall of
the Wind and the Air and the Water and of
1 i.e., the Moon, which comes down into the lower planes to
gather up the 4 load of Souls’ out of Matter—which is the work
specially of the Masters in the world.
2 or: Shipmasters. Apparently nearly the same as the Twelve
Maidens, Hours, Virtues, Sovereigns, etc.
3 Seemingly the bisexual {i.e., asexual) pure Being that manifests
the Divine beauty to captivate the demons and so to draw the
best aspiration out of them.
4 i.e., the 4 Elder Gk. presbutes, or presbeutes, often confused.
5 i.e., the Sun, which shines .out the full glory of God’s beamy on
the world, awakens it from sleep, saves it from fear, and guides it
on the Path.
40 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

the inner Living Fire—wait near the Small

Luminary1 until the Fire consumes the whole
universe (H. 11).
2. At the end of time (E. 58), as soon as
all the Nature of Light has been separated
from Matter (T. 1 :26) entirely (AL. 5), when
the Elder 2 has shone forth his Image . . .
when the Statue3 has come (H. 11), then the
Supporter 4 on seeing his face lets the earth
slip (E. 58). So the Height collapses upon
the Depth, and Fire blazes up (N. 330 : 28-29),
and thus the agelong Fire ignites the earth
(E. 58), the outer Fire falls and consumes both
itself and all the rest of the Matter which
remains intact5 (AL. 5). Then will God
hand it over to Fire and make (of it) a single
x Lump5 6 (T. 1 : 26), the tangle which the

1 i.ethe Moon.

2 The Third Envoy appears again at the end to reveal God’s

perfect Image, which is the Mystical Body composed of all good
beings united in Him: Gk. ho pres bates hotan prophanei autou ten
eikona . . . hotan ho andrias elthei.

3 Copt, andreias, the 4 Last Statue ’ of GPM 83.

4 “ Omophoros then throws off the earth, and so the mighty Fire
is set free and consumes the whole world ” (H. 11). This 1 Sup¬
porter’ is, of course. Atlas, the fifth Son of the Living Spirit:
cf. GPM 23. 6 F
5 Gk. kai to alio surnpan ho ti d’an leipetai tes hules sunkataphlexein.
6 Syr. and Gk. bolos, a heavy unintelligent mass or clod-of mud.
 THE MYTH OF THE SOUL 41

Sun and Moon could not unravel1 (N. 330 :

27), and with it also the Souls (T. 1:26) who
have sinned much and been guilty of great
unbelief,2 who seem like dregs in the midst
of the ‘ Lump 5 when the Fire has melted all
{Eph. Mit. 2:87). Then again he lets the
c Lump 5 slip after the New Aeon,3 so that all

the souls of the sinners are bound to the

Aeon4 (H. 11). In it has been collected all
the Light that was mixed and mingled in
created things (Eph. Mit. 2-87), and these
things catch fire (N. 330:29). Now this Fire
•outside the universe ... is Matter itself,

1 “ God immersed Himself in the pollution of Darkness and . . .

will never wholly emerge, but the part which cannot be purified
will be condemned to eternal punishment ” (AF. 32 : 22). “ Some
•extreme particles of this good and divine nature which have been
so defiled that they cannot be cleansed are condemned to stay for
•ever in the ‘ Lump ’ of Darkness ** (AF. 2:5). “ But the Gods
were not grieved because of every little Light which mingled with
ihe Darkness and could not be separated, because grief is ht)t
natural to them. But through the gladness and joy which are
natural to them, through that they are of cheerful mood ” (M 2).

2 All our sources rank persistent disbelief as equal to the worst

-of active sins; it amounts to calling God the Truth, a lie, and so
.aligning oneself with Evil through the appalling blasphemy.

3 Another technical term of, to me, uncertain significance; it

may be simply ‘ the new age *, the 4 new heavens and new earth '
of Rev. 21 ; 1, the ‘Restoration’ of GZ 49-51 and GH 35. How
Jalse the allegation of Atarpat in the Denkart 3 : 200 : 12 :
“ There will never be a perfecting of the world ” ! So near the
truth and so utterly untrue!

4 or: for ever, or: to the (old) age.

 42 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANX

altogether unmixed with the Divine Powerx

(AL. 26), and the burning does not cease
until what was in it of the Light disappears—
and the duration of that burning is 1468 years27
(N. 330 : 29-30).
3. Now when this affair is ended and
Ambition,3 the Spirit of Darkness, sees the
freeing of the Light and the ascent of the
Angels, the Hosts and Guardians, she is-
humbled. She watches the fight; then the
Hosts press on her all around, and-she flees to*
the Grave already promised her (N. 330 ^
31-32). The architect and builder of that
Grave ... is the one named the (Great)*
Builder, who in the days of his trouble
became fashioner of the Grave of the Darkness
(Eph.). So he imprisons her in it (N. 331 : 1),
thereupon he closes up that Grave with,
a stone which is the size of the earth4
1 Gk. kath heaulerij to akrikos amikton pros tfn.theian dunamin. Thus-
it is undiluted evil. Note that it is evil which is flung into the
Fire, and even that, according to AnNadim, is burned until all
of it has been purged and all the Light is freed. Here we find
the same purgatorial nature of hell fire deduced by the early
Christian Fathers from such passages as Mt. 18 : 34.
2 cf. M 470 cahar sad bast udsast sar. Why this number?
. 8 Humamah, who appears also in several Mandean texts,:
probably the same as the greedy and rapacious Envy-Demon (Az)>
of the Turkish fragments, and 4 Self-Willed’ of the Pistis Sophia.
4 Because evil had spread all over the earth. ,
 . THE MYTH OF THE SOUL 43

(N. 330: 32—331: 1), the Macrocosm whence

the Builder cut whole stones for the Grave
of the Darkness (Eph.). And the Light at
last finds rest from the Darkness and its
mischief (N. 331 : 1-2).
4. pNow after this will be a restoration of
the Two Natures1 (H. 11) to the(ir) same
original state 2 (E. 58); the Rulers will dwell
in their own lower regions, while the Father
(enjoys) the higher, having regained His own
(H. 11). So all the Race of Souls will be
saved, and what once perished will be restored
to its own Flock3 (H. 25).
The whole redemptive machinery of the universe,
all the Great Ones who have manifested to rescue the
1 On this Restoration, when evil is finally overthrown, all
religions delight to fix our hopeful gaze.
2 “ It is not possible that the image of the (Living) Man should
come to the homes of the beasts. The Light (shall) go to the
Light, the Fragrance shall go to (the Fragrance), the image of the
Living Man shall go to the Living Land from which it came. The
Light shall return to its place, the Darkness shall fall and not rise
again ” (MP. 215 : 1-6). “ In the Latter Moment instruction and
conversion are achieved; the True and the False are each returned
to its Root; the light is returned to the Great Light, while the
darkness is returned to the Massed Darkness (bolos)5> (CRER. 2 c).
3 Lat. et salvabitur omne animarum genus, ac restitetur quod perieral
proprio suo gregi. So overpowering was the universalist belief in the
early centuries that even the Manichean dualists could not escape
from the teaching of St. Paul in 1 Cor. 15 : 28. It was only later
that an exaggeration of the demonic power led to a belief that he
could cheat God of some of His eternal Souls and so defeat His.
omnipotent will. What childish foolishness is this unconscious
blasphemy!
 )

44 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

Soul from its bonds in Matter, eagerly await the con¬

summation when the ‘ sons of God ’ appear, when Evil
is destroyed together with those Souls which have by
their own choice fully identified themselves with it,
spurning the soft callings of the Spirit, and when Greed
and Desire—-joined in the demon of ‘ Ambition *, which
is aggressive egoism—are. finally shut away in the
eternal Tomb, so that they can never again come out
to disturb God’s Realm, Light’s blissful Garden-King¬
dom. Then the balance will be restored, then will
God again be c all in all ’, and the rebel spirit of the
Darkness—which is egoistic pride—be for ever confined
in that darkness where alone it is at home. Then will
the Soul be gathered in by the loving Shepherd to its
eternal abode in Light and Happiness among the
Angels and the Gods.
 CHAPTER TWO

POWERS OF HEAVEN
AND HELL
We turn now to the direct Manichean sources for
a clearer and more detailed study of Mani’s teaching
and the practices inculcated by the Messenger of the
Light. First we have a brief resume of what we are
told of the various Emanations of God’s Power and
Wisdom—where we shall surely be struck by the fervent
love and adoration devoted to Jesus, the beloved Pre¬
decessor of Mani himself, who exhausts language in
trying to sing his glory through lovely epithets. Then
we are shown how vital to us men is the work of the
Living Spirit and his five great Sons, while we must
try . to realise how Mani tried, with partial success, to
avoid the twin dangers of Polytheism and of an actual
dualism between equal Forces.

13. God, Supreme Father of the Light

1. He is the Father of the Greatness, the

Glorious One who is adored, for whose great¬
ness there is no measure, who is the First
46 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

Aloneborn, 1 the First Eternal, who was . . .

before everything which has been and which
shall be, . . . the Root of all the Lights 2
(Keph. 34-35), the King in the wisdom of the
incomparable Sweet Dew.3 . . . His delicate
and wonderful Radiance shines in and out 4
. . . and is ignorant of nothing; He gathers
and collects the embodiment of good deeds,5
. . . can make us equal to the many Saints
<BM. 47, 225, 230).
2. His twelve c Hours ’, His twelve Maidens
who surround Him, the garland-laden
4 Victories ‘ who give adoration to their

1 Copt: psarp mmonogenes; not that He is the 4 only-begotten: Son .*

of any, which were absurd, but that He is 4 His own Son ’—i,e.3
self-existent, truly independent.
2 Whence all manifestations emerge or emanate. 44 My God,
Thou art the ever-living Tree . . . Thou art the ever radiant Life”
(Man. III. 28.). 44 The eternal Zrwan is the Life-Light, and
He is more radiant than all Powers and Kings ” (Man. III. 6.).

3 In Ch. this phrase nearly always seems to stand for ‘im¬

mortality*.
4 His Light is everywhere, all-pervading, within and without the
Soul and every speck of Matter—for all are but 4 sparks ’ of Him.
A truly Hindu sort of phrasing. Yet He is invisible, in Himself:
44 The Father dwells in a secret Light . . . which Paul calls
Inaccessible” (AF. 20:6, 2). He is in Babylonian myth the -
eternal Ea; in Persian Zrwan of Infinite Time; in the Turkish
Azrua, while the Latins called him Beatus Pater Magnitudinis—the
Blessed Father of Greatness.
5 i.e., the 4 Column of Glory ’, the 4 Last Statue the 4 Perfect
Man *—which is the holy 4 Church ’ appearing as God*s true Image
and thus welcoming the righteous Soul at death.
 POWERS OF HEAVEN AND HELL 47

King,1 their harps in their hands, the lutes in

their palms, . . . while they sing to the Hidden
Father2 (MP. 133 : 16-21)—the Messengers
who have finished their course running in joy
glorify Thee as they go to the Light for their
garlands (MP.. 145: 9-11)! There is no other
<}od at all3 (MP. 66: 14).
3. The fruits of the Good Tree4 are Jesus
the great Dawn of Glory,5 the father of all
the Messengers; . . . its Reflection is the holy
Church; its Intellect the Column of Glory, the
Perfect Man; its Insight is the First Man, who
dwells in the Ship of the Living Water;6 its
Thought the Third Envoy, who dwells in the

1 Sarcastically Augustine says: “The God of thy song is a real

King, bearing a sceptre and crowned with flowers, . . . twelve
Seasons, clothed in flowers and filled with songs, throwing their
flowers at their Father’s face, . . . three in each of the four
regions around the Great Deity. . . . Hast thou then seen face to
face the King with the sceptre and the flower-Crown (AF. 15:5-6)?
And did Augustine see the Holy Spirit like a Dove ?

2 i.e., the Unmanifest—Copt, piot ethep.

3 He alone is 'real; all other Gods derive from Him and are but
expressions of His qualities.

4 Cf. GPM 1:1 and App. I 3.

5 Because the hope of glory for all lies in him, as he shines with
the pure Light of his Father, God.
6 i.e., the Moon, often associated with Water, because of its
obvious tidal* {effects, and its influence on the psychic and emo¬
tional self.
48 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

Ship of the Living Fire1 that shines in the

Sun; while the Mind is the Father2 who
dwells in the Greatness that is perfected in the
Aeons of the Light3 (Keph. 20: 3-5, 14-20)..
4. See, the "Four Days’ 4 are these: God,,
the Light, the Power, and the .Wisdom—God,,
who is in the Aeons, and the Light that is over
them, the Power which upholds the ‘All5,,
the holy Wisdom that is in the Church (MIL
134:6-10).
First, we are shown the infinite King of the Light,
wise, eternal, benevolent, known to us, as to Hermes,
as the Mind, and revealed in all the glorious Powers of
His creation, who all adore Him as their ineffable
Source. In Himself truly absolute, He shines forth
like the fabled Triangular Window whereof Augustine
tells us—through the three Aspects of His Light
(Knowledge), His Power (creative Omnipotence) and
His Wisdom (the grace of redeeming Goodness). To

1 {.*., the Sun, symbolising the inner sight of a mind cleared

from all the mists of feeling, and . so able to raise the Soul into the-
clarity of Divine Mind.

8 Of course, this is the Cosmic Mind, out of which all this has
come.

3 Here God’s c five Glories ’ are correlated with the great factors-
in spiritual life—rising from the power of meditation or reflection,
to the pure Mind, which is the only God. Elsewhere the mental
faculties are named in slightly different terms.

4 i.e.> the perfect Lights. AnNadim gives the same list. The
Unmanifest, of invisible Light, reveals Himself as a Trinity of
Goodness, Power and Love—the Infinite Point becoming a
Triangle. So bright is the Light of the Point that its glory is
hidden from our eyes; He is the One Invisible.
 POWERS OF HEAVEN AND HELL 49

Him through these three Aspects must ascend all

prayers and hymns that the Soul may be saved from
its bondage.

14. The Holy Trinity

1. Glory (and) victory to the Father, the

God of Truth, and His1 beloved Son the
Christ, and the Holy Spirit the Advocate 2
(MP. 49 : 29-30)! Jesus the Tree of Life is the
Father,3 . . . the blessed Light-Mind is the
Son, the Maiden of the Light, . . . this sweet
one is the Holy Spirit (MP. 116 : 7-11).
2. Pious 4 love for the sign of the Father,
knowledge of the Wisdom for the sign of the
Son, the keeping of the Commandments for
the sign of the Holy Spirit (MP. 116 : 1-3)!

1 The text has £ Thy \

2 Mani understood the word to mean the inspiration of the
faithful; to him, that was God’s Spirit, the inspiring Angel; to his
followers it was Mani himself, whose teachings inspired them to a
nobler life. Naturally, then, the deifying process soon set in.
* Cf. Jn. 10:30. No Christian could have revered Jesus or
glorified him more than the Manicheans did—even though their
reverence forbade them to accept a literal birth from a woman’s
womb as impossible for the all-pure God. For a like reason
Catholics have had to insist on the immaculate conception of Mary
herself. “ His Power dwells in the Sun and His Wisdom in the
Moon. . . . The Holy Spirit, the Third Majesty, has his seat and
his home in the whole circle of the atmosphere. By his influence
and spiritual infusion the earth conceives and brings forth the
mortal Jesus, who as hanging from every tree is the life and
salvation of men” (AF. 20:2).
4 lit: God-loving.
4
50 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

May we gain for ourselves love towards the

Father, the faith that is in us towards the Son,
the fear of our heart towards the Holy Spirit!
The seal of the mouth for the Father’s sign,
the calm of the hands for the sign of the Son,
the purity of virginity for the Holy Spirit’s
sign1 (MP. 115:28-33)! So let us pray, my
brothers, that we may find the Father, and
fast daily that we may find the Son, and
discipline our life that we may find the Holy
Spirit (MP. 116 : 13-15).
3. Glory to our Lord Mani through the
Father, honour to his Elect through the Son,
blessing to his Hearers through the Holy
Spirit 2 (MP. 116 : 19-21)!
** *

We have spoken of the One King, sole God,

revealed in His three Aspects, and now like Faustus
may try to assimilate this vision to the Trinity as
taught to Christians. But here we may note some
starding differences which seem far greater than the
obvious likeness, and in fact Mani’s speech is not of the
Christian Trinity at all. The repeated trilogy of life’s
factors associated with the Three Aspects will repay
deep study and prolonged contemplation.
1 Here we have the three Seals taught by Mani—control of
speech, and action, and thought or feeling, expressed through
vegetarian harmlessness and truth, self-control, and chastity.
The four Spiritual Seals are given elsewhere as Love, Faith, Devo¬
tion and Wisdom (cf. GPM 13:4).
2 From the correspondences in this section we may gain a bright
view of Manichean spirituality: arrange them in three columns,
then.
 POWERS OF HEAVEN AND HELL 51

15. The Mother of Life

1. The Fount1 of every blessing and all

the prayers is the Mother of Life,2 the First
Holy Spirit (Keph. 43 :28-29), the First
Mother who has come forth from the Father
and first appeared 3 (Keph. 34 : 27-29), the
Glorious One who is the beginning4 of all
Emanations that have come to this world5
(Keph. 82 : 1-3).
2. Know that the grains of the dust (?)
of the earth can be measured, with the whole
universe, one can count the dust (?) of the
earth year after year and number the sand-
grains of the whole world; but the length of
1 or: source. Remember it was her prayer which won aid for
* First Man * from the Father of Greatness.
2 Syr. Emma, de Hayya, a name also known to the Quqites; Per.
Ram-ratukh (giver of joy); Ar. alBahiyah (the Radiant); Turk.
figiitmis og (the Excellent Mother); Ch. Shan-mou (the Excellent
Mother); Gk. Dunamis tou Agatkou (Power of Good); she is also
called in Per. Ordovan madh (Mother of Pity). In 2 Eno. 62, 70
we hear of a ‘ Mother of the Living ’, which name is given by
Melito to Eve, as does also Gen. 3:20 (LXX). In the Naassene
Document this Meter ponton ’ is ‘Jerusalem Above*, i.e.. Para¬
dise. The name is often given also to Mary.
3 God necessarily first manifested in the tender love of a Mother,
even before His ‘ children * could come forth from Him.
4 or: source; she is the ‘fount of graces’ through whom all God’s
blessings come to man.
5 “ The Good Father, then, perceiving that the Darkness had
come to dwell on His earth, put forth from Himself a Power which
is called the Mother of Life, and this Power then put forth from
itself the First Man ” (H. 7).
52 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

time the Great Spirit passed in the Father,

the First Standing,1 that one cannot count.
He first formed her thus. He kept her in His
inner Chambers in quiet and in silence;2 but
when she was needed, (then) was she called
and came forth from the Father of Greatness;
she looked after all her Aeons of the Light
(Keph. 70 : 24-32).
Necessarily, the first manifestation of God is His
Activity, known in Skt. as the sakti. The maternal
side of Deity cannot be long shut away from any form
of human religion; Mary naturally sits beside the
enthroned victorious Jesus. To the Divine Mother are
specially assigned chastity, virginity, sweetness and
faithfulness; her tenderness goes out chiefly to begin¬
ners in the spiritual life, for her wisdom springs from
the sympathy of God’s own e intuition ’. Ages and
ages before the world arose, she was there awaiting
the destined moment when she should help creation
through the aspiration of true prayer to the blessedness
of peace.

16. The Friend of Lights

The Second Emanation (MP. 137:55) is the

Beloved of the Lights,3 the great and glorious

1 i.e.t the First Being that ever was.

2 She seems to occupy a place between that of the preexistent
Messiah {cf. GY 99) and the all-but eternal Wisdom {cf. GY 55A)
in Jewish thought.
8 Copt, pmerit nnouaine, the Syr. Habbibh nahtre. Who does not
love the Giver of the Reward—which is God’s blissful company ?
 POWERS OF HEAVEN AND HELL 53

Beloved, the Honoured one (Keph. 34 : 29-30),

the Lovable of the Angels, the giver of a
garland to the victors (MP. 137 : 56-57), the
one of the garlands (MP. 144 : 20), the ordain-
er of everything (MP. 137 : 59) who has come
forth from the Father (Keph. 34 : 30-31).
✓

This mysterious ‘Beloved of the Angels’, born

from the Father’s Thought and bearer of rewards to
the victorious Soul, comes next in the line of Ema¬
nations. For the certainty of a glad welcome to the
overcomer is already there when the Mother’s sym¬
pathy and love have roused the Soul to effort towards
the God of perfect Light.

17. The Great Builder

His Son whom He produced, who is (MP.

137 : 60-61) the great glorious Builder, the
Great Architect1 who has built the New
Aeon2 (Keph. 82 : 9-10) of Joy (Keph. 79-34)
as a delight (?) and a home for the Fathers of
the Light, but as a dungeon and a prison for
the Enemy and his Powers3 (Keph. 82 : 10-12).

1 A title for one Aspect of God handed down to our own days
by a certain widely spread Society. In Latin, the Opifex, he is not
so much the actual craftsman as the architect who plans and
supervises.
2 His work is also touched on in GPM 11 and App. I 7.
3 Note the duality of his work—it is the Law of Righteousness
we call 4Karma’: good for the good and bad for the evil ones;
he builds hell and heaven equally. “ So then the universe is the
 54 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

He of the incorruptible works, the indestructi¬

ble buildings (MP. 137 : 63-64) has judged by a
i

righteous law the Chambers of the Enemy that

they should no more vomit1 death; he has
established a prison for the Enemy on the
very summit of the Building, but has set up a
throne for the First Man and alPthe Fathers
of the Light who have waged war on the Evil
and have vanquished it (Keph. 79 : 34-80 :4).
Having rightly resolved to follow this aspiration,
the Soul then imitates the ‘ Great Architect * who
planned this universe and lays wide plans for the rejoi¬
cing of the Gods and the conquest and subdual of all
evil powers. The Path is trodden, not by the lazy
dreamer but by the active warrior and worker in
God’s war on rebel forces.

18. The Living Spirit

1. The beginning of all Warriors is (Keph,

43:35) the Living Spirit,2 our first Right
dispensary where the Bright Bodies are healed, but it is at the
same time the prison where the demons are chained ” (GMT 4),
* or: erupt, emit. These ‘chambers* are the five divisions in
the Realm of Darkness, named in GPM 1:3.
•Per. Vaxs-zindkar; Vdd~zwantag\ Turk. Kiicliig-tangri; Ch.
Tsing-Fong (Pure Wind) or Tsing-fa-fong (The Wind of Pure Law),
called also the Kindly Light (houei-ming); Syr. Ruha de Hayya.
Augustine (AF. 20:9) speaks of the “ Mighty Spirit who constructs
the world from the captive bodies of the Race of Darkness, or
rather from the members of your God in subjection and bondage
This is the Demiurge of Manicheans, equivalent to the Bab.
deity Ramman.
 POWER.S OF HEAVEN AND HELL 55

Hand (MP. 2 : 5) which the Mother of Life

laid on the head of the First Man; she armed
him, strengthened him, put a hand on 1 him,
sent him to the war.2 . . . The second Right
Hand again is what the Living Spirit gave
the First Man when he had led him up out
of the conflict. Corresponding to the mystery
of that Right Hand has been the right hand
which is among men when they give it courte¬
ously to one .another 3 (Keph. 39:3-5, 19-24)**
2. In his might the Living Spirit did seven
things: (i) He brought up the First Man out
of the conflict as a pearl is brought up out of
the sea;4 , . . (ii) he spread out those who had
rebelled (and) crucified them in every body;5
. . . (iii) he trampled and subdued (?) and
fastened the beings of death; . . . (iv) he esta¬
blished the Ships of the Light; ... (y) he
called his five Sons and assigned them (to

1 i.e.y touched* or: helped.

2 Cf. GPM 3:2.

3 Cf. the note to GPM 4:3, Note 15.

4 Copt, the houmargarites euhtef ahrei abal nthalassa; it is the spiritual

Pearl to gain which the prodigal Prince went down to Egypt in
the poem of Bardaisan.
5 Cf. GPM 5:1. As Jesus is crucified in all, so too are the
powers of evil.
56 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

duties); they took over the Zone1 and took

up all the burdens of the universe. He also
called three Living Words and set them over
the Three Vehicles,2 another over the Giant
(Keph. 85 : 22-33); he secured the root of the
Wheel in the Sea-Giant3 (Keph. 122 : 23-24):
he also summoned the 6 Call5 that it might mix
with the five Bright Ones;4 (vi) when he had
established the Zone, he arose and sent out
of himself many Powers and Angels to place
themselves round the Zone on every side
until he had fully settled the works: . . . then
he took a few of them into his Chambers and
put' others on watch 5 (Keph. 85 : 34-86 : 6).
3. (Lastly), (vii) at the time when the
Envoy revealed his glorious Image,6 then the
Living Spirit appointed Gods and many

1 i.e.3 the area between earth and heaven, wherein the battle
rages on the * border ’.
2 i.e., the ‘Three Wheels’ of GPM 8:1, lifting Soul from the
deeps on high; can they be the three types of spiritual sadhana ?
8 This is the monstrous being conquered by the ‘ Light-Adamas *
in GPM 8:4 and 21:3, which emerged “ from the Sea and began
doing evil” (T. Ill 260).
4 x.e.y the subtler elements, corresponding to the mental aspects.
5 lit: waking-places.
4 Cosmically, this is still in the future, though individually it is
timelessly continuous, and has already taken place in the past when
the demons saw the beauty of that Image and fabricated man in
order to imitate it (cf. App. I 2:9-14),
 POWERS OF HEAVEN AND HELL 57

Angels, . . . they occupied it, so that the whole

Building might not fall (?).... Another great
glorious work again which he will carry out
at the End is the Last Statue 1 which he will
bring up to the Aeons of the Light and enter in
and take power and reign (?) (Keph. 86 : 7-14).
From the vast power of Active God aid at once
comes to the struggling Soul, for He is the Spirit of
Vitality who planned the cosmos and brought it into
being for the fulfilling of God’s Will. The same im¬
mensity of activity then wells up in, pours down upon,
man’s heart and organises his inner cosmos as it has
already moulded the macrocosm of which it is so
perfect a reproduction. At both levels, all is done to
enable the release of the imprisoned Light and the
overthrow of the rebels arisen from the darkness of the
lower nature.

19. The Custody of Splendour

The Holder of Splendour2 (Keph. 170:24),

Pity, the Messenger of Light who maintains
the world (CMT. 37), who is over the tenth
heaven,3 who controls the chain of the ‘ All5,
1 Cf. GPM 83.
2 i.e.> the guardian of God’s glory who himself shines therewith.
The Holder of Splendour with six faces and flashing with light,
. . . who has in his hand the remains of those members and
who bewails the rest as captured, bound and defiled ** (AF. 15:6;
20:9) “holds the heads of the elements and suspends the world
. . . in his hand 5 ’ (AF. 15:5; 20:10). In Chinese he is known
-as Tch? eshe-ming-she, the Pdhragbed (Av. Pathrapaiti) of Iran.
s The highest; so he governs the head and senses of Man, repre¬
senting his highest faculty, Intelligence or Mind.
58 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

in whose hands is the Dawn/ (with), his Light-

faced Disc, his Gods and his Angels (MP. 138:
29-34) in the summit of all things. His
authority is over the three heavens (Keptu
170:25-26), in Ms watch Sin tried to bubble
up to the Envoy’s Image,2 but it was restrain¬
ed far from that place and again withdrew
downwards in disgrace (Keph. 171 : 12-15).
This glorious personage, the Phengokatokhos and
Splenditenens of the Western writers, is King of the
radiant heights of Heaven, the Lord of furthest Space-
He controls the mighty movements of the stars and the
countless worlds revolving round them; it was in the
remote epoch of his special 4 reign * when Evil first
arose and made the great revolt which tried to displace
God from His throne.

20. The King of Honour

1. The Great King of Honour3 who is

Thought4 (Keph. 92 : 24-25) (is) the second’

1 or: Radiance, Glory, i.e., of God; cf. Ps. 19:1.

2 Cf the myth of the Rebels in GPM 2, etc.
3 This is “ the King of Honour surrounded by armies of Angels ir
(AF. 15:6), known in Iran as Dahibed (Az. Daihhupaiti) and in;
China as She-t'ien ta-wang, the Great King of the ten heavens,,
typifying Integrity or Good Faith, and personifying Strength
and Joy.
4 i.e., Concrete Thought, arising from factual Knowledge (cf.
GPM 4:2); this rules over the lower 4 heavens * or mental-planes,,
while the * Splenditenens *. of Abstract Thought rules three higher
planes. This also keeps the lower, demonic, instincts under control
and has his seat in the heart of man.
 POWERS OF HEAVEN AND HELL 59

Son of Light . . . who looks after the root of

Light (MP. 138 : 35, 38), the strong God who
is in the seventh heaven 1 (MP. 2:9)—he is the
Judge of all the firmaments who gives a law
of truth ... to all the Powers and all the
Richnesses of the firmaments (Keph. 80 : 6-9)
while he judges the demons, the creatures of
the Abyss (?) (MP. 2:10-11), and rules
over man’s heart (Keph. 172 : 8-9).
2. In his watch 2 a malice and an anger
arose, namely the Watchers of the sky, who
came down on earth during his watch.3 They
did everything of malice, they revealed the
arts in the world, showed Heaven’s mysteries
to men (until) a ruinous rebellion 4 broke out
in the earth (Keph. 92 : 26-31), and those who
were sent came down until they subdued them
(Keph. 171 : 18-19). The task was allotted to
the Four Angels;5 they chained the Watchers
1 Counting from below upwards; he controls the lower seven out
of the totality of ten.
3 on camp, beat (as of sentry) (Gk. parembole).
8 Copt, manrais (lit: waking-place). This is an allusion to the
old Semitic ( ?) or Iranian myth found in GY 2 a and fully narrat¬
ed in the lost ‘ Book of the Giants % in Enoch, and in the Book of
Adam and Eve.
4 lit: a rebellion and a corruption, evidently hendiadys.
5 Angels of the four Cardinal Points, who in another ancient
story shut out the erring Adam and Eve from Paradise. Their
names are given as Michael, Uriel, Raphael and Gabriel.
 60 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

with a chain for ever in the prison of the

Darkness (P)1 and annihilated their sons 2 on
the earth (Keph. 93:25-28).
3. Before ever the Watchers had rebelled
and come down from heaven, a jail was built
for them and established in the depth of the
earth under the mountains. Before the sons
of the Giants were born, who have not known
righteousness and divinity in themselves,
thirty-six towns were arranged and founded (?)
for them, so that the sons of the Giants might
dwell in them . . . who pass a thousand years
alive3 (Keph. 117:1-9).
The Second of the Five likewise dwells on high
and controls the lower skies, where are bound the
Powers of the Air, the Dominations and Rulerships
who lead Souls into evil. It was during his period the
Angels fell away, as narrated by c Enoch ’, and through
pride became demons troubling earth until the time
had come for them to be bound and burned. Their
fate was already prepared even before their rebellion,
when they with evil motives taught the secrets of
Heaven’s might prematurely to unworthy men. Are
they not at work today, with sub-atomic powers ?

1lit: Blackness (kemkamt). Their leader was Azazel, according

to 1 Enoch. St. Cloud thinks these were the disobedient Stars
whose migrations compelled a new calendar in oldest Egypt.
8 The * sons * of the Watchers were the ‘ Giants ’ of GY 2 and
countless other versions of the same very old Titanic myth.
3 An allusion to the great age attained by the first Patriarchs—
Adam 930 years, Methuselah 969 years, Jared 962 years; cf. also
the contrast with our present shortlived generations in GPM 85:1.
 POWERS OF HEAVEN AND HELL 61

21. The Light-Adamas

1. The third Guardian (is) the Diamond 1

of (MP. 138 :40) the unsubdued Light 2 (MP.
2:12), who is the Insight 3 (Keph. 91 :25) that
treads upon the trembling foundation of the
earth . . . which is laid (?) in the midst of
the worlds (MP. 2 : 13-14), that Visbed-god
who stands upon this earth (M 472), who
controls Matter (MP. 138 : 42) and his authority
reigns from the firmament down even to the
earth; and he has impregnated by his authority
the Sphere and the worlds of the Air, together
with the four other worlds that are placed

1 The word means what cannot be crushed, extremely hard,

invincible. So there seems a certain correspondence between this
victorious Light and the 4 Sol Invictus * of Mithraism, a religion
dominant in the same age.
8 44 The great Warrior, the Weapon of those of the Light, (the
defender) of his land” (MP. 137 : 14-16); 44 the Warrior, the strong
one of manifold activities, who subdued the Rebels by his power ”
(MP. 1 : 25-26).

8 or: Perception. This Power governs the thorax of the human

body and the higher astral planes, wherein the sense-perceptions
are interpreted in subtler feeling and enjoyment. This is a realm
of emotional conflict, wherein the 4 Censor * of the psychologist
tries to repress the 4 evil urges * ever rising from the lower strata of
the self. So while he himself is happy in his invincible might, his
spear has to be always active on the lower planes of material
energy. In Chinese he was known as Kiang-mo sheng-she, 44 the
Unconquerable Warrior with a spear in his right hand and a shield
in his left ” of Augustine (AF. 15-6); cf. GPM 8:4. In Iran he was
Visbed (Av. Vispaiti), and in Latin 4 Adamas Heroa ’, symbolising
Light and Perfection.
 62 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

upon this earth (Keph. 170 : 31—171 :4). (He

is) Contentment, the victorious Messenger who
subdues the demons (CMT. 37), (together
with) his Gods and his Angels (MP. 138 : 44),
the forty herculean Messengers and the seven
Columns, . . . each of whom supports and
individually upholds the heavenly world and
. . . wholly represents the form of the Con¬
queror of Demons (BM. 134).
2. Now when the Sin which sprang forth
from the Rulers, which is Matter, . . . had
come down to the earth, it fashioned the tree
and placed itself within the wood thereof and
fashioned the fruits1 (Keph. 137 : 23-29), (then)
the Abortions came down and moulded the
formation 2 of the flesh also in the watch of
the Diamond3 (Keph. 171 : 19-21). The
Rulers formed Adam and Eve by means of
the energy of the Sin which had entered them
in the fruits, they designed him according to

1 So evil penetrated even into vegetarian food, working out the

vices of greed and gluttony further to corrupt the Soul.

2 or : material, substance.

3 The purely sensual side of man’s nature thrusts itself up into

the ‘ watch’ of this higher emotional ruler; thus it is that the
emotions of art and religion and pure beauty are so often shot
through with vibrations of a lower, grossly physical or even
sexual, type.
 POWERS OF HEAVEN AND HELL 63

the Image of the Lofty One1 (Keph. 138:

17-19) so that by means of them they might
reign in the world.2 They performed all the
works of desire upon the earth, the whole
world was filled with their desires; this is how
also they persecuted the churches and slew
the Messengers and Righteous ... at times
from generation to generation (Keph. 93:3:8).
8. One of them was the Sea-Giant,3 the
one swept out of the Sphere,4 . . . which
caused the Sea to accept her; her own desire
was her shaper and formed her alone into a
nature which is the root of death. But when
she came up in the Sea . . . that she might spoil
the works of the glorious Source of Life, the Dia¬
mond of the Light was at once sent against her,5

1 God had not to make Man in His own image, but the Dark
Powers so delighted in His once-seen beauty that they must try to
copy it with a creation of their own (cf. GPM 24 : 3 and GH
2 :3-5).
2 The same motive is given in App. 12: 10.
3 This Sea-Giant, to whom the whole machinery of physical
nature was linked, has already been introduced in GPM 18:2.
4 She was composed of the refuse left when the Maiden’s beauty
charmed the Light out of the demon Rulers and some of the
devitalised ‘ matter * fell into the 4 wet parts ’ of the earth (cf.
OPM 8:4).
5 c Hades has been stirred up and rebelled, and those of the
Abyss have put their arms upon them, ... the stinking and foul
-demons have prepared to make away with me ! * When the Mighty
One heard, ... He called an Envoy, the Adamas of Light, . . .
 64 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

the great Teacher1 of Strength; he over¬

threw her2 in the regions of the North5
(Keph. 136 : 28—137 : 3) between two
mountains in the place which he had prepared
for her (Keph. 115: 20-21), he trod on her, he
set his foot on her until the end of the world 4
(Keph. 137 :3-4); (and now) he holds the
massive Dragon inside a mountain, van¬
quished and overthrown 6 (M 472).

the pitiless, the subduer of the Rebels, (saying): * Go down, go,

O Adamas, succour the Youth . . . who is below the pit at the
bottom of Hades. Put fetters on the demons* feet, put iron on the
goddesses’ hands, . . . the false gods who have rebelled, bind them
beneath the dark mountain . . . and come up before thy Father.*
The Adamas armed himself and sped down; he helped the Youth,
... he put fetters on the demons’ feet, he put iron on the god¬
desses* hands, ... he also bound beneath the dark mountain
the false gods who rebelled, . . . and came up before his Father.
His Father said: ‘All hail to thee! ’ ” (MP. 209:15—210:14).
1 or: Insight.

2 The perception of their real nature lets man conquer the lower
urges rising from the body. So too, after an initial check like the
First Man’s, Marduk overthrows Tiamat, the dragon of the Deep
in Babylonia, and treads on her with uplifted scimetar (Bab. Epic
of Creation). In Mandean texts, also, the Rebels are associated
with the Sea.
8 In the dark and sunless North the demon races of Mazandaran
lived, according to Iranian ideas; but here it may be repelling an
invasion into the zone of the Divine quarters, according to Baby¬
lonian ideas.
4 After which she comes to her final judgment (cf. GPM 87: 3
and 12 ; 3).

6 The story is paralleled also in Rev. 20:1-3; The ‘mountain *

is Ch. Wei-lao Kiu-fou> Ar. kof. The Shapur-aqan tells us that the
world rests on a mountain; so the demoness is imprisoned in the
world.
 POWERS OF HEAVEN AND HELL 65!

Next comes the Divine Hero, the Warrior-God

who fights and overcomes the evil Dragon and thus
protects, maintains the world against its ancient foe.
Standing on the earth itself, his head above the firma¬
ment, he watches and guards the whole sphere of
human activities, ready at any moment to rush to the
aid of man so sorely. pressed by the darkness of the
lower nature in forms varying from a vegetative apathy
{tamas) to a persecuting cruelty {rajas). It is he who,
manifesting the Power-Aspect of the Supreme, finally}
conquers the demon of Greed and Wrath and restores
peace to the troubled Light-Spark that is the Soul.
. . *
i \ i • * .1, \ ... . < ' < _

22. The Glorious King

1. The fourth Son of Light, who is the

King of Glory 1 (MP.- 138 : 45-46), (is) the
holy Counsel,2 who turns (?) in the Abyss (?)
the Three Wheels—those of the Wind, the
Water and the living Fire 3—the armour of

1 This 4 Glorious King ’ was known in Iran as J^andbed (Av..

Zantupaiti) and the Vad-ahram Tazd; in China as Ts'ouei-kouang
ming-she. The Latin name 4 Rex Gloriosns * is less liable to be
confused with the King of GPM 20.

2 Confusion is often caused by the variation in names given to

the five aspects of the mind.
3 He is specially associated with these Wheels for uplifting the
Soul represented by the 4 living water \ His sphere is the 4 lower
astral * plane, the passionate nature of the lower emotions through
which must run the path to.spiritual upliftment. The wheels are
the 4 noria or waterwheels with twelve 4 buckets of GPM 6.
44 The Glorious King setting in motion the Three Wheels of Fire,
Water and Wind ” (AF. 15:6); 44 another turns the Wheels of the
Fires and Winds and Waters in the depth ” (AF. 20 : 20).
5
66 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

our Father the First Man 1 (MP. 2 : 15-17),

that Wind-raising God (M 472), Wisdom, the
Messenger of the Light who awakes the
Splendour (CMT. 37), who subdues the
stomach2 and rules the fire in it3 (Keph.
172 : 13-14); for it is the King of Glory who
controls the Three Wheels, and his authority
is imposed on the three earths that are over
the Supporter’s head (Keph. 171 : 5-7).
2. Again, then, in the watch of the Great
King of Glory who is the great Perception 4
(Keph. 93 : 9-10), a movement came into these
three earths (Keph. 171-21-22). When the
Envoy showed his Image, . . . because of the
earthquake (Keph. 93 : 12-13, 20) the way for
the passage and ascent of the Three Wheels
. . . was blocked (Keph. 171 : 23-25) and the
fountains of the Wind, the Water and the
1 i.e., they represent the Three Vestments (Ch. san-yi)9 as in
Muller: Handsch. p. 39 : “ Then by the same purifying he clothed
the Sun-god (Mihr-yazd) with three garments (pemog seh), namely
the Wind, Water and Fire So too do the three types of religious
sddhana act as armour for man in the war with evil.
2 *.<?., the digestive fires, appetites, and sensual desires, seated in
the lower abdomen.
8 ef. GPM 57 : 2.
4 This is the sense-perception of mind, disturbances in which are
liable to block the upward way until the Redeemer himself comes
down to open it up again. When the senses are confused, how
can truth be known, or practised ?
 POWERS OF HEAVEN AND HELL 67

Fire were held back. Jesus descended, he

put on Eve,1 and straightened the paths of the
Wind, the Water and the Fire; he opened the
springs for them and arranged for them the
way of their ascent (Keph. 94 : 2-6).
The glorious Ruler of the Atmosphere where the
three upper Elements work to uplift the Soul on its
Godward way is inspired by Wisdom and labours
ceaselessly to keep the redemptive plan continually at
work. When the evil powers expressed in human
wickedness tried to obstruct that work, when wicked
men warred upon the earlier Churches, Jesus came
forth from God under his patronage to re-start the
activity of salvation, and he enabled the Religions
once again to help men upward on their road to God.

23. Atlas the Supporter

His Brother also, who is near him, the fifth

Son of Light, (is) the stout-hearted Hero
(MP. 138 : 51-53), that Manbed-god who
stands on the lowest earth and keeps the earths
in order (M 472). Patience, the Messenger
of the Light who is in the bowels of the

1 Note that while it was Eve who seduced Adam into sensuality,
it is also Eve who raises him to the higher state wherein progress
again becomes possible (cf. GPM 10 : 1). The first Eve ruined
man, the second (i.e.s Mary, as Catholics declare) opened for him
the path to Paradise again: “ Sumerts illud Ave, Gabrielis ore, funda
nos in pace, mutans Hevae nomen ”—reversing the letters of the name
Eva to the auspicious ‘ Ave \ Hail.
68 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

earth1 (GMT. 37), the Supporter, the great

Burdenbearer who treads upon the depth
with the soles of his feet, holding up the
earths with his hands, lifting up the load of
the creations 2 (MP. 2 : 18-20). The Supporter
has authority . . . over this great earth on
which he stands and over the four Supports
that are at his feet (Keph. 171 : 8-11), (to¬
gether with) his three glorious Columns, his
five holy Vaults,3 his Gods and his Angels

1 Ch. Ti-tsang ming-she, Tibetan: Sahi-snin-po (the earth embryo)

Turk. Yir-aghliqi (earth-bowels), i.e*, the Skt. Ksiti-garbha; in Iran he
was called Manbed (Av. Nmanopaiti); he symbolised Fragrance and
Wisdom.
2 This figure, familiar to classical scholars as the Giant Atlas,
really goes back in prehistoric Egypt to the great deity Show
who, kneeling on earrh on one knee, upholds the sky with
two hands in the posture of prayer. He is called Patience because
of the arduous nature of his work. Resting in the lowest spheres of
materiality, he represents the physical senses and rules the humble
feet of the human body. *( With knee fixed he bears up the great
mass on his strong shoulderblades . . . and with bent knee prop¬
ping it with arms on either side” (AF. 15:5-6). “The greatest
Atlas supporting the Holder of Splendour on his shoulders lest he
become wearied and throw away his burden and so prevent the
completion of the final limiting of the ‘ Lump * of Darkness ”
(AF. 20 :9). “Another holds it up from below” (AF. 20 : 10) ;
“ when he is wearied with bearing it he trembles and thus becomes
the cause of an earthquake ” (H. 7).
3 I do not think we can certainly explain these 4 Supports,,
3 Columns and 5 Vaults, but they are probably connected with the
account in M 98-99, well illustrated by Jackson. It may be no-
accident that the figures 3,4, 5 are those of the sides of the Pytha¬
gorean right-angle triangle—a natural symbol of the geometry
underlying our physical earth—which is not all evil or gross matter
but includes the beauty and goodness of the Divine Light pervad¬
ing every speck of it.
 POWERS OF HEAVEN AND HELD 69

(MP. 138 : 56-58) that are spread over the

earth 1 (MP. 145 : 5). In the watch of the
Supporter, again, the lower columns were
exposed and revolted against (?) their bond¬
age 2; a great earthquake happened in that
place 3 (Keph. 171 : 25-27).

Standing among us, his feet steady on the lowest

planes of human existence, the incarnation of Patience
calmly bears the weight of all upon his shoulders. It
is his endurance of this suffering which lets the Soul
persevere through all the trials of its long pilgrimage,
until it is ready to enter once again its lost Kingdom
of the Light. It is this glorious Power, previsioned in the
* Atlas 5 of classical myth, who when he trembles under
the appalling burden is the unwilling cause of
earthquakes; when the depths of man’s life are shaken,
the convulsion spreads even to the highest places of the
Soul.

24. The Third Envoy

1. The Third Envoy4 (is) the King of the

Zone (Keph. 82 : 18), the God Mithra from

1 Even physical matter itself has been corrupted by Sip, and so

occurs the ‘ earthquake ’ which is one cause of death. Hegemonius
goes into much detail on this topic.
2 or: fetter.
3 or: on that occasion.
4 or: Messenger: Syr. izgo.ddd\ rriid-Vcxizgand\ Sogh. azgand',
Akkad, asgandu; from the Sumerian ashganda. The Phi. is astak
or paighdmbar (prophet). In Gk. he is called presbeutes, in Per.
Jrestagh rosan (Av. fraesta). He is a Messenger of the Light, and
regarded as an emanation from Cosmic Mind. The Gnostic
 70 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

the Chariot of the Sun (Mull. p. 18), the

picture 1 of the King of the Lights 2 (Keph.
35:18), the very Lord of all the Counsels5
(Keph. 82 : 18-19), the Second Greatness, the
King who is in these worlds, the God in God’s
place, the Form of the God of Truth 4 (MP.
138:61-64). His Greatness is the Light-Ship
of the Living Fire wherein he dwells, being
established in it (Keph. 63:35—64:2), his
twelve Maidens, his twelve Steps, the Maidens
who sing to him 5 (MP. 138 : 65-67).
2. He drew out the beauty from all the
Powers and drew it up on high, he purged the

Baruch-book (Hip. Ref. 5:21) speaks of ‘‘His third Angel (Mes¬

senger) Baruch ”, who came “ to the help of the Spirit that is in
all men.** The word e Angel * or ‘ Apostle * is used of Sham mash
in the Sumerian hymns, and of Christ in the Syr. Acts of Thomas.
This is the Third Envoy, counting the First Man and the Living
Spirit as his predecessors.
1 or: bust.
* He is not really different from the Unmanifested Lord of All.
3 As manifested Light, he is the clarity of pure Intelligencer
shining in the mind and showing the right answer to each
problem,
4 He manifests the Hidden Father through the Sun*s glorious
radiance—both the physical disk visible to our eyes, and the
spiritual Being behind it. The correspondence is with the ‘ Aten '
worshipped by Akhenaton the Egyptian King.
5 Being the perfect Image of the Infinite Father of Greatness, he
too has His glory of the twelve virtues icf. GPM 13 : 2) “The
Twelve Majesties that emanate from the God of the Majesty of
Law and resemble the bright Sun-god with his twelve .Divine
Maidens ”—so we see the ‘Judge * too has his bevy.
 POWERS OF HEAVEN AND HELL 71

dregs into the Abyss. . . . The Envoy showed

his Image and refined the Light; for this
reason the Sin 1 ran up, and he hid his Image.
The Sin . . . fashioned the trees, the Abortions
fell down, and finally Adam and Eve were
formed in the flesh (Keph. 56 : 17-24).
3. The Envoy . . . did not come there to
show his Image to the Rulers in the world . . .
so that all the Rulers and Authorities might
fashion a Form on his Image, but he came . . .
for the sake 0/his Soul and his Son . . . cru¬
cified in the £A11?, . . to give him 2 life . . .
and to work for him 2 an escape, to free him 2
from every fetter and all the bonds in which
he2 was chained and bound, and to save
him 2 from the affliction.3 But as soon as the
Rulers saw him they lusted after his Image;
1 The 4 Sin ’ is the arrogance of the dark nature trying to dis¬
place the Light, whose loveliness necessarily generated admiration
and desire in all who saw it. From this vain attempt of Matter to
imitate Spirit arose the whole lustfulness and passion of our life,
which prevent us from any more seeing God’s beauty as it
really is.
2 Copt, she, her— i.e.y the Soul’s, psukhe being feminine.
3 Even before human bodies and natures yet existed, the Soul
was already imprisoned in Matter—i.e.y in its lower kingdoms.
God showed His beauty to win the Soul for its upward struggle, but
it led to the Dark Powers holding it even closer in the more immedi¬
ately attractive human form. The metaphor is given that a modest
girl who goes into the street goes veiled; if by chance the wind
blows aside her veil and ruffians see her beauty, that was not her
•desire—yet the evil arises from their evil thoughts of her.
 72 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

they reflected in themselves that they had

nothing like it in their creation; they sealed
his Image in their heart, . . . they moulded
Adam and Eve upon his Image without (the)
approval of the Greatness. . . . But they have
copied (it only) in seeming, but have not
copied (it) in the truth1 (Keph. 133-135).
The Manifest God, a perfect Reflection of the
3ever-Invisible, the spoken ‘Word* of Truth and Wis¬
dom, rules under Him as King of all the universe.
Seated, as it were, in the glorious Sun, emblem of
perfect Light, source of all our life and joy, he is
ceaselessly adored by the twelve virtues that represent
him in our individual life. It is his Light which attracts
the Soul, awakes it from the poisoned sleep of spiritual
drunkenness, repels the noxious reptiles that lurk in
darkness, and comforts the eye with sight of all the
beauties of the living world. He it is who comes to
save the Soul from its bonds, to lead it up to the Source
of his own infinite Light, the all-glorious King of all.
Glimpsing for a moment the beauty of the spiritual,
the powers of Matter devise the poor copy that is known
to fallen man as ‘ love ’, the sexual hunger that leads
to procreation and prolonged imprisonment of the
ever-radiant Soul in the dark and clinging toils of flesh,
the drugged sleep of its ignorance.

25. The Sun and the Moon

Now the Life and Joy, the Faith and Truth
wherein the man lives, correspond to the two

1 Human love is a sham, a forgery, as it were, of real lovei

Copt, autanten He henoutanten alia mpoutanten hen tmntmee.
 POWERS OF HEAVEN AND HELL 73

Light-Ships,1 for .the Living Soul 2 goes up in

them and by their means vanishes3 (away),
comes up from the Abysses below and attains
to the Height above (Keph. 172 : 24-29) . (So)
the Sun and the Moon are our Path, the
Door by which we advance into the world of
our (true) being4 (Bir. Ind. 2 : 169)—the
Moon-god that gathers the dead (TM. 3)
(and) tastes not sleep; the Sun-god that
raises up what has been refined,5 the seal
and likeness of the Fathers Image, the sign
of Joy, the exalted Victory (MP. 2 : 21-23).
It is the Gate of Life and the Chariot of Peace
(carrying) to this great Aeon of the Light, . . .
it is the Gate of the ascent of Souls (Keph.
158 :31-159 : 2). See how many are the loving
1 i.e., his good qualities depend upon their help. These are the
■divine qualities which redeem the Soul from darkness, so they
•correspond to the saving Luminaries, Moon and Sun.
2 Per. girev-ziwanag; Ch: .yi-lieu-eul-ym~ni; Skt. jivdtma.
3 The phrase erbal abal almost means * ceases to exist * dis¬
solves but here we need not press its meaning so far, even if a
.Hindu might urge that in fact the ‘ living soul * (jivdtma) does dis¬
solve when it meets God (Paramatma). May be—but Mani was
.not a Hindu!
4 Christians and Muslims sometimes accused Mani’s followers of
.rank paganism in adoring the Luminaries, not realising that they
held them as a sort of metaphor for the saving Powers. “ They
very specially honour the Sun and the Moon, not as Gods but as
“the Way by which it is possible to attain to God ” (AL. 5).
6 i.e., the spiritually dead, those lost in the drugged sleep of
materiality. “ Another (Power) going round the heavens gathers
-with his beams the members of your God from sewers ” (AF. 20:10).
74 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

deeds it does for men: . . . at the time when:

it come to this world and dawns (Keph. 159 r
12-14), there are five characteristics in the
Sun which it shows:1 ... its light, ... its-
beauty, ... its peace, . . . the life of the
Living Soul, . . . for it gives a power to the
Elements2 (Keph. 161-162).
Manicheans hotly denied that they worshipped the*
Luminaries, which to them represented God’s saving
power and the gracious aid of the Redeemer-ChrisU
They were but emblems of the Divine salvation, and
as such were fervendy revered, because it was mythi¬
cally through them, through the Powers they in fact
revealed, that the Soul is freed from flesh and matter
and drawn to the Height where God, the infinite:
Light, appears to her.

26. The Column of Glory

Also the Envoy’s Son (MP. 139 : 18), the

Great Mind 3 which is the Column of Glory,,
the Perfect Man (Keph. 92 : 5-6) to whom.

1 Ephrem says: “It is the Sun which because of its purity goes,
and comes every day to the House of Life.” “ His light shines on
the earth through a triangular window in heaven ” (AF. 20:6) • cf
Notes to GPM 14.
The original gives long and vivid details of the services of even
the physical Sun to living beings.
3 This is the ‘Vohumanah’ of Mazdeism, the Vahman of the-
Asiatic texts of Manicheism, as Widengren shows; it is the same in.
effect as the ‘ Light-Min4 * of GPM 63 and reflects Cosmic MincL
(the Logos) in the redeeming life of the ‘ Christ ’ or Saviour.
 POWERS OF HEAVEN AND HELL 75

all the churches gather,1 and to whom all the

Light that has been refined out of the world
returns (Keph. 82:22-24). The Baptism of
Life, the Washing-place of the Souls,2 the
Harbour of those who are in the open seaa
(MP. 139 : 22-24) (is) the diamond-like4
Column supporting and upholding the world
(BM. 365). the stout-hearted one (MP. 139:25)
spreading (and) filling all things with his own
wonderful body and his own great strength*
voluntarily promising graces to the favourite
son who lives alone5 (BM. 365).
Formed by God, the Church which is the mystical
unity of the Perfect Man, One Christ.formed together
out of all the Souls of “ just men made perfect ”, this
Pillar of Radiance leads the upward-trending Souls

1 In its wide catholicity this sounds almost Indian. Copt: pete

sare nekklesia terou souh araf; the tense shows that it is a continuous
process.
2 This entry into the Mystical Body of the Righteousness is the
real ‘ baptism not of course any merely external rite which
publicly proclaims that entry.
3 i.e.} worldly life—Skt., samsara-sagara. Even in the Coptic
books we often find such Indian touches, reminding us of Mani’s
early visits to Sind and Kashmir—and of the common Indo~
Iranian background.
4 or: adamant, invincible. “ Upon this Rock will I build my
Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it”'
(Mt. 16:18).
5 A curious phrase, suggesting the hermit-life, if our translation
is correct; I do not have the Chinese text of these hymns. The
underlying idea is clearly the ‘ treasury of merit5 shared by all in
the Church who live righteous lives.
76 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

from earth to Heaven. Those admitted to the common

treasury of merit shared by this Mystical Body of the
Lord, washed in the true baptismal flow of repentant
tears, of prayer and fasting and generous alms to enrich
the Church, both inward and mystical, outer and
visible—these form the Path of Light that leads straight
to God Himself.

27. The Light-Maiden

The beginning of all the wisdoms of the

Truth is the (Keph. 44 : 8-9) splendid and
beautiful (M 74) Maiden of the Light
{Keph. 44 : 9), the Soul of the Father1 (Keph.
84 : 20), her Father’s beloved Daughter, the
blessed (MP. 2 : 27) Light-Maiden, the glori¬
ous Wisdom (Keph. 35 : 15) who by her
ineffable beauty puts to shame the Powers
that are full of lust 2 (MP. 2 : 27-29), who takes
away the heart of the Rulers and the Powers
by means of her Image, while she carries out
the purpose of the Greatness (Keph. 35 : 16-17)
and executes justice on the Ruler of the Wet
and the Ruler of the Dry3 (Keph. 80 : 27-29).
1 In that she carries out His will.
2 An allusion to the bisexual appearance of the Light to the
demons, which made them release much of their* own stolen
splendour in love and admiration; cf. GPM 8 : 2 and App. I 6.
This seems to refer to the female and male demons respectively,
infatuated by the sight of so much beauty variously adapted to
each of them.
 POWERS OF HEAVEN AND HELL 77

Due honour is also paid to that pure Flame of

Beauty who showed herself to the heart’s dark forces,
so that at least by her loveliness she might confound
their wickedness and draw from them the captive Soul
towards the Light in a wild leap of aspiration. As
the Gopi bound to the pillar by the jealous physical
husband spiritually burst her bonds and fled un¬
hindered to the eternal Husband of all Souls, the
universal Krishna, so do the Souls escape from the
foul bondage of the flesh when they see the attractive¬
ness of Divine Light and flee to God for refuge. That
same power of love which once bound them in the
degrading slavery of lust and passion is now trans¬
muted to the liberating flame of Love that burns all
bonds away. -

28. Jesus

1. The pure and wonderful Wisdom is

Jesus the Radiant, the self-revealing angelic
Maiden1 (BM. 369), the glorious Dawn
through whom eternal life is given (Keph.
35 : 13-14), who is the Releaser and the Saviour
of all the Souls2 (Keph. 82 : 20-21). The
Physician of the wounded (MP. 2 : 24) is the
King of Medicine for the sick, he brings the
afflicted joy and happiness (BM. 369). The
Light-Mind, the Sun of hearts, the Maiden*
Mother of all the lives (MP. 145: 7-8), the
Path that the wanderers seek, the Door of the
1 Manichean theology knows no sex-difference in spiritual beings *
a Note, here also, the universality of Jesus’s work.
 78 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

treasury of lives (MP. 2 : 25-26), the Straight

Way which leads into Life (MP. 193 : 18),
Jesus the Dawn is equally called ‘ Father 5 ;
his GxeaXness is the Ship of the Living Waters
wherein he dwells and is established1 (Keph.
64 : 2-4).
2. Jesus, the true Hope (MP. 88 : 23), the
true Guardian (MP. 151 :4), the Saviour of
the Spirits and the Helper of the Souls (MP.
166 : 20-21), the King of Saints (MP. 159 :19),
is the First Gift that was given; Jesus is the
Father’s holy Flower; Jesus is the First to sit
upon the Luminaries; Jesus is the Perfect
Man in the Column; Jesus is the Resurrection
of those who have died in the Church (MP.
59 : 15-18), the Tower of the Kingdom which
protects2 the Father’s Treasure, . . . the
Perfect Day of Light, (that) of the unsetting
Sun, the holy Bread of Life come from the
skies, the sweet Spring of water that wells up
into Life, the true Vine of the Living Wine,3
1 i.e., the Moon, because it actually rescues the sleeping Souls and
so comes to its own glory. As the Moon follows and serves the
Sun, so Jesus his eternal Father.
2 lit: is over.

3 Cf, Rev. 2: 7 and Syr. liturgies; Qurilyona writes {quoted, Widen-

gren, p. 135): “The Vine is Christ, who came to us, in love he
stretched out to us the cluster ” {cf. Jn. 15 : 1). Mandeans also
freely use this figure.
 POWERS OF HEAVEN AND HELL 79

the joyous Branch of the fruitbearing Tree,

•God’s new Plant of the fruits of Life, the
joyful Bridegroom of his Church, the Shepherd
of the sheep wandering in the desert of this
world1 (MP. 193 : 17-26)!
3. Jesus is a mighty Light, . . . the Lamp
of all the Aeons, the Flower of the Mother of
the Lights, . . . the Light of the Beloved
One, . . . the Beauty of the Fair One, the
Twin of the Perfect One, the Pair of the Wise
One; 2 (he is) the Father of the Light-Mindr
the Safety (?) of the Church, the Merchandise
of the traders 3 (?); the collective 4 Mind, our
enlightening Knowledge, our perfect Reason,5
our good Memory,6 our blessed Will;7 (he is)
the Love of the beloved, Faith of the faithful,
Perfection of the perfected, Endurance of the

1 Enjoy and contemplate the wealth of these loving and adoring

epithets lavished on Jesus by the Mani-taught poet; many of them
•derive from St. John’s lovely Gospel.
2 Jesus is the better self of all our five mental faculties, as of
all else that we know and love.
3 i.e., the merits gathered by souls on earth, the gain added to
the ‘talents’ given them for trading; woe to those who leave these
idle! (Cf: GPM 76: 2 and Mt. 25 : 14-30).
4 lit: collected.
6 or: Intuition or even Thought (Copt. sbd).
4 or: Counsel (Copt, sajne).
* or: Intention (Copt, makmek).
 80 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

enduring, Wisdom of the wise, and Knowledge

of the enlighteners; our Stairway which goes
to the Light, our Ladder that leads on high;
the Chest of the Good, the Ark of Salvation;
the Comfort of the weepers, the Joy of those
who grieve, the Gladness of those who rejoice*
the Compassion of the compassionate (MP,
166 : 23—167 : 17), the Kindly Light and the
Awakening Sun (BM. 135).
4. (Jesus is) the King of perfect Wisdom*
... the wonderful and precious Flower of
the Light (BM. 160), the Comrade1 who
comes to the Messenger and appears to him*
being an intimate of his, accompanying him
everywhere and helping him always out of all
the troubles and the dangers2 (Keph. 36 :6-9).
(He is) the First of the Messengers, Guide of
those who are in the flesh, the blessed Com¬
rade,3 4 the Virtue4 of the Father of the
Lights, the Robe of the Aeons, the Armour

1 or: Twin, Pair, Equal (Copt. sais).

* It is Jesus, therefore, who was the actual ‘ inspiring * Paraclete
who taught Mani even in his childhood vision. This is a very
striking fact, possibly hinting at a time in his life when he was
drawn to (Gnostic) Christianity.
3 Copt, sais; it means more than simply a companion; almost
a ‘double like Thomas, the Twin of Christ.
4A five lettered word ends with . . . te; I have restored arete.
 POWERS OF HEAVEN AND HELL 81

of the Gods, he who is in the Battle with the

fighters,1 who rejoices with those who rejoice,
the beloved Comrade, the Walls that are not
breached 2 and control 3 the boundary of the
c All5, the blessed Fruitage (MP. 139 : 25-30).
5. Thy holy Womb is the Luminaries that
conceive thee;4 the trees and the fruits, in
them is thy holy Body, my Lord Jesus (MP.
121 : 31-33) hanging on the Tree 5—Child,
Son of the Dew, Sap 6 of all the trees, Sweet¬
ness of the fruits, the Eye of the skies.
Guardian of all treasures, the Watcher (?)
who bears the ‘ All % the Joy of all created
things, the Repose of the worlds ! My God,
thou art a wonder to tell; thou art within,
thou art without, thou art above, thou art
below, . . . near, . . . far, . . . hidden, . . .

1 Cf. Light on the Path, 2: 2,4: “ Look for the Warrior, and let
him fight in thee. . . . When once he has entered thee and become
the Warrior, he will never utterly desert thee; and at the day of
the Great Peace he will become one with thee.” The student of
the Gita will understand.

2 or: parted.
3 or: hold, possess.
4 i.e., no body of a woman—an idea the Manichean felt to be
horrible and even blasphemous.
5 The pantheistic Jesus, who is immanent in all and shares in
every suffering of the human (and other) Soul {cf. GPM 10:3).
6 lit. milk, juice. He is the hidden Life flowing through all.
6
 §2 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

revealed, . . . silent and yet speaking (too)1

-—thine is all the glory (MP. 155 : 24-39) !
(Thou sayest, O Lord:) “ I am in the ‘ All \
I bear the skies, I am the foundation, I sup¬
port the earths! I am the Light that shines
and gives joy to the Souls! I am the Life of
the world, I am the Sap which is in all the
trees, I am the sweet Water that underlies
the sons of Matter 2 * * (MP 54 : 25-30)!
How can we restrain the adoring love that pours
out at the feet of Jesus, the Radiant One, the Bread of
Heaven that contains all sweetness, the gracious Shep¬
herd of all souls, the Lamp and Beauty of the Way,
the infinite Reward! Words fail Mani and his disciples
to express their fervour at the thought of this perfect
Son of God, who graciously offers himself to be £C cruci¬
fied on every tree the eternal Sacrifice whereby we
.. and all beings are in being. They pour forth a stream
of poetic fancy, a lovely litany of Names, on each of
which the mind and heart would gladly ponder.
Knowing Jesus as man’s beloved Friend and Guide,
eternally present as comforter and warrior at his side—
but more than this—the Manichean found Jesus present
in every atom of the world wherein he lived, sacra¬
mentally there in all the fullness of his loveliness, as
surely as the Christian could find him in every crumb
of the consecrated Wafer, every drop of the consecrated
1 An outburst of ecstatic realisation of the actual omnipresence of
the all-beloved personal Lord, which almost recalls the bliss of
Swami Ramatirtha in his In Woods of God-Realisation.
2 “ Jesus Christ ... is the son of this First Man . . . bound
up in all the stars” (AF. 2 : 4-5). In 2. 131 we have, “Jesus the
Compassion, the Thought, the Truth, the Judge, the King of
Righteousness ” 5
 POWERS OF HEAVEN AND HELL 83

Wine. A kind of pantheistic ecstasy arising from this

real vision gave him strength to endure the cruel
torments of a persecuting world for twelve centuries
and more, and most certainly the Manichean yielded
nothing to his Christian brother in devoted love and
worship for the blessed Jesus, the Father’s holy Flower,
in whom he found the perfection of all that was good
in himself and in the Church.

29. The King of Darkness

1. Now the Evil Tree is Matter, . . .

which exists in its evil land that is filled with
darkness and death 1 (Keph. 22 : 32-35)that is
the King of those of the Darkness who lay in
wait for the Living Soul with his net at the
beginning of the worlds. (Now) his net is his
Eire and his Desire 2 which he has thrown
over the Living Soul . . . the law of Sin and t
Death that reigns in all the Sects,3 (Keph.
29 : 18-21, 35) snaring them through the teach¬
ing of an error . . . which is full of craft
and malice and evil tricks (Keph. 30 : 1-2, 5).
It is the Sects that carried on the evil per¬
secutions of God’s Enemy (MP. 4 : 30-31), (but
even) before the error and the scandal of the
r* '

1 Cf. GPM 1 : 1 and App. I 3.

2 lustj perhaps hendiadyst ( fiery desire , an apt phrasing.
3 A word used specially for the ‘ false ’ religions of the time.
84 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

Sects appeared in the world the blessed Christ

was appointed and born against them, so
that he might extirpate their error 1 (Keph*
117 : 28-31).
2. (Now) there are five shapes in the King
of Darkness: his head has a lion's face, his
hands (and) feet have a shape of demons and
devils, his shoulders have an eagle-form, while
his belly (?) has a dragon-shape , (and) his tail
is formed like a fish's.2 . . . There are in him
five other qualities: the first is his darkness,
the second is his stench, the third his ugliness,
the fourth is his bitterness, his very soul,
(while) the fifth is his heat which burns like a
lump of iron that is smelted in the fire. . . .
His body is hard and very strong, just as

1 Cf. the preparations before the coming of the Giants, in

GPM 20 : 3.

* Several apocryphal books of the age essayed such descriptions

of the Evil One—which survived among the superstitious almost
to our own day. This one clearly combines the qualities of the
five kinds of living being: two-footed, four-footed, flying, swimming
and creeping—with each of which corresponds one of the five
realms of darkness, one of the senses, and one of the evil Sects
(of para. 1). Parallel descriptions may be found in the Mandean
Ginza, e.g., 278 : 19-21; cf. also the Bab. winged dragon, and the
Serpent, Lion and Dragon to be trampled on by the Righteous in
Ps. 91: 13. ‘The animals born in each of those elements—
serpents in the gloom, swimmers in the waters, fliers in the winds,
quadrupeds in the fire, bipeds in the smoke ” (AMM. 14)—is this
why so many find charm in nicotine? These five types correspond
with the dragon, fish, eagle, lion and demon of the Chinese list also.
 POWERS OF HEAVEN AND HELL 85

Matter, which is the desire of death,1 has built

it in toughness;2 . . . there is no . . . iron
tool . . . could cut it up. . . . He strikes
and kills by the word of his magic; . . . when
he speaks it is like the thunder in the clouds;
... he is terrible in his voice . . . and
inspires his Powers with dread, . . . and
they fall down on the earth. . . . He grasps
all that he hears from their mouth, ... he
even knows the wink they give as a sign
among themselves; . . but their heart is
not clear to him; ... he knows and marks
only what is before his eyes, ... he does not
see what is afar, not does he hear it3
(Keph. 30-32).
One glance at the monstrous Demon of the Darkness
that dares oppose these glorious Beings of the Light,
and we have done. Drawing his imagery from the
religions of the past, Mani like the Jewish apocalyptists
of his age painted a terrible portrait of this figure of all
essential Evil and his five horrid realms that oppose and
parody the five Glories of the Light. Capturing the
Soul that descends to war with, and so to transmute and
purify and redeem, the filthy Matter which veils his
evil nature, the demoniac Dragon controls by violence

1 i.e.} the desire that leads to death, the fatal desire.

2 lit: hardheartedness.
8 Like the Evil Spirit in GZ 45 : 2 {cf. GPM 2 : 1), his powers
are limited and he has little knowledge; knowledge is God’s gift,
and the key to spiritual freedom.
86 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI
 POWERS OF HEAVEN AND HELL 87

and fear the Powers of his realm and holds the Soul
prisoner in the five-walled castle of the body. But we
may note for our comfort how his powers are limited
and so the door to sedition and disunion in his evil
realm are opened wide; when Satan is against Satan,
the righteous comes near to freedom from his chains!
 • CHAPTER THREE

MESSENGERS OF THE
LIGHT
Mani now gives us an outline of the Spiritual Path
to God—beginning naturally enough with some ac¬
count of the great spiritual Teachers who have shown
it to men. Their teachings benefit those who are ready
to follow them, and so Seth, Zarathushtra, the Bud¬
dha, Jesus and Mani himself in turn were able to found
Churches in the world and to liberate the souls of men
from the ancient error. Great is the glory of such a
Messenger, and great is naturally the gratitude we
feel for him who has done so much for us; but the
best way we can show that gratitude is by availing
ourselves fully of the means he brought for us to
sanctify our lives and to find God through the one
true path of sacrificing Love.

30. Earlier Messengers

1. From time to time Wisdom and Good

Deeds 1 have always been brought to mankind
by Messengers of God (Bir. Chr. p. 209); in

1i.e.f Doctrine and Ethics, Gnosis and Righteousness, the theory

and practice of religion.
 MESSENGERS OF THE LIGHT 89

age after age have Messengers been sent by

Zrwan 1—Shitll,2 Zarathustra,3 the Buddha 4
and the Christ 5 (M. 101. H).
2. The Messenger of the Light, the shining
Luminary, came to Persia to Gushtasp the
King;6 he chose out righteous and truthful dis¬
ciples and preached his Hope 7 in Persia. But
Zarathushtra (Keph. 7 : 27-31), the famous
Master and Leader of Mazdean religion
{M 543), wrote no books; his disciples who came
after him remembered and wrote the teachings
of the books which they read today8 (Keph.
1 One of the old Iranian (or Armenian?) names of Infinite Time;
i.e.t the Eternal King of Light {cf. GZ p. Ixxxii)*
2 or: Seth-el, son of Adam, and according to many apocrypha
the first of God’s Pr.ophets. The Mandeans ascribed to him the
birth of their religion, and Maoi was probably brought up as a
Mandean,
8 i.e., Zaradarusht, Zarades, or Zrusc, i.e., Zoroaster, cf.
CZ 26-27.
4 Here spelt But in M 101 and Bouddas in Keph. Perhaps die
■* Buddus ’ referred to by bar Khoni as pupil of Secundums may be
the same. In a sense Mani was the Buddha’s pupil.
6 In M 101 Masihdy the ‘Messiah’, anointed one; cf. GJ and
*GMC. This list is not exhaustive: other names included Aurentes
.(? Mahavira), Plato, Hermes and, in effect, Paul—whom all
Christian Gnostics hailed as the greatest of Apostles.
• This is the Vishtaspa met by Zarathushtra in GZ 30, who
•became the Mazdean ‘ Constantine
7 A technical term for the ‘ Hope of Salvation i.e.% gospel,
religion.
8 According to Parsi tradition, the Avesta was actually dictated
by the Prophet to Jamaspa (see GZ p. lxxi); but probably the
many scriptures did actually assume their present form later—much
ns the Kephalaia reproduced parts of Mani’s own books.
90 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

7:31-33); he revealed . . . the Two Natures

which fight with one another. . . . They horn
cured him more than all (other) Messengers;
. . . Zarathushtra was even buried in the
tombs of the Kings,1 . . . they made a royal
garment and honourably laid him in a tomb
in the land of the Hindus 2 (MH. 70 : 9-18).
3. When the Buddha came in his turn
(Keph. 7 :34) to India (Bir. Chr. p. 209), and
Aurentes 3 arid the others . . . who have been,
sent to the East (Keph. 12 : 15-16), the dis¬
ciples have reported of him that he too preach¬
ed his Hope and taught much wisdom. He
chose out and completed his churches and
revealed to them his Message. But there is
only this (fact) that he did not write his wis¬
dom in books; his disciples who came after
him, it was they who recalled something of
the wisdom they had heard from the Buddha

1 This agrees with Parsi tradition. Slain by Turanians at Balkhr

the Prophet was given a royal funeral by the heartbroken King.

* £.<?., the land then under Indian cultural influences. Seistan,.

near Afghanistan, was in Mani’s day almost wholly Buddhist, ancl
this is anachronistically reflected back on the age of Zarathushtra
(cir. B.C. 600).

8 I do not know to whom this name refers. Mahavira is possible

because Mani seems to have been in friendly contact with Jains in-
Sind.
 MESSENGERS OF THE LIGHT 91

and ■ recorded it in the Scriptures1 (Keph.

7 : 34—8 : 7). . ■
4. In another (age they 2 were taught) by
Jesus to the West (Bir. Chr. p. 209); (and)
the earlier religions were true so long as
pure Leaders were in them 3 (T. II. D. 126);
After which the present Revelation, this
Prophecy in this latest age, has come down to
Babylonia through me, Mani the Messenger
of the True God 4 (Bir. Chr. p. 209) to the
other Sects and the oth^r Heresies. . . . To
each one of them I have made known that
his (own) wisdom and his scripture is
the truth which I have unveiled and shown
to the world5 (Keph. 7 : 3-6). I have

1 It is universally admitted that we have no writings direct from

the Buddha’s hand; what is regarded as the ’Canon can hardly
date back to within a century of the Buddha’s death.

8 i.e.y the Doctrine and the Ethics, Wisdom and Good Deeds.
3 A frank admission that religions are usually corrupted after
the Founder and his immediate followers pass away. Manicheism
cannot have been wholly exempt, though the precaution of writing
his own books may have helped Mani 10 postpone the evil day.
4 or: the God of Truth.
5 i.e., I am revealing the real, if esoteric, teaching of every re¬
ligion. This claim was openly ridiculed, of course, by the orthodox
of each original faith; Gk. Abj. 6 condemns “ all those who say
that Zarathushtra, the Buddha, the Christ, Mani and the Sun are
one and the same ”. Mani does not seem to have said quite this,
but that they all came from the same One God—a very different
matter!
92 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

written them in my Light-books;1 . . . but

what I have not written . . . remember it
according to your ability and so far as you
know it, and .(then) write a fragment of the
plentiful wisdom you have heard from me,
. ... so that it may not be corrupted2
(Keph. 5-9). If you write it and admire 3
it, then shall you be very greatly enlightened,
and gain profit, and be freed through the power
of the Truth 4 (Keph. 9 : 7-10).
Mani taught clearly the Theosophical idea that
whenever needed great Masters of the One Wisdom
come forth with a message, a Gospel, from the Light
—to warn and comfort, to guide and inspire, men on
the homeward way. Besides the predecessors here
named, we have references to Hermes and Plato as two
others of equal rank, true Messengers to the pagans of
Egypt and of Greece (cf. Ephrem, apud Mitchell II
p. 98). Mani makes much of the fact that while all
his predecessors limited their preaching tours to their
own native lands, he first travelled far and wide in
foreign countries, and he first with his own hand wrote
books to preserve his teaching intact and pure.

1 His own seven books: the Gospel, the Mysteries, tha Letters,
the Giants, the Pragmateia, the Shahpuraqan, and the Treasure
of Life.

3 This was the request which led Kushtai or another to write

the book ‘ Headings of the Master * (Kephalaia).
8 Perhaps an allusion to the old gnomon that wondering precedes
the full attainment of knowledge and so of rest.

4Jesus said: “The Truth shall set you free” (Jn. 8 : 32).
Gopt: nse-er remhe hen pcam hte tme.
 MESSENGERSOF THE LIGHT 93

31. Signs of a True Messenger

1. If Mani and other Prophets come to

this body, then they can be known in five
ways: (i) by Gentleness such as charac¬
terises the Divine First Man1, (ii) by
Austerity like the Divine Living Spirit,
(iii) also by outward Beauty just like the
bright Sun-god, (iv) by Wisdom like the
God who gathers the dead,2 the Moon-
god, (v) by Changes of Form just like the
flaming Light-Goddess,3 the beloved Daughter
of the God Zrwan,4 the great King and
Ruler of Heaven, the most beloved Light-
Mind,3 (Man. I. 24.)
2. If the Elect (?) 5 fully possess the twelve
Bright Hours: . . . Great Royalty, Wisdom,
Victoriousness, Joy, Zeal, Truth, Faith, Pati¬
ence, Sincerity, Good Deeds, Uniformity of

1 Turk. Xormuzta-tdnri.
2 Turk, oliigug tirigliigli-bag ai-tanrica.
3 The Maiden of the Light who assumed various forms simul¬
taneously to infatuate the various kinds of demons. Like Paul,
God’s real Messenger has to “be all things to all men” (1 Cor.
9 : 22), in order to save some at least of them.
4 This is the Mazdean Vohumanah, Divine Mind teaching and
guarding the Prophet, as htind the 4 Shepherd does for Hermes
(GH 1-8; GZ p. 40).
5 i.e.y possessor of true Religion (denawar),
 94 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

heart,1 Total Light within and without 2 . . .

—they always produce wonderful knowledges
in their body and mind, also they are kind
and amiable, calm and harmonious. Such
signs 3 show that the Trees of the Twelve
Light'Forms are putting forth their first buds;
on those Trees the precious unequalled
Flowers continually blossom in plenty; when
they are open, their brilliance illumines every¬
thing. Within each of these Flowers countless
evolved Illuminates 4 in turn and ceaselessly
evolve their numberless persons (CMT. 78),
who are the armour of kindness, the strong-
walled courts,5 the wonder-forms of the essence
and flower of the world; 6 they are the bodies
and lives of all sentient beings 7 and always

1 This may be the Skt. sthitiprajnata, calm in all things.

3 The last two Virtues, associated with Aquarius and Pisces, will
interest Astrologers; they well symbolise the brotherliness and
sensitivity of the last phases of spiritual growth.
3 Cf. the signs of various kinds of Masters or Saints in GPM 64.
4 lit: Buddhas of transformation. The Buddha arises from the
heart of a lotus-flower, for Illumination springs from the heart of
each individual Soul, and the Soul is pictured as an opening lotus.
The Illuminate can always adapt himself to changing circum¬
stances and needs. Ch. houa-fu, the Turk, burxan or yalavaci.
Masters.
5 i.e., protection of their devotees.
* i.e., the flower of humanity.
7 i.e., they enjoy complete unity with all that lives.
 MESSENGERS OF THE LIGHT 95

add strength to those who enjoy Nature

(BM. 236-237, 202).
Muhammed (GI 19, etc.) usually calls himself
God’s Messenger ’ and gives the sign that a true
Prophet preaches the oneness of God and righteous¬
ness of life; the Sikh Guru gives signs like those usual
in Indian thought. The Manicheans include one sign
common to the docetic schools of Gnosis—the ability
to disguise the self by changes of form—along with
sweetness, simplicity of life, brightness and understand¬
ing, like those of the Gods. Even ordinary men,
-adorned with the twelve Virtues, saints, shine with only
.a lesser light.

32. The Work of a Messenger

1. When any Messenger of the Light
appears in the world to teach and convert the
host of living beings in order to save them
irom their sufferings,1 he begins by bringing
the sound of the wonderful Law down through
the gate of their ears.2 Then he enters the
Ancient Dwelling3 and, using the great magic
prayers, imprisons the swarm of venomous
serpents and all the wild beasts, no longer
leaving them free. Next, armed with the Axe
1 The usual motive for the f Buddhas of Compassion ’.
2 The doors of the soul are the ears, its windows are the eyes; so
the Message enters the heart through the ears, for no written word
•can avail so powerfully as the living voice, Ch. ts’ong eul-men.
3 i.ethe Soul, corrupted by evil thoughts, feelings and deeds.
Which are here, as in St. Teresa’s Interior Castle, aptly called snakes
and vermin. We saw that in GPM 3 : 3, the drugged sleep was
caused by the bite of a c snake
96 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

of Wisdom,1 he cuts and fells the poison-trees

and uproots their stumps, as well as all the
other impure plants.2 At the same time he
has the Palace Hall3 cleansed and splendidly
adorned, and a seat placed there for (the
throne of) the Law;4 afterwards he sits down,
in it. . . . When he has entered the Old
Town and destroyed the hateful foes, he must
quickly separate the two Forces, the Light
and the Darkness, and no longer let them
mingle5 (CMT. 18-19).
1 In the Indian tradition, the sword of Viveka (discernment) and
its correlative Vairdgya (disillusionment). “Thereupon the God-
First Man, making the Fire-god into an Axe, split the devil’s,
head; and then, making the Fire-god into a Spear seventy myriad,
miles in length, he (pierced) the devil’s head with the point of the
Spear ” (T. Ia).
2 “ He that is small among those who are on high stepped forth,,
the Son of the Brightnesses and the Richnesses armed himself and
girt his loins, he leapt and sped down into the abyss, ... he came
into their midst that he might make war on them. He humbled
the Son of Evil and his seven companions and his twelve ministers,
he uprooted their tent and threw it down, he put out their burning
fire” (MP. 204:23-31). . . . He seized their cruel armour, . . .
he broke their snares that were set, burst also their nets that were
spread. He let out the fish to their sea, he let the birds fly in the
air, ... he let the sheep (go) into their fold, he rolled up his.
wealth, he took it ... up to the Land of Rest” (MP. 205: 1-8)—
an exact parallel ro the “ Harrying of Hell ” described in the
‘ Gospel of Nicodemus cf. GMG 63.
8 i.e., the mind, or heart.
4 So that the divine Light-Mind, Christ, may reign over the
heart and life of the Hearer.
5 There must be immediate action, putting away the bad 1 Old
Man * and putting on the good of the * New Man * that is Christ:
(cf. Rom. 6: 6, 12).
 MESSENGERS OF THE LIGHT 97

2. (O) Messengers, since you are Shepherds

of the Light-Flocks, . . . always zealously
gather the soft and timid (?) Lamb-Sons,1
and personally defend and cover the pure
Race of Light!2 . . . You must be like
that able Shepherd-Lord who catches and
saves the Lamb-Sons from wolves and tigers!3
. . . Be each of you the brave, strong and
wise Pilot,4 and ferry these wandering Sons
into the strange Land ;5 they are the adored
and precious treasures of the Venerable of the
Light;6 remove them all from the Sea7 by
means of your bodily Ships, . . . and return
them quickly, as they are, to the Lord; . . .
send them back swiftly to their Native Land,
the place of peace and happiness (BM. 211-
212, 217, 249-251)!
1 i.e., the childlike trusting members of God’s Flock, the Church,
a A common phrase among Gnostics also; we sometimes hear
of the 4 Race of Darkness5 as well. This means the Souls, who
are all sparks of the One Lighc.
8 Demons, or evil thoughts, feelings, words and deeds.
4 Steering the Light-Ships, Moon and Sun, with their cargoes of
Souls.
5 It is ‘ strange * only to their lower mind, for that heaven is our

true £ Native Land ’, to which we always, if only unconsciously,

yearn to go, the Paradise of all our hearts.
• i.e. the King of Light, God, who alone is to be reaUy adored
(cf. GPM 93 : 1).
7 i.e., of worldliness, samsdra-sagara—whence come the pure
Pearls of spiritual perfection.
7
 98 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

Thus is the work of the Teacher or the Guru

described; it is almost wholly interior, and consists in
the replacement of the passions, down to their very
roots, with all the highest virtues which can adorn the
inner nature, so that the pupil may make his heart a
throne for the Perfect One, who will henceforth speak
and work through his purified soul.
The devotee then appeals to the great Masters
thus to come and to purify the souls of all the faithful,
to free them from their bonds, and to lead them re¬
joicing to their eternal Home, where they have always
belonged.

33. Is Acceptable to Some

1. The man in whom the Mind1 is, his is

the Wisdom; as soon as he hears it he
welcomes it to himself; but he in whom there
is no Mind, who is alien to it, does not take
it to himself, nor does he listen to it2 (Keph.
208 : 4-7). (And) every weak Soul which has
not accepted the Truth belonging to her
perishes without any rest or happiness3 (Bir.
Ind. 1 : 55). God’s Word is sweet when it
finds ears to hear it; it does not lodge in a
, 1 i.e.y specially the ‘ Light-Mind *, the spirit of the Christ.
2 Those who are of God hear His voice (cf.Jn. 10:3; those to
whom things spiritual are a meaningless void remain deaf to all the
charm of His sweet words.
3 For in religion, in God, alone is happiness; one who cannot
know Him can never hope to experience real or lasting joy.
 MESSENGERS OF THE LIGHT 99

closed mind, makes not its way (in) to a

polluted shrine.1 It lodges with virgins and
dwells in the heart of celibates; its grace
overshadows those it lodges with, (so) they
gird up their loins and arm themselves to
light with the Dragon2 (MP. 151 : 17-21).
2. The Blessed will accept this Offering,
. . . the Wise will know, the Strong will
again seek the goodness of the Learned3
(M 17). Blessed indeed is he to be deemed
who has been initiated in this Divine Gnosis,
freed by means of which he shall continue in
eternal life4 (FE. 2).
But there are many who will reject this gracious
aid, who prefer the crude excitements of passion to the
sweetly subde delights of the spirit. Only he with a

1 The shutters must open to the sunlight, prejudice be put aside

to see the brightness of the truth. Nor can purity be to the impure
-—it is “ to die pure aU things are pure ”, and the foul polluted
mind can know nothing of the bliss of purity or truth—it corrupts
all that touches it.
2 Truth entering the heart is immediately active. The hearer
cannot rest inactive in the world, but at once rises to fight for Good
against the powers of Evil (cf. GPM 45:4). “ Be strong in war
and fight with the ancient Serpent, and you will receive an eternal
Kingdom ” (Agraphon 192).
3 This passage, comes from near the beginning of the ‘ Gospel *.
“To him who has shall be given wisdom and love continually
feed upon themselves and grow great.
4 Eternal life is not to be earned in the vague future; the accept¬
ance of it now at once puts the Soul in that timelessness, and being
free from the drugged sleep of ignorance he is already, tunelessly,
eternally, in that state of blissful Liberation.
100 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

mind to receive the Truth, in whom the Divine Mind

has found a home, can give it shelter in himself; it is
only when the heart is clean it can be the dwelling of
the Word of God ‘ incarnate * as the Master. And
then its faith naturally becomes active, labouring with
unflagging courage to spread the Empire of the Light
and to overthrow the hosts of Darkness. Only those
who thus, inspired by the Light within, labour for
Righteousness without can know true happiness—here
and hereafter.

34. The Mission of Jesus

1. This name Jesus, there is a grace sur¬
rounding it (MP. 151 : 22) (for) it is Jesus who
gives repentance to the penitent. He stands
in our midst, ... he is not far from us, my
brothers, even as he said in his preaching:
“ I am as close to you as the raiment of your
body551 (MP. 39 : 19-24)! Jesus (MP. 91 :20),
thy burden is light for him who can carry it 2
(MP. 151 : 23); thou hast made the Cross a
Bema for thyself and hast given law3 thereon; 4
. . . thou hast made the Cross a Ship for thy¬
self5 and hast sailed upon it (MP. 123:29, 34).
1 Probably quoted from some lost apocryphal gospel, this is like
the known fragments of those of Thomas, and the Egyptians, both
certainly approved in Manichean circles in Egypt.
2 Cf. Mt. 11 : 30, here quaintly modified. It is easy for his lover.
8 or: judgment. .
4 Cf. the agraphon: “ Christ reigns from the Tree.”
5 The Ship that carries the Soul from dark realms like this world
to the bright Kingdom of the Light.
 MESSENGERS OF THE LIGHT 101

Many are the marvels of thy nativity, the

wonders of thy Cross; yet when I say “thy
nativity ”—who created thee, my Lord
(MP. 120 : 19-21) Jesus eternally, Life from
Life (T. II. D. 116)?
2. They came to the Son of God, he was
thrown into a filthy womb—he who is in the
‘All5, in whom the ‘ All5 exists1 (MP. 120 : 25-
27)! For he was led from world to world, from
age to age2 (MH. 86 : 30-31); he passed by the
Sources 3 (?) by taking on their likeness, he
mocked the Authorities by imitating them,4 the
Powers and Dominions he darkened all of
them! These things he did on high, floating (?)
in the heavens (MP. 193 :27-30) and (then) he
came down to the substance of the flesh
(Keph. 6f : 23), the vesture of humanity.5 God

1 This looks like a passionate protest against the idea of the

human birth through Mary, but it shows that the usual view that
to a Manichean the idea of Jesus being bom from the womb was
always unmentionable blasphemy is only partly correct. Copt:
aupdh apsere mpnoute, aunajef auate eslame—pei etsoop hempteref ete
pteref hhetef.
2 or: from Aeon to Aeon.
8 Cope. arkheu\ could it be for arkhon, Rulers?

4 The common Gnostic concept: cf. GMC 8 : etc.

5 Christians could hardly demand a more positive statement of
ihe humanity of Christ: Copt, nefei apitne aplasma, htsarx, . . •
pskhema ntmentrome.
 102 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

became Man; he went about in all the land*

he t6ok a man’s likeness, the raiment1 of a
slave 2 (MP. 194 : 1-3). He came for all the
sheep of His flock, because he knew there was
no other to rescue them (MH. 95 : 16-17).. He
had come without a body,3 yet his apostles
declared of him that He took a boy’s form,4*
an - aspect like us men; 5 he came down and
manifested in the world in the Sect of the
Jews (Keph. 12 : 24-27).
3. Jesus dug a river in the world,6 he dug'
a river, even he of the sweet Name; he dug
it with the spade of Truth, dredged it with
the bucket (?) 7 of Wisdom. The stones (?)
he .dredged from it' are like pellets (?) of
incense,8 all the waters that are in it are
rootsLight (MP. 217 :19-24). He also

1 or: vesture, form, aspect (Copt, skhema).

2 This again could be a Christian speaking: Copt, apnoute er~
tome, afkote henpto teref,. afji oueine hrome ouskhema ncaouan; cf> Phil.
2 : 7-8, an all but exact paraphrase.
3 Startling, to the orthodox'Christian! Copt, nlafeikhoris soma*
4 This idea is frequent in the Acts of Thomas and of John, both
of them familiar in Manichean and Gnostic circles.
5 lit: these men. '
6 As it were, a canal to carry the waters of life to needy souls.
7 or: well, basket (Copt: beer), an unknown word.
• '8’i.e.± the Souls, recovered from the world were like fragrant
jewels.
 MESSENGERS OF THE LIGHT 103

freed . . . the inconceivable Light in the whole

Building 1 (Keph. 61: 24-25), vitalised, saved
and gave the victory to those who are his own,
while he slew, chained and annihilated those
who are alien to him (Keph. 37 : 22-24). So
then at the very time when he had cut down
the last of the evil Trees with his Axe, he
uprooted them and burned them and their body
with his Fire,2 so that thenceforth they should
not grow (again) or produce fruit that is bad
to eat,3 . . . Afterwards he on his part planted
his good plants, the Tree of Life 4 that will
make good fruits (Keph. 53 : 21-27).
4. He gave the Call and the Hearing to
the Elements,5 he formed Jesus the Child Q
(Keph. 61:25-27); he chose his disciples, the
beginning of his sheepfold; he traversed
Judea looking for stones;7 daily he went to

1 i.ethat of the Great Builder, the heart, or the world.

2 The fire that Jesus came to bring (Lk. 3 : 9 and 12 : 49).

3 Cf. GPM 32 : 1.
4 Cf. GPM 1 : 1 also Rev. 22 : 2.
5 i.e., he roused even nature itself from its spiritual sleep and
elicited response from it.
* In the heart of mankind; cf. Gal. 4 : 19.
1 Presumably precious stones, i.e., lovers of God, redeemed
souls. ,
104 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

the seashores seeking after pearls.1 . . . He

planted his shoots in the field of his Elect, he
sowed the seed in the soil of his Knowers.2
The sound of his shout went out to the whole
(inhabited) world,3 his sheepfold filled the
corners of the universe.4 The Kings who
heard laid down their crowns, the firstborn
of the land flung away from them their gar¬
lands,5 . . . for his sake the rich ones of the
earth became poor6 (MP. 194:4-6, 27-32;
195 : 1).
5- Satan entered into Judas the Iscariot,7
one among the twelve of Jesus; he betrayed

1 Several of the Apostles were called on the beach of the Sea of

Galilee (cf, Lk. 5 : 1-11).
8 Alluding to the Parable of the Sower. The word need not
mean ‘ Gnostics', simply those who personally knew Jesus.
8 Copt, oikoumene.
4 Copt, kosmos—the whole organised * world
5 This may refer to the “ Wise Menoften assumed to have
been Kings or may anticipate the later royal triumph of the
Church; I do not think up to Mani’s time any Kings had become
converts (Abgarus of Edessa ?); certainly by the date of this Psalm
none had abdicated on that account.
4 This must certainly often have been true enough in days when
to be a Christian meant sure ostracism and often enough torture
and death.
7 Surely a direct allusion to Jn. 13 : 27. In these Psalms
we have interesting characterisations of all the chief early
disciples, such as: Bartholomew—the rose of love, . . .
the sign of freedom from care, for he does not take with
him the day’s bread”; Peter, “the unshakable foundation
. . . of his Church, who was crucified upside down”;.
 MESSENGERS OF THE LIGHT 105

him before the Sect of the Jews with his kiss,

he handed him over into the power of the
Jews and the band of soldiers. Then the Jews
seized the Son of God, judged him lawlessly
in an Assembly and unrighteously condemned
himr although he had no sin. They raised
him upon the wood of the Cross, they crucified
him on the Cross together with robbers
they took him down from the Cross and laid
him in the tomb; but after three days he rose
from the dead. He came to his disciples
and appeared to them, he clothed them with
power and breathed his holy Spirit into them,
he sent them out into all the world to preach
the Greatness, while he in his part raised
'Thomas > “ a merchant that finds gain in the land of India, . . .
-the sweet smell that went to India; . . . four soldiers at one time
pierced him with the point of the lance; they surrounded him on
all sides and made his blood flow. How many mysteries he did! **
Andrew, “the first holy statue, ... a mind strong (?) in how
much! They set fire to the house beneath him, he and his disciples
were crucified **; James, the “spring of the new Wisdom. He was
.stoned and killed; they all threw their stone at him that he might
ndie under the storm”; Mariam (Le., Mary), “a netcaster hunting
ior the eleven others who were wandering, the spirit of wisdom ”
(cf. Mk. 16 : 9-11, Jn. 20 : 17-18); Martha., “ the breath of discre¬
tion, a joyous servant ”; John, “ the flower of virginity; he too was
made to drink the cup, “ fourteen days imprisoned that he might
.die of hunger Salome, “ the grace of peace, an obedient sheep
and Thecla, “ a despiser of the body, the lover of God Some of
these reflect the ‘ Leucian ’ Acts.
1 “ We believe the whole, especially the mystic nailing to the
dross, emblematic of the wounds of the Soul in its passion ”
<AF. 32 : 7).
106 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

himself up to the Height1 (Keph. 11 : 30—-

12:10).
6. The dozen of Apostles became a gar¬
land to this Amen; the Amen answered thenv
he explained to them his wonders:
“ Amen, I was seized; Amen again I
was not seized!
Amen, I was judged; Amen again I
was not judged!
Amen, I was crucified; Amen again*
I was not crucified!
Amen, I was pierced; Amen again I
was not pierced!
Amen, I suffered; Amen again I did
not suffer!2
Amen, I am in my Father; Amen again
my Father is in me!—
But thou wishest the fulfilment of my
Amen:

, 1 It is hard to find anything unorthodox in all this; it shows no*

trace of docetism—yet Faustus hints in the passage in the previous-
note that they understood the whole story in an esoteric sense,,
consistent with the Hymn following.

3 This passage adheres closely to the Hymn of Jesus and the*

story of the Crucifixion in the Acts of John (cf. G.R.S. Mead’s two-
little books in Echoes from the Gnosis). To the ignorant it seems a
paradox; those with any kind of spiritual experience will under¬
stand the Truth can be expressed in no other way—the most
dreadful pain is at times exquisite bliss. _ >
 MESSENGERS OF THE LIGHT 107

I mocked the world, they could not

mock at me!55 )
Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen again, the
four-faced God;1
Glory and honour to the Amen, the
Father of the Greatness!
Blessing and holiness to Jesus, the Son
of the Amen!
Victory to the Holy Spirit who has guided *
us to this Amen3 and his holy Elect
(MP. 191:1-16)!”
7. At the time when Jesus appeared (?) in
the land of the West,4 then ht chose out a
Church and proclaimed his Hope and his .Revela¬
tion 5 to his disciples (Keph. 7 : 18-21): (then)

1 The ‘ Tetraprosopon *, symbolised by the four letters in the

Holy Name in Hebrew—YHWH, DTIT, and referring to the Un¬
manifested manifesting as a Trinity [cf. GPM 13 : 4); we have a
Trinitarian theology here too.
2 or: taught.
3 This name is often spelt here with a preceding ‘ H \ Long:
before this time it was used at the end of prayers in Jewish,
Christian and Gnostic circles, and I think it futile to try to guess
any meanings other than the obvious affirmation of belief and
self-association^with the prayer. Here it symbolises the ‘ Real \
4 From the view of Persia and Mesopotamia where Mani lived,
Palestine is, of course, to the west; yet it lies north-east of Egypt
where these Psalms were translated. Here we seem to have a hint
at the lost Syriac original. In those days Christianity was not
spread more in the West than in the East; it had taken root far
and wide in Iran and beyond.
5 or: Righteousness, i.e., code of ethics.
 108 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

he went up and rested in the Land of Light

(Keph. 61 : 27-28). After him they wrote the
teaching he gave to them and his parables,1 his
precepts of righteousness, and the signs and
wonders which he showed to them\ they wrote a
book describing his life 2 (Keph. 7 : 23-26).
The story of Jesus, Mani’s immediate forerunner,
is then briefly told. We note here many thoughts
derived from early Gnosticism, such as the gradual
descent with intensifying disguise in para. 2, already
taught in the Jewish Gnostic ‘ Ascension of Isaiah *,
and the constant stress on the (physically) unreal
nature of his body and its sufferings (cf. Acts of John).
His liberating work in the world is beautifully described
with rich and swiftly changing metaphors, while the
story of the Crucifixion could have been written by any
Christian. The hymn here given is a very close copy
of the * Hymn of Jesus ’, so grandly set to music by
Gustav Holst; inset in the Acts of John, it seems to have
been used by the Manichean (?) Priscillianists of Spain
around A. D. 385. The exact meaning of * Amen *
here escapes me; it maybe only c‘ in truth ”—but is
clearly used as a mystic name for the Supreme Lord,
as by many Gnostics.
1 “ The writings axe not the production of Christ or of his
Apostles, but a compilation of rumours and beliefs made long
after their departure by some obscure semi-Jews—not even in
harmony with one another—and published by them under the
names of the Apostles, or of those considered the Apostles *
followers, so as to give the appearance of apostolic authority to all
these blunders and falsehoods ” (AF. 33 : 3). These harsh words
•of Faustus are just what Christians say about the so-called N.T.
Apocrypha; modernist critics might have agreed with the oppo¬
nent of St. Augustine here.
2 The restoration of this paragraph is largely speculative, but I
have built it on other fragmentary references, and the Coptic
words would just fit in the broken spaces.
 MESSENGERS OF THE LIGHT 109

35. Mani’s Birth Brings Joy

1. Out of Paradise1 has come an Envoy,

a Herald from the Kingdom (M 4), a Mes¬
senger with a dear name, the Chosen God,
the holy Mani (M 99), the gracious Word
(M 64)! This is in his own Song: “ I am the
First Stranger, the Son of the divine Zrwan,
the Son of Sovereigns (S 29)! Out of the Light
and (from) the Gods am I, and have become
a foreigner to them2 3 (S 108), I have become
alien to the Most Excellence! The enemies
have assailed me, I have been led by them
down to the dead (M 7)!55
2. O loving Comrade,8 thou art illu¬
mined by the signs of the Sun,4 thou Ruler of
Good, the likeness of the divine Zrwan
(M 801)! Thou art the new Teacher of the
East5 and Promoter6 of those of the Good

1 The word is Iranian, Bahisht> not Christian.

2 This verse has a typically Gnostic sound: az rosan uyezdan hemT

ud ‘zdyh bwd hem az hwyn; cf. GPM 50: 2.

3 or: Twin; ‘ispext aye pramen pahiqerb.

4 i.e., by bringing light, safety, joy, etc. to men, as the Sun does.

5 or: the province Khorassan, where Manicheism early

flourished.
6 or: Leader,—the Head of the Religion.
 110 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET. MANI

Faith,1 for thou wast born under a brilliant

Star in the family of rulers2 (M. 543)!
3. A new light-bringing Sun has come, a
new' Messenger, a Teacher in3 the East4
(BuBb. 32)! Lo, the Morning has come, lo,
the Sun shines on us—the ‘ Morning5 is the
Truth, (and) the ‘Truth’ is the Command¬
ments (MP. 146: 17-20), the c Truth5 is the Son
of God 5 (M 18)! To the afflicted has come the
Teaching; . . . the News has come from the
God6 of Gods (Mahr. 364-365)! Mani, the
King of7 Righteousness,8 to whom the Ador¬
able of the Light9 promised wisdom and the
Saints promised r kindness, has come to the
world10 from beyond the Three Realms—to
revive our natures, to become the great King
•V ' *

1 The phrase Vahi denari was commonly used for Mazdeism also.
2 zhe zdd hay padparozh axtar andar tohm lig sahreyaran.
3 or: from.
4 or: the Province Khorassan, where Manicheism early flourished.
5 Derived apparently from Mani’s ‘Gospel* as the answer of
Jesus to Pilate’s half-mocking question: “What is truth? ” Read:
rasteft bag-puhar ast.
6 i.e.} the divinest God.
7 i.e., the Head of the Religion (Sogh. densdr dhar: Parth. den-
sardhar) a term used in Denkarc 9:42: 7 for Zarathushtra.
. 8 i.e., the sum of all the Elect, the perfect Church; (Syr. zaddi'•
quta, Sogh. ardavya, Parth. ardaveft, Gk. Copt, dikaiosune).
8 Ch. Ming-tsouen; i.e., the Supreme God.
10 i.e., Skt. samsara, the sphere of recurring births and deaths.
 MESSENGERS OF THE LIGHT 111

of Medicine,1 the just Judge, to open the

fountain of immortality,2 plant the life-giving
Tree, deliver the hosts of his Native Land,
gather the Sons of Light, to become the Shep¬
herd of the tender and gentle flocks, put
wall 3 and moat around the fields of blessings,
to nourish and beautify the seedlings and
fruits of the clean and pure Law, to become
the Guardian and Protector4 (BM. 374-376)!
4. Let us bless our Lord Jesus who has
sent to us the Spirit of Truth!5 He came and
Separated us from the error of the world, he
brought us a mirror in which we looked and
sa& the universe 6 (MP. 9:4-7); (he led us up)
to Paradise, where the breeze brings lovely
fragrance 7 (M 64)!
5. Gladly and joyfully were the highly
blessed Light-beings led on when thou wast
• 1 i.e.y the (spiritual) Healer.
2 lit: sweet dew, i.e., amritam, ambrosia.
3 or: embankment; cf. GPM 11.
4 Here we have a complete outline of the work of every true
Messenger from God.
5 Here Mani is declared to be the ‘ Paraclete * promised by
Jesus in Jn. 14: 16-17, 26; so. he was, to the Manicheans.
« Cf the thought in Agraphon 93, probably from the lost Gospel
of the Egyptians: ita me in vobis videte quomodo quis vestrum se videt in
aquam aut in speculwn\ also cf. 1 Cor. 13: 12.
7 Cf. GPM 80: 3.
 112 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

born in royalty!1 The twelve (Signs) and the

world’s atmosphere were in a happy mood;
all Gods (and) those like (them) were made
to become full of joy.2 O friend, through thee
is secured (?) the house of the mountain-plant
and stream-fed soil, the palace and the open?
hut! 3 When the beautiful maids and youths
from the Light-Mind4 saw thee, they blessed
thee through praises in unison, O faultless
Youth! From all sides small drums, harps,
flutes, gave again and again the sound oF
poetic melodies! The Gods all stand facing
the Son of the Ruler of the Race;5 a voice
from the air6 sings the melody of a lyric of
the World of Light, speaking thus to the Mes¬
senger of the Light: “The Judge is born,
happiness created! O Crowned One, best and
highest of all the Gods,7 three things have
1 This certainly seems to confirm that Mani was of royal birth;
it reads: to zdd aiy bd sahrdyeft.
2 Cf. the joy of nature when Zarathushtra was bom (GZ 26 : 3)r
Jesus (GMG 7-9), Sri Krishna (Srimadbhagavatam 10: 3), and the
Divine King (GP 46).
3 i.e., both rich and poor were blessed.
4 Text: Manuhmed, the Cosmic Mind expressed through the
incarnate Teacher.
5 Mani too is here called ‘ the Son of God *, who is the King of
all Light-* Sparks \ the souls of men, etc.
• i.e., an dkasa-vdhi, such as Hindu Puranas often bring in.
7 And here Mani seems identified with God Himself.
 MESSENGERS OF THE LIGHT 113

been assigned for thee to do: to abolish death,

strike down the Foe, exalt1 the whole Garden
of the Light (M 10)!”
6. O Saviour of Souls (M 74), thou art a
Son of God (M 785)! Thou hast received
adoration, hast soared up to the Height and
drawn up the whole Light-Paradise; the terri¬
ble (?) Ruler is for ever bound and the abode
of the Dark ones is abolished!2 O Friend of the
Light,3 First of Humanity,4 thou wast present
when the Father (expressed) the desire! 5 . . .
Thou hast come with well-being,6 thou Spirit
of the Light; let His well-being be on thee
who art the Father’s own! O true outleading
God,7 the higher Gods whose glorious dia¬
dem 8 ever shines on thy brow praise thee, O
Living Spirit, holy holy God, my Lord Mani
(M 10)!

1 or: draw up.

2 This can only happen when the body, dwelling of the demons,,
has been finally discarded by the saints in the hour of death.
8 Cf. GPM 16; Frxyandg Rdsdn.
4 i.e., mortals.
5 i.e., that a Messenger should visit the earth (cf. GZ 52, Heb.
10; 9).
* Primarily spiritual, but worldly prosperity also.
7 i.e., who leads souls out of the darkness into Light.
8 lit: diadem and glory—probably a hendiadys.
8
 114 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

Christians being perplexed by a swarm of warring

sects and theories, harassed by recurring persecutions,
the hour had come for a new revelation. Mani
appeared in the world at a time of crisis. Handicapped
by its association with the rigidity of ancient Israel
and its rites, the faith of Jesus had lost the adaptability
which could have won the immemorial East, and must
henceforth labour among the wild and unsophisticated
peoples of the West and North. The hope of the new
spiritual light illumining the vast lands of Asia rested
now with the new Messenger, whose birth was natur¬
ally a “ tidings of great joy99 to those who sought for
light. He too, like those who went before him, laboured
for the freedom of all God’s sons, ‘sparks’ of His Light
exiled in the prisons of the gloomy Darkness.

36 Mani’s Mission

1. Then the Luminary1 said (Keph. 42 :

32): “ I Mani, the Apostle of Jesus 2 (M 17),
I have gone out of the land of Babel, whence
I was to call a Gall in the world (M 4); I
shall cause living streams to well up for the
thirsty, that they may drink and live ” 5 (Keph.
90 : 18-19).
2. The Luminary said again (Keph. 43 :
25): u Without weapons, without armour I have
subdued distant towns and far-off lands through

1 One of Mani’s favourite titles in the Kephalaia, because like

the Sun he brought redeeming light to mankind.
2 See also the note 5 to GPM 35: 4.
z So too said Jesus, in Jn. 4: 14.
 MESSENGERS OF THE LIGHT 115

the Word of God, while they bless my name

and it receives glory in all the lands. . . .
The Kings, nobles and officials have striven
with (all) their power1 with me to break me
away from this Truth; they could do nothing
against me! If now I had been alone, why
could not all those who have contended with
me succeed against me? ... As no single
man has known how to conquer me in all the
world, so is it also (to be) with my sons, no
one shall be able to conquer them. ... I
have strengthened my Church, have made it
my own, have placed in it all good things
that are in any way of use to it; in all lands
far and near I have planted the Good (and)
sowed the Truth (Keph. 100 : 32—101 : 8,
15-17, 22-25); by me has a Palace2 been built
and a throne having goodly rest for the Soul
and Spirit (M 5.)! Apostles and Envoys have
I sent out to all the lands, so that the earlier
Apostles who preceded them have not done
as I have done in this hard generation, save
only Jesus, the Son of the Greatness, who is
1 or: with ail their powers, i.emilitary and governmental
forces.
2 Cf. the Palace Thomas built in the heavens for King Gonda-
phemes, in the Acts of Thomas.
116 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

the Father of all the Apostles.1 . . . For this

great Door which I have opened lies open to
the Gods and Angels, and Men and all the
Spirits and the living Souls who are ready for
Life and everlasting Rest (Keph. 101 : 25-29,
34—102 : 3)! ”
3. The Messenger (Keph. 9 : 21) himself
subdued the great Sea, he also subdued the
Rebels in it,2 ... he set guards over them to
watch them. He lifted up the fallen, healed
the wounded, woke those who slept, reminded
those who had forgotten, enlightened the eyes
of the Righteous that they might go up and
see the Land of the Light,3 gathered those
who were scattered, made the poor ones of
darkness shine, laid down and levelled the
course his Living Father enjoined on him,
(and) smoothed the royal road from here to
the Land of Peace, ... so that the Righteous
might walk on it4 . . . and see the Land of

1 A remarkable testimony to Mani’s direct predecessor.

2 i.e., the demons of passion, greed, lust, etc., which infest the
emotional nature in this world.
3 Mere virtue alone does not give this spiritual vision; that is a
special gift of God at His pleasure to the righteous. We know
that Amu (Ammos), was one of Mani’s apostles who had this
vision (cf. GPM 80, mostly from his hymn).
4 Cf. Isa. 35: 8 in GY 83:3.
 MESSENGERS OF THE LIGHT 117

Light. A radiance is put on them, a diadem 1

is tied upon their head, and they are added
to the number of the Angels (MP. 213 : 6-21).
(And finally) he perfected his mystery through
the Cross (MH. 11 : 15).
4. Our Lord (Keph. 16 : 26), we worship
thy sufferings which thou didst endure for thy
children’s sake, for thou didst leave thy great
glory, and come and give thyself for Souls.
Thou didst put on2 shape after shape until
thou hadst visited every race,3 for the sake of
thy loved ones, until thou hadst chosen them
in their midst! Thou didst cross the earth,
the seas, and the deserts also; thou didst
seek out thy Beloved, thy Church, until thou
hadst found her (MP. 42 : 28—43 : 4)! The
beloved Son, Christ Jesus, sets a garland on
thee in great joy, for thou hast built
(again) his building that was destroyed,
illumined his path that was hidden, set in
order once more his Scriptures which were

1 or: turban.

2 or: take, “ being all things to all men ”.

3 Cf. GPM 34 : 2,^but it also refers to the way Mani adapted his
teaching to the backgrounds of the various lands he visited, so that
it could take root everywhere.
 118 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

confused,1 explained his secret Wisdom2

(MP. 12 : 28-32)!
Here we let Mani himself speak of his untiring
labours (cf. also GPM 88:1) for mankind in fulfilling
the pledge taken before his birth, and we note his very
human pride in having done more than all his pre¬
decessors save only Jesus, the <c beloved one of the
sweet name ”. Then the devotee takes up the tale,
closing with words of gratitude for the wonderful things
his Teacher has done.

37. The Glory of Mani

1. Our Lord Mani, the Messenger of the

Light, the Tongue that speaks no lie, our
glorious Father, the Gentle One who loves (his)
children 3 (MP. 139 : 47-52), the Tree of Life
full of gay fruit 4 (MP. 80 : 24)—he gives life
to the dead and illumines those in darkness *
1 The Qur’an puts the same charge that Christian Scriptures-
have been corrupted in the interest of certain doctrines preferred
by the Church. But so far as I myself have read, proof of this is
still inadequate.
2 Mani here claims to be a true Gnostic, revealing the mysteries,,
the Esoteric Knowledge that lies within the words of earlier
Scriptures.
3 A touching tribute to the personal manner of the Prophet r
penidt naglaos phelcet mmaisere: Cf. “ a bruised reed he shall not
break ”.
4 This of course identifies him with God, as in App. 13:1; the
‘fruit’ are of course the disciples’ virtues, as in Jn. 15:4-5
(GMC 52).
5 Clearly, the spiritually dead are referred to; Mani nowhere
claims to have worked 1 miracles * of the more vulgar type:
Zivened 5 murdagdnd, ud rocened 5 tdrigan.
 MESSENGERS OF THE LIGHT 119

(M 311). Mani (is) the Sovereign Light,

the Spirit of the Light, . . .
Father of the blessing, . . . compassionate
and incorruptible . . . Place of Repose
(Mahr. 233, 415, 271, 274, 283), (also) the
Mind and the Wisdom that dwell in his
Scriptures, his Five holy Books1 (MP.
139 : 52-54) !
2. Thou art the supreme Self,2 thou art
the First and Last 3 (M 83), the immortal
Wind of Life (M 47), for thou art the pro-
claimer of Truth in the Beginning, the Middle
and the End4 (MP. 7:8-9). Fortunate for
us that through thee we learned and accepted
thy teaching (M 233)!
3. When I think of thee, my Lord, great
is the fear that surrounds me; when I desire

1 Five is the specially holy number. The list is usually given as :

the Living Gospel, the Treasury of Life, the Mysteries, the Prag-
mateia, and either the Shahpuraqan or the Book of Letters. In
these books abides the very spirit of Mani himself, as the Guru
dwells in ihe Guru Granth Saheb (GGS 54:7) and Yahweh in
the Law. '

£ A strikingly Indian-sounding sentence: to to ee guv vazurg.

8 Naxven i£ ud ‘ustomen. Cf. Rev. 22:13 and GPM 93131 in both

places this declares eternity and is a divine epithet.

4 in the Three Times—before creation, this present age of

mingled good and evil, the final Restoration.
120 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

to give thee glory, I do not find to whom I

should liken thee (MP. 151 : 26-27)! To what
shall I compare thee, my Lord ? I shall
compare thee with the Sun that shines forth,
that comes daily with his rays and gives
delight to all created things (MP. 145:21-24)!
Who will not rejoice when the Sun is about
to shine on him (MP. 151 :11) ? To what shall
I compare thee, O Beloved ? I shall compare
thee with a great River that gives gladness to
the worlds and the waters of life to the parched
fields ! I shall compare thee to a good Farmer
who cares for his trees and daily gathers
their fruits (MP. 145:25-31)! When I seek
thee I find thee within, shining upon
me;1 perhaps I too am worthy to hear the
divine Call! When I myself come to thee,
fair is thy glory in my mouth, my Lord
(MP. 151 : 28-30)!

The devotee pours out fervently a passionate ex¬

pression of his love and adoration for the Enlightener,
the tender Guardian, who is ever with him, strengthen¬
ing him and giving him joy and peace even in the
hour of agony.

1 As the Messenger of Light, Mani is also the e Light-Mind* that

enters, shines within, awakes and guides the willing Soul
(cf. GPM63).
 MESSENGERS OF THE LIGHT 121

38. The Bema Festival

1. The great High King is seated on his

Bema,1 he looks at the deeds of every one of
us (MP. 21 : 27-28)! This is the Bema of Jesus
and the Maiden of the Light and the Judge
of the Church (MP. 20:31—21:1); this (is the)
Day whereon his dawning and his light
appear (MP. 30:28-29). The whole air gives
light, the Sphere shines today; even the earth
also puts forth blossom, the waves of the sea
are still, for the gloomy winter that was full
of trouble has passed away—let us too escape
from the iniquity of evil! . . . See, today (?)
-every tree has been renewed once more! See,
the rose-flowers have spread abroad their
beauty, for the worm 2 (?) that harmed their
leaves has been taken away3 (MP. 8-18-21,
14-16). Cut thou also the chains and the

1 The rostrum for Athenian orators, the dais whereon the most
important persons sat at a feast. It was approached by five steps,
corresponding to the five Glories of Mind, to the stages of spiritual
-enlightenment, and the grades of the Manichean hierarchy culminat¬
ing in the Leader himself. Its presence in the Prayer-Hall, richly
adorned, ensured the sacramental presence of the glorified Lord to
judge, pardon, teach and divinise the faithful. This was specially
done at the anniversary of Mani’s ascent to heaven after death—
-with rejoicings much like the Christian Easter.
8 An unknown word snah; it may be parasite, bond, rot, blight.
2 or: cut, severed. Nature shares the joy of the faithful.
122 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

worms (?) of our sins! (MP. 8 : 16-17) Now

then we make festival observing1 thy holy
day, and passing the night keeping vigil in
thy joy, O Glorious One; ... so wash us
now in the dewdrops of thy happiness
(MP. 41 : 16-17, 20)!
2. For this is the Day which thou hast
given us as a present2 that we may beseech,
thee, our Lord, and thou (mayest) forgive us
our sins (MP. 20:28-30); he who despises
today shall be despised on the day of laying
aside the body (MP. 21:11-12). We worship
thee, O Advocate,3 and we implore in the
presence of thy Bema that thou mayest for¬
give us our sins that we have committed in
the whole year! For there is no one in this
flesh who is free from sin in his heart;4 it is
thou alone who art the searcher of hearts—
forgive us what we have done (MP. 25:18-23) [
Look upon thy beloved ones, O Blessed; pity
thy children, , . . give us the grace oF
absolution (MP. 29 : 20-22)!
1 or: perfecting.
2 Cf. Ps. 118 : 24. Prayer is rejoicing, as we find in GPM 58.
3 i.e.> the ‘ Twin who always accompanied Mani; and now in
the same way Mani will always accompany us, ready to help in need,
4 cf. GY 37 : 1-2.
 MESSENGERS OF THE LIGHT 123

3. O Soul, . . . this visible Bema, the

Word, has been set before thee that it may
sow in thee through what is visible1 the
memory of the hidden Law2 which thou hast
forgotten since the day thou didst drink the
water of madness. O Soul, see, to thee has
come the grace of the Day of Rejoicing; do
thou reveal without fear all thy sins today*
and remember thy end and prepare thyself in
thy works, for the Bema of Wisdom moves
thee thereto (MP. 7 :14-21). This is the Way
of Truth, this is the Stairway that leads on
high,4 which shall take us up to the Light
(MP. 22:6-7); come then, and walk on these
holy steps5 (MP. 7:32)! From the beginning*
he is this Way, namely the First Man, and
Jesus the Radiant, and the Spiritual Advo¬
cate; they have summoned thee, O Soul*
1 Thus the * Bema 5 was a true sacrament—“ an outward and
visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace **. It may have
originated in the vision (?) of Mani at his death, narrated in his
* Life §24, when he distributed bread and salt. The Manicheans
certainly had some kind of Eucharist like the Catharist * Con-
solamentum ’ (see article in CE).
2 or: judgment—hep,
3 Doubtless in some such form as the ‘ Khuastuanift *, our
App. II.
4 The figure popular even in Ancient Egypt of b.c. 3000
(GP 33).
6 i.e., the five steps of the Church, leading to the Lord on the
throne upon the Bema.
 124 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

that thou shouldst go, up on high thereby

{MP. 22:7-10)!
4. Let the Bema become for thee a land¬
ing-place of thy lifetime,1 a cleansing-place
of thy life, a chest filled with teaching, a
ladder to the Height,2 a measuring-balance
of thy deeds (MP. 8 : 1-4). Receive the holy
Seal from the Mind of the Church and fulfil
the, Precepts (MP. 22 : 11-12), to accept most
actively every injunction, command and seal
of perfect peacefulness (S 32): that we lie
not, . . . kill not, . . . eat no flesh, . . .
purify ourselves (MP. 33 : 19-22). The Judge
who is in the Air will himself give thee his
three graces;3 thou shalt receive the Baptism
of the Gods in the Perfect Man; the Lumi¬
naries will perfect thee and take thee to thy
Kingdom; thy Father, the First Man, shall
give to thee thy (everlasting) life; . . . the
Divine Envoy of Truth shall give to thee the
diadem of the Light;-ka,4 she shall give

1 i.e.y where the life comes to its haven and mooring-placc after
the world’s storms.
2 See note 4 on page 123.
8 or: gifts; we hear more of these in Chapter Six.
4 I have not traced this broken name of the Angel of the
Garland; the six first letters are missing here.
 MESSENGERS OF THE LIGHT 125

thee thy garland of renown (MP. 22 : 12-19).

Light your lamps, . . . O Sons of Joy, . . .
and keep watch on the Day of the Bema for
the Bridegroom of Rejoicing, and receive
the holy Light-Rays of the Good Father1
(MP. 37 : 25, 30—38 : 1).
5. Hail, resplendent Bema (MP. 24:20)1
Hail, Day of Rejoicing, the blessed Bride¬
groom! See, our lamps are ready; see our
vessels are full o oil!2 . . . Hail, Gate of the
Light, Straight Way of Life, good Shepherd
of his sheep, the Souls5 Hope of Life! Hail,,
Tree of Knowledge that is in the midst of thi&
host of trees,3 whereof when we were blind4
we ate and saw! . . . Hail, O Rising of the
Dead,5 the New Age of the Souls that has
stripped us of the 4 Old Man 5 and put the

1 i.e.j of Mani, reflecting spiritual sunlight on his children.

2 An allusion to the parable of the five wise and five foolish
virgins in Mt. 25 : 1-13.
8 A jealous deity (i.e.} demon) forbade Adam and Eve to eat oF
this one Tree (Gen. 2 : 16-17), lest they see the ‘nakedness’ of
physical matter and aspire to the glorious robes of the spiritual
Heaven.
4 ue.y blind to the Truth, as was First Man when he fell into
the power of the demons, and as were we until enlightened by the-
Master.
6 Of- Jn* : 25, but of course there is no notion anywhere in.
Manicheism of a physical resurrection, only the spiritual awakening:
from an interior soul-death.
 126 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

4 New Man5 upon us1 (MP. 25:15-17, 3-8,

12-14)! Hail, Mind of the Father, Garland of
Renown of the Ages,2 the Holy Spirit who
scans the ‘All’, the Father’s Perfect Love!
Hail, Rejoicing of the Gods, the Angels’ Inner
Repose, the whole Will of the Powers of the
Light, the Trust of the Kingdom’s Sons
(MP. 24 : 23-28)! This is the purity of the
Messenger of the Light, . . . of the Saviour
Christ, ... of the Spiritual Advocate, . . .
of the Father’s Love; this is the purity of the
Good Faith, ... of Perfection, . . .
Patience, . . . Wisdom and Godliness; this
is the honour ... of Fasting, Prayer and
Almsgiving, ... of blessed Poverty, the
honour of Humility and Kindliness (MP. 33 :
10-23)!
6. Blessed art thou, great Instrument of
the Word,3 upright Bema of the great Law¬
giver,4 the Seat of the Fathers of the Light

1 St. Paul made great use of this metaphor in Eph. 4 :22-24

and Rom. 6:6.

** the sarland of gl°ries round God (cf.

s The Instrument like a c waterwheel * devised to raise Souls_

i,e.t the spiritual sadhanas of developing virtue.
4 or: Judge; Mani himself.
 MESSENGERS OF THE LIGHT 127

~who are far from error, the Basis of the sweet

Victory that is full of Wisdom! Hail, Bema of
Victory, great Sign of our City,1 joyous and
shining Garland of the victorious Souls but
judgment and conviction of the sinners2
(MP. 8:6-12)! Thou art the blessed Root, thou
art the strengthening of the Luminaries, thou
art the Gift of the Air, thou art the manifest¬
ing of Light’s victory! . . . Thou art the
Medicine of the healing of our wounds, . . .
thou art the one that crushes evil while thou
placest a garland on godliness; thou art the
one that purifies the Light from darkness; thou
art the one that gives rest to the Souls (MP.
26 : 9-11, 21, 24-26)!
The great festival which closed the month of
penitential fasting and opened a new year of joy and
hope was held, like Easter, in commemoration of the
Master’s ascent from the darkness of the tomb of the
body into the glorious brightness of the risen state. A
five-stepped platform adorned with flowers, a portrait of
Mani, and a copy of his Scriptures, was set up in every
church; before it the faithful kept vigil with confession
and prayer. In the joyful morning they received
from the Messenger sacramentally present there a total
absolution of their sins and the blessed assurance of his
perpetual help and presence. With what love and
ecstatic joy the Manicheans kept this holy festival we
1 i.e., of the Kingdom of Light, as in GPM 77 : 1.
2 A similar contrast is in GPM 17.
 128 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

can surely see in these very early passages; it was to

them all that Easter has ever been to Christians.
Coming in the hopeful season of early spring, it was at
at once linked with the reviving life of nature; absolved
and pure, lit with the certainty that he who has gone
on high will raise those who trust in him, the faithful
Soul entered on the life of the newborn year in over¬
powering joy and confidence.

39. Love Divine

1. Love is the Father of Greatness who*

dwells in His glorious Land; in 1 it the whole
Godhead has revealed Itself.2 These two are
a single living Body; the Father and His Love,,
for He has given Himself alone for everything
while He was in His Aeons; 3 on this account
also the Father, the Lord of All, was called
‘ Love 5, because He has given the victory to*
His Aeons and His Limbs (Keph. 156 : 1-7).
2. Again, the beginning of all the Righte¬
ousness and the Divinity 4 which dwell in the
holy Church has also been named ‘ Love
the Church being strengthened thereby. Both
1 or: through.
2 A beautiful sentence: Copt, hta tmentnoute teres otionh abal nhetef^
Cf. the citation from the Syr. ‘ Gospel of the Seventy * in a Turfarr
fragment: “What love you have for God, realise it fully ”, i.e.r
experience it, live it through, to the end.
2 Hermes stresses that God can only be God because of this*
ceaseless act of love-ful giving (cf. GH 10 : 2).
4 or: godliness.
 MESSENGERS OF THE LIGHT 129

of these, the Mind and the Church, form one

Body also because the Messenger gives himself
up only for his Church. For this reason too
the Church calls him also ‘ Love \ as it is
written: “ There is no love greater than this,
to make one give himself to death for his neigh¬
bour’s sake’5.1 Again, he the beginning of
the Righteousness is ‘ Love ’ of the Church
bodily and spiritually; in the body—here in
the Church; but in the spirit—in the Height
which is above (Keph. 156 : 7-19).
As is God, pouring out His life in many Ema¬
nations to redeem creation, so is the Messenger, giving:
his life for his Church. And this is Love—to give
oneself to the uttermost for others; that is why the
name of 4 Love 5 is shared by God and His Messenger.

1 A direct quotation from Jn. 15 : 13, the slight verbal variation

may suggest mediation through some apocryphal Gospel.
9
 CHAPTER FOUR

THE CHURCH OF THE

LIGHT

Here we have a brief outline of the ideal life held

out before the general body of believers, the greatness
of both Elect and Hearers, the glory of continuous
effort for the Church, and the promise of eventual
triumph.

40. Who Are the Elect?

L My Lord (Keph. 147 : 19), thou hast

appointed the degree of the Perfect and sepa¬
rated them from those who are in the world ;1
thou hast assigned a task to each one of them
in the yoke of Jesus (MP. 4 : 27-29)!

1 The choice which settled the rank of a believer could be made

only with the aid of grace; probably Mani himself, so long as he
was in the body, used to choose and guide those who were to rule
and teach his churches. It has been suggested that the * Elect *
were rather those who could distinguish and separate the
JLight L from their food, as. the hamsa (sWan) of Indian tradition,
can separate^water from milk, truth from the illusory*
 THE CHURCH OF THE LIGHT 131

2. The first righteousness which the man

must practise in order to become truly right¬
eous is this:1 He must make himself celibate
and pure; and gain for himself also the
‘ repose of the hands 5,2 that he may keep his
fiand away from (hurting) the ‘ Cross of the
TightJ ;3 and thirdly, the purity of the mouth
—he must cleanse his mouth from all flesh
and blood4 and not even taste the name of
wine and intoxicants at all (Keph. 192 : 7-13).
3. Again, the second righteousness he
practises is this: He must assume grace and
wisdom and faith, so that he may give his
1 Here come the famous three Seals: Augustine writes: " By the
mouth we are to understand all the sense organs in the head, by
the hands all bodily actions, by the breast all lustful tendencies.
. . . The symbol of the mouth implies refraining from all
blasphemy ” (AMM. 19-20).
2 This does not mean idleness, but abstaining from hurtful
activity.
3 A technical term for all the field of nature and of embodied
life, wherein the Light-Sparks have been confined, tortured,
-crucified. Manicheans carried this non-violence to a degree which,
to Mazdeans, would seem wicked, for the true * Elect ’ “ does not
hurt even demoniac creatures” (T. II. Toyoq). I suspect a Jain
influence in this extremism of non-violence.
4 “ In its passage upward as vapour from earth to heaven (the
Light-Spark) enters plants because their roots are fixed in the
earth, and so gives fertility and strength to all herbs and shrubs.
From these animals get their food, and where there is sexual inter¬
course fetter the member of God in the flesh and . . . entangle it
in errors and troubles. . . . Some portion of that divine part
-escapes in the eating of vegetables and fruits, ... so when the
soul has left the flesh the dregs are utterly filthy and the soul of
those who eat flesh is defiled ” (AMM. 36-37). So far Augustine.
 132 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

wisdom to every man who shall hear it from

him; while through his faith he must give
the Faith to those who belong to the Faith;
through his grace he must grant grace with,
love and clothe them therewith, so that he
may unite them with himself1 (Keph-
192: 16-21).
We learn from AnNadim that it was the con¬
science of the Manichean himself that decided his rank
in the Church. Those who could live the higher life
took the vows that made them the c Elect5; those too-
weak for this remained in the lower grade of the:
* Hearers’. The famous ‘ Three Seals ’ are here well-
explained: they involve vows of chastity, non-violence
(but not of inaction!), and bodily purity; in addition,,
the Elect is pledged to teach the brethren, to inspire
them with the courage of his own faith, and to shower
unitive love upon them all.

41. The Glory of the Elect

1. The Elect are themselves Gods, stand¬

ing up to the image of the Gods;2 the
.Divinity also that has come down in them
and has come to them from on high has.
dwelt in them, and (so) they have done the
»

1 Negative piety is not enough; the Elect must work to spread

the Faith by his own wisdom, tact, cheerfulness and love, so that
the unity of the Church—the 4 Column of Glory *—may be formed
on earth.

\ i.e.y approaching their likeness.

 THE CHURCH OF THE LIGHT 133

will of the Greatness1 (Keph. 219:34—220:3).

The Light-Mind . . . puts a great Spirit on
the Elect; therefore you find him actually
standing on the earth while in his heart he
rises, coming up to the Father, the God of
Truth. . . . Again, he descends by means of
liis insight2 and his meditation3 and goes
down to the world of Darkness from which
the Darkness erupted; his heart runs and
welcomes everything4 (Keph. 100 : 1-2, 7-14),
The Good and the Evil dwell in every man
- . . ; the Saints carry a great burden on
their shoulders . . . (for) they stand in the
hody which is not their own, . . . since the
* Old Man5 dwells in their body also 5 (Keph.
220 : 16-18, 21-22 ; 221 : 15).
2. At the time when thou seest them
quarrelling and angry of heart, do not doubt

1 Maui shows the sinfulness of criticising flaws seen in an Elect,

on whom lies the great strain of living in two worlds at once—in
Heaven among the Gods and on earth among men. Hindus
specially will appreciate this warning against any kind of criticism
of the Guru, who incarnates God’s will.
2 i.esbo; the word may also mean 4 imagination \
3 i.e., makmek, the concrete mode of thinking.
4 i.e., he willingly, for our sake, accepts these human limitations.
5 They too are human, fallible, for none are free from sin (cf.
GPM 38 : 2). The * Old Man’ is expelled only by Perfection,
after death.
 134 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

them or despise them or withdraw from them.

. . . See, thou abidest in all these sins; the
Saints look at thee when thou doest them,,
yet they do not dishonour thee or hate thee*
nor do they withdraw from thee or even say:
“So long as he sins in this way I shall not be
a teacher to him.” Nay, they even welcome
thee lovingly and gently; they speak with thee
in God’s wisdom, instructing thee (Keph.
220 :10-11; 26 : 32); they say to thee: “Thou
art our brother, thou art our kinsman who-
shall journey with us to the Land of Light!”’
Look, then; thou seest how great is the love
they have for thee, they bear for thee as
comrade; so this is proper for thee, to love them
also and to honour them 1 (Keph. 221 : 2-7).
3. Now at the time when I leave the world
and enter the House of my People,2 I shall
gather to that place all the Elect who have
believed in me,3 I shall draw them to myself
—-every one of them: I shall not leave one of

1 In Man. I. 23 we read: “As the eye is beloved to the foot and.

the hand is to the mouth, so also and in the same degree is the
Elect beloved to mankind.’*

2 i.e.y the ‘ native land of the Soul *, the Land of Light, where the
Fathers dwell (cf GPM 4:3).

3 Cf Jn. 14:3.
 : THE CHURCH OF THE LIGHT 135

them in the Darkness at the time1 of his

coming forth (from the body).2 3 This is why
I say to you: “Let everyone who loves me
love all my sons, the blessed Elect, because
I am with them, I the only one.55 3 Why ?
Because my Wisdom is spread in them all,
the great Glorious One dwdls in all of them;
and everyone who loves them and walks4
with them by means of his alms, shall
live and conquer with them and escape
j ' *■*

out of the world of Blackness5 (Keph.

166 : 4-16). .
Such souls are truly divine in their inward nature,
-even when, momentarily carried away by the impulses
of the flesh which they too must share with us, th$y
may seem to fall away and to betray the lofty ideal.
They are like a bridge, a ladder, joining earth to
Heaven; and as they are gentle and forgiving to our
frailties we too must hold for them unwavering love
and reverence, even when we see their weaknesses.
Mani promises, as Jesus did before, that he will take
the Elect to himself when he returns on high to the
Kingdom, adding that those who love them are united
with himself—so close is the union between the Lord
and his 4 human members
1 or: moment.
2 None who, for his sake, have undertaken the ‘ yoke? of self-
abnegation will be allowed to fall back from the heavenly way.
3 Cf. Jn. 14 ; 15 and 15 : 12.
4 i.eshares (in the ‘ treasury of merit ’).
5 ue..j of Darkness, thus entering the glorious Realm of Light,
our te abiding City in the age to come
 136 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

42. Hearers of the Wisdom

1. The first duty of the Hearer which he

does is Fasting, Prayer and Almsgiving.1 Now
the Fasting in which he fasts is this, that
(Keph. 192 : 29-31) the real faithful Hearer
keeps fifty fasts ... on the fifty Sundays of
the year (Keph. 233 : 2-4) and rests from the
works of the world 2 (Keph. 192 : 32-33). He
controls also their purity,3 restraining himself
from the desire of his wife, keeping his bed
pure by means of celibacy all the Sundays.
He is frugal in his diet, nor does he defile his
food with the taint of fish and the whole
pollution of flesh and blood; 4 further, on the
Sundays he eats nothing defiled. Also he
guards his hands from hurting and tormenting
the Living Soul 5 (Keph. 233 : 5-11).
Now this is the Prayer, that he must
pray to the Sun and Moon, the great

1 or: compassion (Copt, tmentnae).

2 i.e.} abstains from worldly activities, a sort of Sabbath rest.
. 3 i.e.f the purity of the Sunday fasts.
4 Manicheans were always strict vegetarians in every land and
century; “ nor do they use the milk foods because they are milked
or sucked from an animal’s living body ” (Aug. de Haer. 46).
5 Skt. jivatma; Pers. grev-jiwandag, i.e., the Light-Spark confined,
in all living and ‘ non-living * matter.
 THE CHURCH OF THE LIGHT 137

Luminaries1 (Keph. 192:33—193:1). The times

of Prayer are followed (?) by him; he keeps
them, he comes daily to the Prayer, hourly
and daily, all the hours of Prayer will be kept,2
with his fasts and his alms which he gives
on all the days of the year (Keph. 233 :12-16).
The Alms is this, that he must make an
offering of food through3 the Saint, and
piously give it to them4 (Keph. 193:2-3).
The Alms will be reckoned to his good, the
Past that he has kept, the cloth that he has
put upon the Saints;5 and thereby they daily

1 Prayer was to be uttered facing the sun or moon or, when

they were invisible, the Polar Star. But GPM 25 shows that it
was not to be addressed to them; they are honoured as the means
iof salvation, the Saviour is God and His Messengers; idolatry
would be a great sin.
3 Regularity in Prayer is essential if it is to be of use.
3 or: in; the offering goes through them to God.
4 i.r., the Elect. “ If anyone refuses to give pious respect to
-the Elect, he will be punished for generations and transferred into
the bodies of Hearers until he render many deeds of piety ** (H. 9).
5 The offering to the Elect of food (miyazda) was to set them
■free to consecrate, purify and release the Sparks of God’s immanent
Light in the vegetables, fruits, juices, etc.; the necessary yearly
robe might also be given. Augustine has in his de Haeresibus, 46:
-t< Now they say the Powers of God not only carry out the same
purifying and freeing of the Good from evil through the whole
world and from all its elements, but even His Elect ones through
the foods they take. And they declare God’s Subtance to be surely
-mixed up with those foods and with the whole world: which they
-think are purified in His Elect by that kind of life wherein the
JElect of the Manicheans live as more holy and excellent than their
Hearers.”
 138 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

share a communion with them in their fasting'

and their good deed 1 (Keph. 233 : 16-19).
2. The second work of the Hearer which.
he does is this, that the man should give to
the Righteousness2 a son of the Church, or
his relative or family-member; or he should:
rescue one who is in trouble; or buy a slave
and give him to the Righteousness 3—so that
every good (deed) which this one whom he
has given, . . that Hearer who gave him has
a share therein (Keph. 193 :4-11).
•. 3.; Thirdly, that the man should build a.
dwelling-place or found (?) a temple,4 5 so
that it may become for him a part of
Almsgiving in5 the holy Church, (Keph.
193:11-14).
/ • • .
b • .

1 or: merit. The doctrine of the £ Treasury of Merit * in the*

Church, as in GZ 46 :6. This does not, however, exempt tho
individual from having to earn his own liberation by grace-
assisted effort; Copt, hsekoinone nemeu hhetes hen tounestia men'
pouagathon. The idea of the Treasury is also found in Taittiriya-
brahmana 3 : 10 ; 11 :2 and in Samyutta-nikaya 3 : 14, we are
told. Cf. Datastan-i-Denik: han i hamefak sut ganj andar, “in the
Treasury of perpetual profit”.

2 i.e.y to Religious life, as an Elect.

3 Each must at least provide his own successor in the Church.
Militant; if he cannot himself become an Elect, he must try to
find at least one of his slaves selfless enough to take up this * yoke T
4 lit: place (topos).

5 or: through.
 THE CHURCH OF THE LIGHT (139

4. When the Hearer fulfils these three great

duties . . . which he makes into a gift to the
holy Church, ... he has in him a great love*
together with a share in every grace and good ‘
deed in the holy Church; he shall find many
graces (Keph. 193 : 14-22). Afterwards h^e is
cleansed . . . according to the measure of his
works,1 he is purified and bathed and adorn¬
ed. After that, he is moulded into a Light-
Image,2 and he soars up and reaches the
Land of Rest, so that where his heart is, his
treasure also may be there.3 ... At the time
of his coming forth, he departs and reposes in
Life for evermore (Keph. 234 : 3-9, 18-20).
The special duties of the ordinary believer are:
(i) to keep the purifying fasts and avoid cruel food
and activities, (u) to pray regularly to the two-
redeeming Lights—the Father (reflected in the
Sun), and the Christ or Messenger (symbolised
by the Moon), and (m) to offer food daily as
alms for the Elect who, like sannyasis in India, have
abandoned c gainful * occupations. At the same time
he should strengthen the Church by giving a relative*

1 His personal purity and brightness depend on his own efforts,

not on the merits of the Church as a whole, though he may—being'
pure—share the glory of his brethren also.

2 i.e., the image of the Light-Maiden who appears at death,,

making the merits of his own heart and conscience visible in beauty
{cf. GZ 43 :2, GPM 75 : 1).
3 An almost exact quotation from Mt. 6 : 21 or some parallel.
 140 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MAN1

.a friend or a slave for its service and a building for its

worship and other needs. These pious acts, faithfully
performed, gradually purify the Soul and lead it
upwards to the Light.

43. The Greatness of the Hearer

1. The wise Hearer 1 is he who like juniper-

leaves brings to others much profit, like a
farmer who sows seed freely in many furrows
(M 101 H). Some Hearers are like the ever¬
green juniper, whose leaves are shed neither
in summer nor in winter. So too in persecu¬
tion and freedom (of religion), in good days
and bad, under the eyes of the Elect or out
of their sight, the pious Hearer is constant in
charity and faith2 (M 171). The Hearer who
bears witness to the Religion is like a ripe fruit
hanging on a big tree, he shines like a spark run¬
ning over the firewood, or he is like a speck of
light in the sky giving out its radiance. (M
101 A).
2. The Hearer who is warmed by the fire of
piety is like a man who took his friend to a well;
one was on the shore of the sea, one in the

niyofag. Cf. the Buddhist word stdvdkcj with the same meaning.

2 Sogh. pd xw'r* *wt dy jw*r.

 THE GHURGH OF THE LIGHT 141

boat. Now he who was on shore towed him

who was in the boat, while he who was in the
boat guided him on the seashore upwards to
the well.x The Hearer who is like this is like a
pearl that adorns the diadem on the King's heady
like a bright lamp shining in the church, like a
man who offers fruits and flowers to the Elect
and then they praise him as a fruitful tree
(M 101, 911). (But) the Hearer who neg¬
lects the Scriptures 2 is like the branch of a fruit¬
less tree; his life is fruitless (?) and vain; and
blessed are the Hearers who seek the fruit which
grows out of pious deeds!3 . . . The Hearer
who shares his knowledge is like a man who
threw rennet (?) into milk; it became hard
not liquid; the part that was changed became-
heavy at first, just as a man seen at first is-
honoured and he may shine for about six days
(M 101 A, E).
3. The Hearer who gives alms to the Church
is like a poor man 4 who gives 5 a daughter to
1 They help each other mutually—the one by his labours in the
field to produce food for the Elect, the other by his prayers and
guidance.
2 or: Precepts.
3 Sogh. qerdagdn.
4 £a$koh merd.
5 or: presents.
142 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

the King; he reaches great honour (M 101 F).

Then the King is pleased with her and keeps
her in his harem and has several sons by her,
who grow up strong and handsome. The sons who
were born to that poor man’s daughter become
Kings of the land in turn (M 221). The alms1
in the body of the Elect is purified in the same
way as a man's rags, which have been exposed to
heat2 and wind, change into beautiful clothes
which on a clean body turn here and there in
the breeze3 (M 101 F.)
4. The Hearer obeying the Precepts is like a
man who prepares an image of the King cast
in gold, to whom the King gave presents. The
Hearer who copies a book is like a sick man
who gave his weapons to a healthy man. The
Hearer who presents a daughter to the
Church4 is like the man who took a pledge,
who gave his son to a teacher to learn how to
serve his father—a pledge 5 is the maiden daughter
to this Hearer (M 101 A.D).

1 rawangan.
i lit: fire.
3 Here we have an allusion to the strange doctrine so ridiculed
by Augustine.
1 or: Religion (den). As prescribed in GPM 42 : 2.
8 i.e.y investment, bringing ample profit.
 THE CHURCH. OF THE LIGHT 143

5. How numerous are the virtues of the

Hearer (M 101 N.)! The very Assembly of the
Hearers resembles this good land which takes
to itself the good seed, . . . because it is that
which accepts the holy Church; it cares for
her and gives her rest in all its works and all
its sufferings. . . . Where there is no Hearer,
therein the holy Church has no rest; . . . the
Hearers are themselves the resting-place of
the holy Church (Keph. 218 : 1-2, 4-10. 29-30).
In spite of the very large amount of restoration
-which I have been forced to carry out in this im¬
portant passage, it is clearly a vivid picture of the high
ideal held for the Manichean in his daily life. It sums
up as a total sincerity in thought and word and deed,
and a faithful performance of obligations. Such a
Hearer is indeed a tower of strength to the Church;
the Elect could do little if behind him there were not
many to maintain his work by their faithfulness and
their selfless service of his needs.

44. The Perfect Hearer

1. Now the sign of that perfect Hearer

. . who does not return again to a body 1 . . .
is this: Thou findestthe wife in the house
1 Though, living in the world and so committing nlany acts of
violence and desire, the Hearer must normally expect rebirth again
and again, one who simply lives to exhaust his karmas^ without
-desires or possessiveness, may attain the immediate liberation
jnormal to the Elect. A purely Indian thought.
 144 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

with him is just like the stranger, his house

also passes with him like the inns, while he
says: “I dwell in a house rented for some
days and months! 551 His brothers and rela¬
tives are counted by him as seeming to be
strangers who need him and travel with him
on the road while he journeys. Perhaps (?)
they will soon separate from him and each one
go his own way. Gold and silver and the
earthenware vessels for the house are to him like
borrowed utensils; he takes them and they
serve 2 him, afterwards he gives them (back)
to their owner; he does not set his heart and
his treasure on them. He has uprooted his
thought 3 out of the world and set his heart
in the holy Church; at every moment4 his
thought is fixed on God. But he who sur¬
passes all this, in whom there are care, anxiety
and love for the Saints, he looks after the
Church as (after) his (own) house—nay, more

1 This is a favourite thought among Iranian writers: Copt.

eioueh hen ouei apscar pros henhoom men henebete” Cf. the Urdu: Is
jahdn men hai basera chand roz; te there are but a few days in this
world ”, which is like an inn.
* lit: follow (Copt. ?emfe) ; or: “ and they are made use of
by him v
3 concrete thinking (makmek).
4 i.e.y always.
 THE CHURCH OF THE LIGHT 145

indeed than his house; he has set his whole

treasure in the Elect, men and women. . * .
This is the sign of those Hearers who are not
(re-)embodied (Keph. 228:22, 15, 22-31;
229 : 1-10, 19-20).
2. Again there are others retaining celibacy
and keeping all flesh far from (their) mouths,
being daily ready1 for fasting and prayer,
helping the Church with alms as far as comes
to their hands. In them the wickedness 2 is
dead,3 the steps (?) of their feet are turned to
the Church more than to their house; their
heart is always on it. Their sitting and their
rising 4 is like that of the Elect; they have put
away all matters of the world out of their
heart. . . . Now such a man, the mind fixed
in the holy Church, gives wholly his heart at
every moment, with his gifts and fasts and
reverences, and the graces which benefit his
life, to the holy Church for those who
come into the Church;5 ... he rejoices

1 or: prepared, almost £ eager ’.

2 lit: wicked deed.
3 i.e., they no longer commit actual sins; frailties may remain.
4 i.e., both when at rest and when active.
® He does not care to accumulate merits for himself, but gives
away whatever he may earn for the helping of weaker members.
10
146 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANX

exceedingly over these and loves them, putting

his whole treasure on them (Keph. 229 :20
—230:5).
Mani here clearly teaches that the perfect Hearer
'will share all the abundant blessedness of the Elect.
He too will be freed from the pains of recurring birth
into the dark 4 Sea 5 of Matter. He who lives in the
world detached, who forms no binding links with
relatives or properties, who keeps the mind wholly on
Ood and the welfare of His Church, who perfectly
adheres to the code of his state of life—is in fact,
whatever he may seem in name, already himself one
of the Elect and destined to certain liberation once
the physical body has dropped away.

45. Mystical Unity of the Church

1. (You ask:) “ Whence is this great joy

I have on account of the wisdom that I spread
abroad, that it is greater in my mouth at the
time I express it than ..at the time, when it
lies in my heart ? ” 1 Thou thyself art in joy
because of it, but the other who hears it from
thee also rejoices on its account and is en¬
lightened by it, he gains through it an endur¬
ing power (Keph. 205 : 20-25). The wisdom

For we human beings are not separate but a living unity, so that we
may share each other’s good and ill.

1 The common experience is that by teaching we learn, by

giving away we are enriched, by making others happy we find a
deeper happiness for ourselves.
 THE CHURCH QF THE LIGHT T i T 147

which the man preaches,, speaking it from his

heart, ever increases more and more;1 its
^greatness and its glory redouble at the time
when the beauty and the brightness of the
Word are revealed to the (inner) eye of the
hearer, . . while you (yourself) 'wonder2
'Over what you utter 3 (Keph. 206 : 23-29).
2. This, is why I say to you, my brothers
•and my beloved: |“ Take trouble, exert your¬
selves and preach to the Souls to grasp the
hour to themselves while there is time for
their repentance4 (and) to do good while
there is time, before the Gate is closed and the
Souls are turned back from before the Gate
of Life 5 and become share and property of
the Enemy 6 (Keph. 165,: 18-23). The glory,

1 Two similes are given in the context: the mother’s joy in her
babe is greater after his birth because others can share in the joy
of admiring him; the fire latent in the wood gives warmth, use
and light only when released, and not so long as it is hidden away
—so too knowledge is of value only when brought out for the use
of others. 1

2 or: marvel.
3 Many a writer has been amazed when he sees what |he pep
in his hand has written.
*Cf." Now is the accepted time, behold now is the day of salva¬
tion !5> in Rom. 6:2.
5Cf.Mt. 25: 10, Lk. 13:25. ' ' ‘
6 Cf. GPM 87 : 2.
 148 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

victory and merit1 are greater for the

preacher building the Church than that of the
brother who goes into his (own) heart and
shuts himself off alone and builds only him¬
self55 2 (Keph. 196 : 7-10).
3. He who communes with Hearers who*
are in the Knowledge and helps them, he
surpasses all these Kingdoms,3 . . . because
all these Kingdoms do not know God’s Truth:
since they serve (?)4 the desire of the world,
and are anxious about livelihood (Keph..
189: 23-27). So for this reason must he give-
them 5 alms and commune6 with them; he-
gives it to the Holy Spirit who dwells in them,,
and in turn the Holy Spirit will grant his grace
before his true Father, and the Father of Truth
shall in turn repay his loan on the last day.
1 lit. good.
* Even the world-denying of the Manicheans was no cowardly
evasion of duty, but a self-liberation that others might in turn be
freed.
* The context names several great empires: Babylon and Persia,
Rome, Ethiopia and ‘Silts’—the last of which I do not know;
could it be China (Sinim?) or Suristan (Ch. Sou-lin), the area,
around Ctesiphon near Mani’s birthplace ?
4 The word is unknown: Copt, epeide sebele ntepithumia mpkosmos.
8 i.e.f to the Elect.
e or: shares (koinone).
 THE CHURCH OF THE LIGHT 149

For it is the Holy Spirit himself who dwells in

these Saints1 (Keph. 189 : 31—190 : 6).
4. We too, my beloved, let us rejoice in
this joy, rest in this rest from everlasting to
everlasting (MP. 136:10-11); the whole
dawning of the Light wherein the Gods
rejoice, . . * the blossoms of fadeless beauty
(MP. 1 : 16, 19), these are exactly the flesh
and blood of Jesus 2 (BM. 254)! O Jesus, . . .
thou art the living Wine, the son of the True
Vine ; give us to drink living Wine from thy
Vine. . . . Thou invitest us, thou hast broached
for us a new Wine; those who drink thy Wine,
their heart rejoices over it, they become
intoxicated with thy love, and gladness is
spread over their bosoms they think of Those
above and arm to fight against the Dragon 3
(MP. 151 : 6-7, 13-16). The Vine is the
Church, we are the branches (?) laden with
fruit;4 again, the Winepress is the Wisdom,

1 Quite a Christian idea: good done to the Elect is really done

to the Holy Spirit, to God Himself, and earns reward from Him
<cf. Mt. 25 : 40).
* Equally the Catholic doctrine of the Mystical Body, a
Sacrament.
3 Cf. GPM 33 : 1. To be aware of love for God is to fight for
His cause against all evil in the world.
4 An obvious allusion to Jn. 15:5.
 150 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

God’s Chosen Ones1 the treaders (MP. 76: 6-8);

O Soul* .w thou art the five-branched Vine 2
which is the food of the Gods, the nourishment
of the Angels (MP. 181 : 19, 34-38)!
5. , The,Church is a garland for which they
gather' in every corner (MP. 166 : 11-12);
(we) gather in the blossoms daily and weave
a royal, garland and give.it to all the Saints..
. . . Gay lilies, gay roses, let us put them with
one another; holy hearts, holy minds, let us
build into a ,Church! It is a New King who
comes, let us build also a new house! The
new. house is the c New Man5 the New King
is; the Light-Mind 3 (MP. 153 : 9, ,14-21)*
the Ruler of the Church: (M 738)! Let us
moor, iet us moor to the Father’s Love, ...
to the haven of peace,.;. .....to compassion, . . .
to; kindliness; let us moor, let us moor to love
for, God and love for men (MP. 177 : 21-27) 1
Jesus; is a . Ship, blessed are we when we sail
on him (MP. 166 : 11)!
: :Mani. explains the joy derived from his realisation:
that the Church is one, and that happiness lies in
1 the Elect. : } ,
* The five facilities of the mind—memory, reasoning, meditation,
contempfatiori; imagination—given various names in the various
languages of our texts. This*is the Five-pointed Star.
8 Worked out more fully in GPM 63. . . . •
 THE CHURCH OF THE LIGHT 151

sharing with fellow-members all one has of the truth.

The very attempt to teach another deepens one’s own
understanding and unveils new aspects hitherto unseen.
He calls them, then, to constant joyful effort to spread
the Gospel they have known, so that millions may
benefit by the holy life and reward of bliss that it
proclaims. It is noteworthy how Mani insists on the
greater value . of this sharing than of a selfish con¬
templation apart from the welfare of the world* God
is in the brother ; He cannot be found by turning
from the brother to the self alone.
So all may enjoy this happiness of the apostolic life
whereby they become one with the Lord Himself,
Messengers of the Light in a gloomy world. It is to
build the holy Kingdom of God, in the world around
as in the heart within each one, that men are called
by the Messengers to form the Church.

46. Prayer for the Religion

We are men of rest, let no one impose toil

on us ;* Jesus whom we seek is he on whom
we have taken (our) model (MP. 170 : 16-18)!
Let the wise be cured and restored, the
kindly have joy and happiness (BM. 51)! The
Messengers of the Light,2 glorious and kindly,
. . . let them stand by this true Religion,3 and
guard, keep and preserve (it) pure! And with
the Shield of Light, and the Buckler of the
1 Copt, anan henrome nte pemtan, ihporte latte ouah hise aran.
2 pnstagan ro$anan.
3 denyozhdahr* .
 152 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

faithful, and the efficient Spear may they

repel . . . and keep afar all the enemies of
Righteousness . . . until the end of time! So
may it be 1 (S 7)! May new blessing come
and from (God) Zrwan a new reform upon
. . . the spirits of this world, so that He may
accept our holy Religion 2 (M 4 A.)
That this labour may prevail, that God may bless
the efforts of all who strive to build up His Church,
that it may be strong and safe from all the assaults of
evil, as a mighty rock stands firm against the beating
of the waves—is the prayer of all the faithful.

47. Its Glorious Future

1. If3 you strengthen yourselves and hold

to one another and in one time4 stand on
this living Truth which has been visible to
you, then all of you from small to great
can conquer the Sin which opposes you.5
But if you divide on this Truth . . . what may
not happen ? ... You will be both split up

1 This interesting prayer reads: u pad ‘ispar ‘£ ro$an u magn ei

havistigdn ud pad nezag nev *i razmyoz padiyizand . . . ud dur kunand
6 vispan dufmermn ‘i rdstih ... da 5 abdumtl ‘i zamdn. Oh beh.
* Denyozhdahr.
8 or: when.
4 i.e.j unanimously.
.6 Knowledge that fellow-believers are fighting the same battle
gives us coinage and success.
 THE CHURCH OF THE LIGHT 153

by it and also subdued under Sin’s hand, and

you will be humbled also under all its Powers
that oppose you. (Keph. 128 : 18-27).
2. My brothers, let us purify ourselves
from all pollutions, for we do not know the
hour when the Bridgegroom shall summon
us1 . . . and we shall inherit the Kingdom
(MP. 154 : 8-9, 12). The world shall be full
•of glory, . . . the whole earth shall contain
the righteous: those of the land shall dwell
in peace, there being henceforth no Rebel
any more, no name of sin which shall again -
be uttered; the Rich Ones of Light2 shall
rejoice on every side without anything of
grief (MP. 207 : 10-15).
3. (Then) the temples of this world’s Gods
{shall) become dwellings of the Elect, and the
boly Church of the Congregation shall greatly
increase—they shall sit in the palaces of Kings
(MH. 26 : 11-14); the churches and the houses
of the Hearers shall be like schools of instruc¬
tion;3 you will find them singing psalms and
hymns (MH. 30 : 30-33), . . . the little girls

1 C/. Mt. 24 : 44.

3 i.e.} those rich in Light, the righteous ones.
3 For teachers will always be busy there.
 154 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

learning to write while singing psalms and

reading.1 Always it is the voice of the Righte¬
ousness that shall speak out in the time of
prayer; . . . then shall the daily wickedness
cease among them (MH. 31 : 6-8, 16-17). At
that time they shall fulfil all the Commands,
small and great, exactly as they are written.2*
There shall be love dwelling in all their
hearts; . . . the Elect shall love each other,,
and no one shall ever think of wickedness;
brother shall look at brother, sister at sister,,
with a friendly expression3 (MH. 29 : 15-18;
30:4-7).
Union is strength; so long as each strives in har~
mony with his fellows for the welfare of the whole, so
long will the Church be strong and prosper, so long
will the error of the Evil One be held at bay. The time
will come for the consummation • of the ages, when
the Church will enter into glory and shine wondrously
above and on the earth; let us see that we deserve to
share the joy and honour of that victory. It is full of
pathos that the confidence of the early Manicheans,

1 A pleasing picture of the importance, very rare in those days,

given by Manicheans to girls’ education. There is nowhere any
trace of inequality between the sexes in Manichean texts. This
passage reads! Copt, kacen nkoui nlilaus nshime euji-sbo ashei eutrpsals'
euof.
2 This rather suggests that in the writer’s own days there were*
already Elect who did not strictly adhere to the law; cf. Mu
24 : 12, 1 Tim. 3, and the passage quoted in GMC pp. xl-xli.
8 The text goes on: “ not as now in this world
 THE CHURCH OF THE LIGHT 153

misled perhaps by the lull in persecution which

followed Innai’s curing of the King and by their
intense and living faith, looked to an earthly triumph
of the Church. The apocalyptic glories of a wholly
perfect human life, so often dreamed of by devotees of
every faith, have still evaded us; their light, like
twinkling stars on a dark and moonless night, yet
beckons us on to further fields of venture in dark faith.
 CHAPTER FIVE

THE WAY OF
RIGHTEOUSNESS
In greater detail we now learn how the Soul came
into its present dismal bondage to the flesh, how it is
summoned by the Messenger of God to free itself, and
how, faced with the certainty of death and the futility
of all things earthly, it resolves to tread the path to
freedom and calls on God for aid. The teacher then
outlines that path and the qualities needed for its
treading; he inspires the pilgrim to face the suffering
righteousness has always demanded of those in the
world. Steady perseverance, unshaken by the wavering
moods; self-control through bodily abstention, prayer
and poverty; and a perfect harmlessness—the whole
summed up by * Pity * and 4 Sincerity *—form that
path, and enable the Divine Mind to transform, trans¬
mute the whole nature into the likeness of the Divine
in all five aspects of the mind. A final exhortation to
brave and steady effort, and the Soul arises and steps
out boldly on this ancient path, intent to realise the
Light in every speck of her inner being, liberating it
also in all she may contact during life down here.

48. The Fall of the Soul

(The Soul says:) “I am the Father’s Love,1
being the Robe clothing thee (MP. 116: 26-27);
1 The Soul is, in fact, the Vohumanah, the Love-Mind of God,
which has clothed itself in the personality for incarnation at God’s
 THE WAY OF RIGHTEOUSNESS 157

I was a Prince wearing a crown among the

Kings; I knew not how to fight, belonging ta
the City of the Gods.1 From the time that the
Hated One cast an evil eye on my kingdom,
I left my Fathers resting, I came and gave
myself to death for them. I armed myself, I
came out with my First Aeon; he went out
(and) I fought; he came in (and) protected
me. Thou didst agree with me at that time*
saying: ‘ If victorious thou shalt receive thy
garland!5 I conquered in the first battle, (but)
yet another struggle arose for me (MP. 117 :
3-18). I put on error and oblivion;21 forgot
my being and race and kinsfolk, not knowing
the door of the place of prayer to Him and
of invoking Him—I became an enemy to my
Father (Keph. 96 : 2-5), I was made to drink
the cup of madness, I was made to rebel

will (cf,\ GPM 73 : 1). Her identity with the ‘ Robe 5 may be
compared with the thought in Bardaisan’s great Hymn, and with
Voice of the Silence 1 : 58: “Thou canst not travel on the Path
before thou hast become that Path itself”—and that realisation is
the fullness of the treading thereof.

1 Cf. GPM 2:4; “Every soul, yes, every living moving creature,
partakes of the substance of the Good Father” (H. 8); Gk. Abj».
7 condemns the teaching that “human souls are consubstantial
with God and swallowed up by Matter ”—as in GPM 3 : 1, 3.

2 Cf GPM 3 : 3.
 158 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

against my own Self.1 .The Powers and the

Authorities entered, they armed themselves
against me (MP. 117 : 21-23).
As in the c< Hymn of the Soul ”, so too here the
Soul recalls its own origin in God and the glorious
Kingdom it renounced on setting forth to do God’s
will in liberating the pure Pearl of Light from the land
of Egyptian darkness and its dragon guardian. In
order to live in ‘ Egypt5 at all, the Soul has to disguise
itself as a native of the Dark Realm; and then, deceived
by its own appearance, it fancies itself a child of Earth,
forgets the glory it has laid aside.
.... . t .

49. The Body is a Prison for the Soul

1. Ever since they bound me in the flesh

I forgot my divinity (MP. 117 : 19-20); like a
bird in a snare, so too am I while in the body
of death (MP. 95 : 20-21), the dwelling of the
robbers, . . . over which everyone has wept
(MP. 70 : 1-2). The Mind itself is great and
exalted, but it becomes crooked and petty
because of2 this small contemptible body3
(Keph. 99 : 28-29), causing me to be dull
and drugged and to lose all my senses
■ ' ' , . ' i.

. 1 A striking identification of “my own Self” with the King of

Light against whom the Rebels ‘ rebelled * in GPM 2 : 2, 20: 2 eta
2 or z in relation to. “ ' .
3 The thought is like that of Hermes and the PJatpnists. ■
 THE WAY OF RIGHTEOUSNESS 159

{BM. 38). I am not sick at heart over the

Bodies, but over the treasure of the Living
Ones that is lodged in them1 (MP. 218:24-26),
(for) they are called the slaves of the flesh of
death 2 (MP. Ill : 8-9).
2. The body prevents the Soul from
rising; it is a prison and a heavy penalty for
the Soul 3 (Bir. Ind. 1 : 55); it is the gateway
of all the hells and the road to all rebirths 4
(BM. 26). While we are in the body we are
far from God,5 rest has not overtaken us
because we are lodged in it. There is none
who can glory 6 while he has still an hour in
this prison, there is none who can be con¬
fident while in the midst of the sea and he
has not yet reached port, for he does not

1 The body] itself is not the evil; it is our imprisonment therein

which saddens the thoughtful.

* Cf St. Paul’s “ body of this death ” (i.e., mortal body) in Rom.

7 : 24.

3 Ephrem says: “If the Darkness has perfidiously schemed to

•give the Soul this prison so that it may not go out of it, . . . it is
to do harm to it (the Soul).”

4 Because rebirth is made possible and inevitable by bodily

desires.
5 Another Hermetic thought; cf the Hymn A. and M. no. 231:
Here in the body pent, absent from Him I roam.”

6 or: boast.
 160 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

know the hour when the storm will arise

against him1 (MP. 135 : 21-28).
3. The care of my wretched 2 body has
intoxicated me with its drunkenness; 3 . . .
many are the pains 4 I have endured while
in this house of blackness 5 (MP. 152 : 14, 19)
—this body that we wear is the creature 6 of
the Darkness (MP. 159 : 31). In fact,7 it is
the devils5 palace and the land of demons;
it is also a dense forest, a marsh of weeds and
rushes, where all evil birds and beasts associ¬
ate, and venomous insects, lizards (?), and
vipers secretly gather 8 (BM. 20). Sin raised
this body . . . out of the five bodies of the
Darkness and organised it, but it derived its
Soul from the five Bright Gods and bound it
in the five limbs of the body (Keph. 95 ;
14-17). He it was . . . who, having

1 Cf. GY 37A: 1. Only death ends the danger of a falling away

from righteousness, so none should be called a saint before that.
2 or: poor, the French * miserable \
3 Metaphorical of course; it is the inebriation of having forgot-
ten Spirit; cf. GPM 50 : I. & 5
4 or: troubles (Copt, hise.)
5 i.e.y dark house, the body.
4 or: product.
7 or: originally.
4 i.e., all bad thoughts, lustful desires, hates, jealousies, etc.
 THE WAY OF RIGHTEOUSNESS 161

completed such a den and dwelling as

this, snared and arrested the Light Natures,
and hid himself behind while the demons
preached to the Soul and continually led it
(BM. 90) to all evil deeds and all sins of
desire (Keph. 95 : 25-27).
4. (But) in vain does it disturb the ever¬
lasting King of Bliss;1 it will at last be
burned and shut up in the eternal dungeon 2
(BM. 26), (for) the Soul that is therein is the
First Man, (and) the First Man who con¬
quered in the Land of Darkness, it is he who
today will also be victorious in the body of
death. The Living Spirit who gave the First
Man help, it is he who today is the Spiritual
Advocate 3 (MP. 160 : 1-5) — this whole
universe, above and below, is in the image
of the human body ... of flesh4 (Keph.
169 : 29-31).

1 In the original stands 4 Nirvana \ the Buddhist term.

2 Cf. GPM 87 : 3—the two forms of final destruction.

3 The First Man and the human soul are parallel; the First
Man came from God in GPM 3 : 2, and as the * Twin * or
‘Higher Self’ he is identified with the creative living Spirit of
GPM 18. His victory ensures the final victory of the Soul.

4 A suggestive dictum; cf. the Hermetic “As above, so below.*5

Copt, pikosmos teref psantpe men-psampitne foop ahrem pine mpsoma
riiprame . . . nle tsarx.
11
162 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

5. With tears I now humbly pray and

implore that I may leave this poisonous fiery
sea of my fleshly body, wherein the surging
waves and foaming billows never cease for
a moment (and) sea-monsters rise and dive
again to swallow ships and boats 1 (BM. 19).
My Lord Jesus, do not abandon me, be an
Evoker of Light and bewitch (?) them until I
pass them by 2 (MP. 117 : 25-28)! My true
Light, illumine me within, then; lift me, for I
have fallen down, and give me a hand to the
Height with thee. Be not far from me, O
Physician with the medicines of life 3 . . .-—
heal me of the grievous wound of lawlessness
(MP. 152 : 20-23)! See, I have shown my
wounds, it is thine (to) give thy cures (MP.
147 : 64-65)!
This is the fate of almost every soul encased in the
dull armour of the flesh, shut in by its heavy walls
away from the brightness of the living Light of spiritual
freedom. We cannot enjoy freedom fully while we live
in that jail; so long as the physical body endures, there

1 This will remind every student of Skt. literature, such as King

Kulaiekhara’s Mukundamala, by its close parallel with the favourite
description of samsara (worldly life).
2 As Jesus bewitched the Powers on his downward way, so that
they could not recognise or hinder him.
* vital remedies. The Taoist Houen-yuan-sheng-ki calls Mani
the “ dew of immortality and supreme King of Medicine ”,
 THE WAY OF RIGHTEOUSNESS 163

can be no total liberation or permanent happiness.

This body has ensnared us by its needs, its endless
desires and fears; never can it enter into the bliss that
belongs to its captive, the Soul. For like all else
•derived from the demon of darkness its destiny is des¬
truction, while the Soul is of eternal Light and endless
Glory. Patterned as the body is in exact imitation of
the Macrocosm, it can hold the Spirit captive only
until death has shattered its ‘ walls 5 of flesh, just as the
universe itself will cease to be when all the Light there¬
in has been liberated thence. The Soul realises this
and earnestly cries for a speedy release from this en¬
chaining body, so that it may soon enter the glorious
liberty of the Light. It is Jesus, the holy Messenger,
who was himself able to overcome the flesh and rise to
his native heaven, who can aid us in this great effort
to be free.

50. The Awakener’s Call

1. I heard a Physician’s cry, the voice of

an Exorcist1 coming to me (MP. 22Q : 26-27):
Awake, bright Soul, from the drunken sleep
wherein thou hast fallen 2 (M 4)! O man in
whose hands there is wealth,3 why art thou
1 In other religions derived from Babylonia, the Saviour also
holds these titles, and in the Syriac Church (cf. Ign. Eph. 7 : 2).
He is also called Life-giver, Light and Lamp.
2 An old Babylonian Tammoz text: “ Thou art slumbering in an
overwhelming sleep” (168 Rev. 9), and the Zarathushtrian frag¬
ment M 9 says: “Heavy in the drunkenness wherein thou slumber-
est, awake and behold me!” to which the Soul replies: “I, I am the
tender painless son of Sroshav, I am mixed and behold suffering.
Take me out of death’s embrace.” Cf also Odes Sol. 29 : 4, and
countless other scriptures.
3 or: the richness; i.e., the treasure of Life and Light.
164 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

slumbering in this sleep ? . . . Wherefore wilt

thou not rise betimes to give glory to the
Great Lives \ . . . before the Accuser has-
come forth and sat down beside the Judge
and he hears the Accuser’s word and thou art
taken away and flogged (?)2 (MP. 222 : 5-17) ?
The Gods are spread over the world 3 so that
they may answer any call (MP. 147 : 24-25).
O my brothers (MP. 204 : 9), lift up your
eyes to the land of Light; you shall see the
Friend of the Righteous4 standing beyond
this world, you shall see the Great of Glories 5
from whom every Soul has come forth (MP..
219 : 24-28) in the beginning, and they shall
also return to the Light and ascend to it in.
the end (Keph. 63 : 14-15).
2. O Soul, where art thou from? Thou
art from on high, thou art a stranger to the
world, sojourner for 6 men on the earth; 7 on.

1 Cf the passages from Andal’s Tiruppavai already cited.

2 This 4 Accuser * is the great Adversary, the Satan, referred to
also in Mt. 5 : 25 {cf. GJ 50).
- 8 Copt, apto; i.£.;the cultivable land.
4 Probably the * Beloved of the Lights * of GPM 16.
5 t.«., the Father of Greatness, the All-Glorious (cf GPM 1*2*
13 : 1).
6 or: among?

7 Copt, nio oufemmo apkosmos remhciale apto harome; cf GPM 35 : l*.

 THE WAY OF RIGHTEOUSNESS 165

high thou hast thy houses, thy tents of joy

(MP. 181 : 20-25)! Thou art an alien (here),
housed in a defiled body of the earth! . . .
The days of thy life flee away from thee; why
dost thou vainly waste thine eagerness on
earthly things and put behind thee all those
of heaven ? Thou hast spent thy life sunk in the
anxieties and cares of the world, wearing thy¬
self out only by means of pains and griefs!
. . . For how many days, then, dost thou
ignore what thou doest in ignorance, while
ithou toilest all thy time to nourish thy bodies
—yet thou hast not worried, wretch *, in
what way thou mayest be saved! Thou dost
weep and shed tears for a son or a friend
when he dies; yet the thought of thine own
departure does not enter thy heart (MP. 82 :
15-16, 9-14, 16-23)! Thou hast made the
world a harp for thyself, continually making
music2 (MP. 118 : 15)!
3. O Soul, . . . thou art the sheep that
has wandered in the desert; thy Father
seeks thee, thy Shepherd looks for thee

1 or: poor thing.

1 i.e., looking on life as a jest, a mere amusement, while “ Life
is real, Life is earnest
 166 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

(MP. 181 : 19, 30-33); O despised Noble, thy

King searches after thee! Where are thy angel
garments, thy unaging robes ? Where are thy
gay garlands, thy crowns that do not fall?
Who has changed for thee thy fair beauty,,
the fashion of thy kinsmen, the seal of thy
Fathers (MP. 146 : 39-48) ? Move thyself, O
Soul watching in the enduring chains, and
remember the ascent into the joyful Air, for a
fatal (?) lure is the sweetness of this flesh
(MP. 52 : 17-19), the body full of darkness
(MP. 53 : 4)! Drink of the water of memory,1
throw away the forgetfulness ! The wounded
one who desires healing, let him come to the
Physician (MP. 57 : 20-22)! O Soul, do not
forget thy Self, nor faint, nor eat (out) thy
heart! See, the Ships 2 are moored for theer
the Ferries are in the harbour; take thy cargo
aboard and sail away to thy homes 99 (MP_
147 : 32-37)!
Jesus then comes and, like Hermes in his mission*
ary sermon (GH 8), summons the Soul to rise, shake
off its chains and aspire with confidence to heaven
whence comes its help. He reminds the Soul of its

1 The antithesis and antidote of the * cup of madness * ia

GPM 48.

* or: transports, i.ethe (spiritual) Moon and Sun.

 THE WAY OF RIGHTEOUSNESS 167

glorious origin, its tremendous destiny and lovely

heritage, awaiting its renunciation of earth’s pains and
duties. -Nothing has real value but the effort to be
free, -yet for so long it has sought vain pleasures in the
life of the world and of personal desires. Now the
Liberator has come, and the hour for freedom has
dawned if the Soul but wake to its opportunity. With
courage and determination the path to liberty must be
entered on and trodden to the end.

51. Death is Inevitable

1. Everything that happens to man, be it

wealth ... or even poverty, ... his sickness
and his health, it happens to him through
the Zodiac(al Sign) and the Star in which
he was born1 (Keph. 122 : 12-15). The
temporal contacts of a family, . . . how far
do they differ from that of staying at a tra¬
veller’s inn ? Crowds of people stop and rest
together for a night; in the morning they part
and return to their own lands2 (BM. 102).
Man is born a naked shape, and he will die
like that;3 ... in spite of his love for the

1 Here we have a definite assertion of Astrological destiny.

8 The oft-used Iranian metaphor, so beloved of Muslim poets;

cf. GPM44-.1.
3 So several Western Saints have chosen, like St. Francis of Assisi,
to dte, naked, on the bare ground.
168 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

flesh-body he must give it up at last; ... all

the riches and treasures . . . we do not wish
to part with will be taken away at the end
(BM. 98, 96).
2. Take to yourself the words of truth, O
men who love God, that the world is nothing,
there is no gain at the end of it (MP. 63 :
21-23). Do not be a friend of this beauty
that shall be totally destroyed, decayed and
melted like snow in the sun. . . . All things
of this earthly life are fleeting, they vanish
from our sight like fallen rain before the midday
sun (M 91 : 33-35). Renounce the world’s
possessions and embrace the peace of poverty
(MP. 79 : 9-10)! Our Lord Mani is a north
wind blowing upon us so that we may put
out with him and sail to the Land of Light
(MP. 193 : 4-5)! Come, Souls, to this Ship of
the Light! (M 4).

The futility of an earth-centred life is here pointed

out in the usual way; life is short and death is sure.
Who really cares for us ? At the last we must leave all
things behind. So it is better to leave them now, to
face life as it really is, stripped of all its fleeting trinkets,
and enjoy the peace and power of “ my Lady Poverty”,
stayed on the eternal strength of the Liberating One.
The reference to the influence of Astrology here is of
some interest; Mani was educated in c Chaldea 9.
 THE WAY OF RIGHTEOUSNESS 169

52. The Soul Resolves

1. The two Sources of the Light and of

the Darkness have natures absolutely distinct1
(CRER. 1) ; I have learned . . . what is the
King of Light who is the Tree of Life, and
also what is the Darkness which is the Tree of
Death (MP. 66 : 25-28) ; I have put the Law
of the Darkness behind me, while I have
adopted the Law of the Light (MP. 68 : 13-14).
I repent in the presence of the God Majesty
of Law 2 (T. II. D 260), I have thrown out of
my eyes this sleep of death which is full of
error 3 4 (MP. 75 : 31—76 : 1).
2. When again the evil became worse, I
lifted up my eyes to the Land of Light; a
Man called down to the world, saying:
Blessed is he who shall know his Soul !55 4

1 Cf. GPM 1: 1 and App. I 4: 1.

2 Seemingly the Turkish equivalent far the * Righteous Judge * of
GPM 76.
3 “ By the Great Calamity one has the distaste to separate from
the body; in the Flaming Abode one makes the vow of trying to
escape; one wearies the body to save the (Bright) Nature; the holy
Doctrine is firmly established ” (CRER. 2 b). This is parallel to
the awakening of Tammuz and his loosing from bonds in the
Liturgies, p. 140, and the awakening in the Mandean John-Book
52-53. It is an obvious metaphor for spiritual conversion.
4 Surely equivalent to the Gk. iC Gnothi sedition (know thyself);
In Copt, neitef mpetdemoie htefpsukhe.
 170 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

So I am troubled at heart about my Soul*

lest it faint and stray and become even worse
(MP. 219 :17-22). O my Father, my God,
my Saviour, my King, I will be a champion
for Thee, I will myself go forth and fight. O
my Maiden, my Beloved, the Living Fire*
I shall give myself for thee, I shall give my
body to death for the sake of thy body, and
give my fair beauty for the sake of thy beauty L
(MP. 148 :25-30) ! I will untie the knot
of worldliness, the bond of action will I
break; I will lead the one gone astray, heaL
the long incurable diseases of passion, and
open (men’s) eyes to the Wisdom ! On
every side I will become a bestower oF
joy on those who have come to sorrow%
(T. II. D. 260) !

Realising the vanity of this earthly show, the Soul

makes its free choice of spiritual reality, puts away the
lure of the Darkness to pursue the eternal Light,
resolves to break the link with earthly things, and to do-
all it can to cure others also of the disease of Ignorance
which afflicts us all.

1 Here the Soul speaks as did the First Man in the earliest
crisis of the revolt of Evil.

* This is a beautiful outline of the ideals of true spiritual life,,

equal to the best we have from any sources elsewhere.
 THE WAY OF RIGHTEOUSNESS 171

53. And Appeals for Aid

1. Hither for health,1 O Rouser of Sleepers

and Shaker of the Drowsy, who art Awakener
of the Dead ! . . Hither for health, O Rescuer
of the Chained and Physician of the Wounded
(M 28)! Thy cures are not of this world, thy
healing is from the Land of the Living
(MP. 221 : 2-3)! Where is the welling of
thy mercies that thou hast left me to extend
my prayer ? 2 If my voice has reached thee,
then how has thy mercy delayed ?3 If I have
turned towards thee a little, thou shouldst
have turned much to me! . . . I have wearied
(of) knocking for thee; O Doorkeeper, open
for me the door; I will not stem my tears,
O Mighty One, unless thou wipe away my sin
(MP. 188:5-9-11-12)! O great Saint,4 I am a
new and lovely Robe that has been wholly
soiled with filth by the demons; please
wash and cleanse it with the water of

1 i.e.t Gome here, that I may be strong and happily active.

2 lit: let me be long in my prayer (Copt, je akhaat aiosek hentalite).

8 Cf. the pathetic appeal in GY 76 A: 1. Does not God promise
that He will even anticipate the prayer of His devotee ?

4 i.e.y God, the King of the Light.

 172 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

Righteousness/ so that I may attain the

sublime body of joy and pure limbs (H 71)!
2. I am a shining Lamb,2 son of the Great
Saint,3 and with streaming tears and crying I
implore (help) in my sufferings. The jackals,
wolves and many savage beasts have seized
me suddenly and carried me away from the
Branch of the Good Light.4 Grant great
mercy: please take me in adoption, put me
among the soft and gentle Flocks of the Light,
and admit me to the hills and woods of the
Religion,5 roaming and sauntering always
fearless on the fair mountains 6 (BM. 65-66)!
3. Hither for health, true Word, great
Lamp and vivid7 Light (M 28), my true
Guardian, . . . Firstborn of the Father of the
Lights, watch over me! . . . While I am in
the midst of the Sea, O Jesus, be a guide to
me! Do not abandon us lest the waves ravish
us; when I utter thy Name over the Sea it
1 or: the Law, i.e., Skt. dharma.
2 or: Lamb of the Light; so too Tammuz is called “the lamb
put in the power of the underworld ” (Liturgies p. 296: 14).
3 i.e.} God, the King of the Light.
4 i.e., from contact with God and His Glory.
5 or: the Law.
* Is this a memory of the prophecies of f Deutero ’-Isaiah?
7 lit: much.
 THE WAY OF RIGHTEOUSNESS 173

stills its waves1 (MP. 151 : 4-5, 8-11)! Guide

my eyes 2 lest they look an evil look,3 guide
my ears lest they hear a flippant4 word, guide
my nostrils lest they smell the odour of desire,
guide my mouth lest it utter slander, guide
for me my hands lest they minister to Satan,s
guide for me my heart that it do no evil at
all,6 guide my spirit for me while it is in the
midst of the storm-tossed Sea, guide my ‘ New
Man 5 while it wears the mighty Image,7 guide
my feet lest they walk in the way of error,,
(and) guide my Soul that it be not stained by
sin (MP. 150 : 22-31)!
4. O Tree of the Nature of Life, . . .
most high ^incomparable King of wondrous
Medicine,8 . . . the ever-thriving precious
Tree . . . whose fruits are always fresh with
1 This seems to recall Mt. 8:26, Jesus himself stilling the waves-

2 lit: place of considering—i.e., sense of sight.

3 lit: wink in an evil wink.

4 This broken word reads s—; I have restored as souit, vainr
trifling.
5 i.e., the Enemy, the King of Darkness, Ahrimen or Shumnu.
* or: to the ‘All *, i.e., the universe, or * Cross of Light ’.
7 lit: statue; i.e., while the reformed converted heart is still
fashioned in the shape of God’s purity.
8 His Medicine is the ‘ Living Wine the medicine of Life,, as in
Ign. Eph. 20: 2 and the Syr. Acts of Thomas, etc.
 174 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

sweet fadeless dew 1—whoever eats them will

for ever leave the stream of worldliness 2—
(while) its fragrant perfume spreads around
the world; . . . send down the springtide of
the great Law to fertilise the ground of my
Soul and let the flowers and fruits of my Soul
flourish3 (BM. 72-74, 31)! Teach me the way
to Life,4 and I shall come to thee rejoicing,
let (me) dwell in Thine Aeons, Thy bride-
chambers of Light (MP. 197 : 4-5)!
But this great work cannot be done alone, so the
Soul calls on the Divine Saviour who has roused him
from the dream of worldliness to purify him from all
pollution of the flesh, to drive away from him the
countless enemies of his peace who preyed so long
upon him, and to protect him from passions and
thoughts that would drag him down again. There is
a fine prayer for the control of all senses and their
Organs, and that grace may refresh and vivify the
whole nature, so that it may blossom forth in the
flowers of virtue and the ripe fruits of righteous deeds.

54. The Way to Life

1. Well, in three . . . things consists5
Perfection: in the Commandments and the
1 or: unfading immortality.
2 lit: birth-and-death (Skt. samsara).
2 or: ripen.
4 Such phrasings make it almost certain that the Manichean
Psalmist knew and loved the Hebrew Psalms [cf. Ps. 119: 33).
5 lit: is.
 THE WAY OF RIGHTEOUSNESS 175

Wisdom and the Love,1 for all the men of

God attain Perfection through these. . . . For
this reason let us pray and beseech2 Him who
has chosen us that He may make us perfect
(MP. 38 : 18-21, 24-25).
2. Keep yourselves far from magic arts
and the sorceries of the Darkness,3 for the
man who shall learn them and practise them
and realise them, finally where the King of
those of the Darkness shall be bound with his
Powers, they shall bind also in that place the
soul of him who has played with 4 them and
walked in the magic arts of the Error (Keph.
.31:25-30).
3. Wisely and skilfully strengthen your¬
selves around the body’s gates 5 lest the Sin
that dwells in the body 6 prevail over you and
bear away your Light from you and extinguish
it in place after place 7 and shatter it every¬
where in every way. So then let not this be
1 i.e.3 Ethics, Knowledge, Devotion.
* lit: implore a prayer to.
3 Mani’s own homeland was saturated with sorcery from history’s
•dawn.
4 Copt, politeue: pass life in, live familiarly with (Polotsky).
5 i.e., the senses and their organs.
6 Cf. St. Paul in Rom. 6 : 12.
7 or: here and there.
176 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

allowed to happen to you,1 but be men watch¬

ful and strong in your Truth. Be prepared
from everything to everything,2 so that your
rest and your end3 may be with Him for
whose Sign and Hope you watch (Keph.
144:2-12)!
4. Be ever firm and strong in keeping the
Precepts and the Rites; . . . give alms-
(and) practise fasting, . . . worship, praise
and recitation. . . . Sing and chant the
words of the Religion 4 without break or stop,.
. . . read and study eagerly, discriminate
with your wisdom and accept the pure Com¬
mands. . . . Always be clean and pure in
the deeds of body, mouth and mind; . . .
also earnestly practise kindly deeds, be gentle
and amiable, bear humiliations, and purify
all (your) roots. . . . (Follow) good rules
and habits and determine to rest your minds
in the Place of Liberation; leap with joy
and stand firm by the Right Religion4
(BM. 113-114, 258-259)!

1 Copt, me genoito oun atre-pei sope ihmotne.

2 Copt, ^ope etetnsebtait abal hempteref sa pieref.
8 probably hendiadys for “ your final rest ”.
4 or: Law, Righteousness.
 THE WAY OF RIGHTEOUSNESS 177

5. All these are the remedies for the Light-

Sparks1 (BM. 259); if thou doest these things
and sleepest not, thou shalt go up and see the
Land of Light. ... If indeed thou truly
fastest,2 thou shalt be taken in to the
Garden;3 if thine eyes do not glance evilly,4
thou shalt be seated under the Garden’s
shade; if thy mouth speak truly, they shall
show thee their image;5 if thy hands are
pure (?) from violence, the pleading of thy
speech shall be heard;6 if thy heart stands firm,
they will lift thee up and stand thee in their
midst; if thy feet walk in the way of
Truth, they will make thee one of them 7
(MP. 225:3-14).
As a part of the way of life leading to perfection,
there is a special warning against the black arts to
which Babylonia had so long been addicted. A

1 lit: Light-bodies.
8 lit: thou makest fast in the fast.
3 The Garden of Light, wherein is the Tree of Life, is the
bridechamber of the Father-Mother nuptials, the mystic Marriage
of the Soul—an old Sumerian concept. The temple of the God
is the House of Life; it has a grove tended by the King as
gardener.
4 lit: wink.
5 Copt, hikon. The truthful shall see the Divine Beings.
6 Cf. Light on the Path: “ Before the voice can speak in the pre¬
sence of the Masters, it must have lost the power to wound.”
7 Another fine summary of the spiritual life*
12
178 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

constant watch on all the senses lest they open the door
to many evils, a faithfulness in the commandments,
devotion to study of the holy books, prayer, purity in
deed, word and thought, kindness and humility—does
not every religion teach this way ? Perhaps Mani laid a
greater stress on a monastic chastity and self-control,
for only the pure in heart can come to see God and
live in His lovely Garden of the Light. Asceticism
and righteousness is the way.

55. Courage under Suffering

1. All the blessed ones who have (ever)

been have borne these pains, down to the
Glorious One, the beloved Jesus our Lord
(MP. 142:10-11); every man of God who has
(ever) been, male, female, all have suffered,
down to the Glorious One, the Messenger
Mani. Even our Lord Mani himself was
given the Cup to drink,1 he took the likeness
of them all,2 fulfilled all their signs. How
many of his disciples also received the same
as2 their fathers! My brothers, we too have our
share of sufferings, we shall join with them in
the suffering and rest in their rest (MP. 143:
15-21)!

1 The same metaphor as in Mt. 20: 22-23.

2 Le., resembled all of them, became like.

 THE WAY OF RIGHTEOUSNESS 179

2. It is good for us to be silent (MP.' 134:

28); let us not think in our heart that our
God is forgetful of us (MP. 150:19), (for
before us) all hardships will disappear like
gloomy shadows before the glorious Sun
(BM. 194). Our Father’s Covenant, the profit
and the loss, is shared among us; we are
true sons, the heirs of their fathers (MP.
143 : 22-23)!
3. There is nothing at all that is free from
suffering which will rest at its end; 1 even the
very seed that is sown finds no way to live
unless it dies,2 but through its death it lives
-and gives life also. Let us too strengthen
ourselves, my brothers, for see, the Rest has
come to us that we may receive the blessing
of all these things we have spoken of, and
dwell together in the glorious Land of the
Light! For there is no hater, no enemy, no
rival (?) henceforth, but it is peace and joy
and life for evermore (MP. 143 : 24-31)! Let
the bridechamber keep festival, for the Bride¬
groom is at hand 3 (MP. 150 : 18)!

1 Cf. the saying: “ No Cross, no Crown!

3 A very close parallel with Jn. 12: 24.
3 Cf. Mt. 9: 15.
180 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

But all who thus renounce the world are hated

by the world; persecution soon falls on them, and
wicked men do all they can to force them from this
narrow path into the broad worldly road that leads to
destruction. When the great Messengers have suffer¬
ed, we too must surely suffer. So we must bravely
face whatever comes, strong in the memory of Divine
aid and in the joyful knowledge that even death willi
avail only for our final liberation and lead us the more
swiftly to everlasting Life and Light.

56. Fluctuating Moods

1. Many are the ships that have gone

down after they came near to mooring at the
quay;1 plenty of houses have fallen after the
parapet 2 had been reached! So too is it with
this, my brothers: there is a Soul that shall
fight at first, and (then) the storm rises against
him and the waves seize on him3 (MP.
165 : 18-22).
2. Sin arouses from time to time its dis¬
orders in the1 body; . . . there is a time when
Sin lifts itself up in its foolishness, annoys the-
understanding,4 embarrasses the man’s wis¬
dom and good sense, causes the truth to be:
1 lit: bank, shore.
* lit. garland-couhe, i.e., the decorated parapet.
3 Cf. GPM 49 : 2.
4 Copt, makmek.
 THE WAY OF RIGHTEOUSNESS 181

confused in him,1 and (then) he utters stupid

words. . . . The Powers of the Light . . . give
the Enmity a chance to offend, and they
work their will for a while, and then they are
seized (Keph. 94, 97).
3. At the time when the body is disturbed,
thou art disturbed by means of the aspects (?)2
of the lower ones,3 the coarse parts 4 which
enter thee in the food and the eating. Again at
the time when the aspects (?) 2 of the higher
ones are favourable to thee and also the food
that has entered thee is refined and clean, . . .
both overflowing with Light and Life, while
also the dregs in it are few and the badness in
it scanty, . . . thy heart is (then) found steady
in its place, while thy thought is pacified from
the confusion.5. . . . (Then thou sayest:)
My wisdom and the lecturing are sweet to me
while my heart is drawn towards the fasting

1 or: turns the truth in him to doubt.

2 Copt, lihme, an unknown word; its sense is suggested by several
other astrological passages in this book, and seems clear.
3 i.e., the lower tendencies of the planets, which according to
Chaldean astrology always war on the Soul’s higher aspirations.
4 lit: limbs.
6 Of course this doctrine that impure food corrupts the m<nd
and soul is in frank contradiction of Jesus (Mt. 15 : 11); it has a
somewhat Indian flavour.
 182 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

in which I fast; I do not wish to give up

praying, . . . nor do I desist from repeating
psalms; ... I welcome my brothers to me
kindly, because I live in steady discipline,1
. . . my soul itself rejoicing in the Wisdom
and the true Knowledge, . . . while my
thoughts too are gay, my body being light
upon me, . . . and I am restful in happiness
of mind (Keph. 213-216)! ”
At times it seems easy, at times the hardest thing
to do, to cling to living out this resolve. Sometimes
the evil hidden deep down in the Soul stirs and wakens
its foul yearnings for the renounced delights of the
past. These disturbances are caused by the changing
aspects of horoscopic planets and the taking in of
impurities in food; when we are under good aspects
and our food is pure and scanty, then the religious life
seems natural, and the heart overflows with joy in
brotherly affection and the contemplation of spiritual
things. This is another reason for purity in diet.

57. Fasting

1. “What shall I do with this lion

that is always roaring?2 What shall I do
with this seven-headed serpent?”3 Take to-
1 or: well-ordered way of life {Polotsky).
2 i.e.9 the desires of appetite, greed for foods of various kinds, the
lion of Nemea.
3 sex passion, always eager to take new forms, and so resem¬
bling the Hydra overcome by Hercules, whose labours are clearlv
in the psalmist’s mind here.
 THE WAY OF RIGHTEOUSNESS 183

thyself1 Fasting and thou shalt strangle this

lion, lo, Virginity and thou shalt slay this
serpent (MP. 149 : 22-25)! This is entirely the
purpose2 of keeping a fast, . . . for seven Angels
are born from the fast of every one of the
Elect (Keph. 193 : 29-32). Those who have
no power to fast daily, they too (may) fast oh
the Sunday, and they also share in the merits 3
and the fasting of the Saints by means of their
faith and their alms4 (Keph. 191 : 31—-
192:3).
2. Just as (finally) the Fire swallows this
world with mighty wrath and relishes it, even
so does this fire that is in the body 5 swallow
the outer fire that comes (to it) in fruit and
food and enjoys it (M 35). The fire that
dwells in the body, its work is eating and
drinking, but the Soul thirsts continually for
the Word of God 6 (MP. 40 : 29-30). A man
- 1 ue.y adopt.

5 lit: work.
3 lit: deeds. We find again the doctrine of the common,
treasury. , -

4 Fasting and AJms are always closely associated.

* In Skt. texts also the digestive powers are called a fire.
- 6 The same contrast is found in GZ 36 : 2; the 4 Word of God *
is good deeds and kindliness. . . : - j
184 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

must not put out his hand and hurt this

Living Cross1 recklessly and greedily, . . .
but when you have to2 eat it, do not eat it
recklessly with revelling, gluttony 3 and greed,
but eat it (only) in great hunger and drink it
in great thirst, and from it derive nourishment
for your bodies 4 (Keph. 213 : 3-5, 8-12).
Spiritual refinement is now enquired into. Fasting:
The body’s hunger is an insatiable flame, but the
Soul’s nature is to long for God. So the bodily
appetite must be controlled, being fed only what is
necessary to keep it alive until the Soul has been
purified from mental defilement; those who can fast
even more intensely will benefit the more thereby.
For the body that is overpampered, fed too luxuriously,
easily turns astray into the violation of its chastity,
and plunges wildly downhill into the precipice of lust
and greed and wrath, besides inflicting needless suffering
on nature.

1 i.e.y all Soul held in Matter, especially in the plant kingdom.

* or: are about to.

3 or: luxuriousness.

4 “ They consider all things ensouled—even the fire and the

•water and the air and the plants and the seeds. For which reason
those who are perfect among them neither break bread nor cut vege¬
tables, but even openly abuse those who do this as murderers; yet
they make use of what are cut and broken’* (T). Ephrem also speaks
of “ those who did not wish even to break the bread from fear of
hurting the Light which is mixed there ”, and Hegemonius tells of
a quaint apology they offer 10 the spirit thus injured when they
make use of comestibles (9). Faustus then naturally finds every¬
thing to be a sacrament and avows: “We attribute the same
sacredness to the bread and wine that we do to everything ”
(AF. 20 : 2). The Omnipresent God is everywhere.
 THE WAY OF RIGHTEOUSNESS 185

58. Prayer

Now indeed he, the man, stands up and

washes in the flowing water or something else,
and he turns towards the greater Luminary,
standing. . . . Now as for the first prayer
it is at noon,1 and the second prayer between
noon and sunset, and the night prayer three
hours after that (N. 333 :.14, 26-27). He who
sings2 a psalm is like those who weave a
garland, while those who answer after him are
like those who put roses in his hands 3 (MP.
47 : 15-17). For this reason let us pray (MP.
38 : 24), let us all sing together (MP.
37 : 26), let us set before us joy, the
sign of God,4 and let us do away with

1 There seems to be an error here, for there are four obligatory

daily prayers, the first of which was at sunrise. Three others were
optional.

2 lit: says.
8 Certainly, as Alberry points out, a reference to the liturgical
practice of chanting these beautiful psalms in the Manichean
churches. Christian antiphonal chanting is similar.

4 Faustus says well: “ I look on myself as a reasonable temple of

God if I am worthy to be so, and I consider Christ His son as the
living image of His living Majesty; and I hold a well cultivated
mind to be the true altar, and pure and simple prayers to be the
4rue way of paying Divine honours and of offering sacrifices ”
(AF. 20 : 3). Hermes (GH 43 : 2) shows a like aversion to pomp
and ritual.
186 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

grief, which is the sign of the Darkness1

(MP. 38 : 3032)!
Continually dwelling on its goal, the Soul will
speed more swiftly thither; regularity and joyfulness in
Prayer soon uplift the heart to the Source of every joy,,
which is God Himself, the eternal King of Light.

59. Holy Poverty and Almsgiving

1. My brothers, let us love poverty, and

be poor in the body but rich in the spirit; and
let us resemble the poor making many rich*
as having nothing (yet) possessing the uni¬
verse.2 What shall we do with gold and silver?
Let us love God; His Light is power, His-
Wisdom the wise (one) (MP. 157 : 5-10)!
3. The living Alms receives to itself afflic¬
tion for a while, and then rest comes to it for
evermore through the Saints 3 (Keph. 212 : 33
—213: 2). Moreover, at the time when these^
1 Here we see well the essential optimism of a religion which to
the superficial mind might seem pessimistic—that the world
is evil, and so the soul can be happy in God, who is everywhere.
1 or: everything (the ‘All’). St. Francis, the Poverello, might
have been speaking here! Nowhere is the noble thought more
forcibly, more charmingly expressed: Copt. Nasneu, hten mere
tmentheke, tenerheke henpsoma remmao hof henppneuma; tenerthe nniheke
entire houmese nremmao, hos ementen latte enemahte ajenpteref.
9 The soul imprisoned in the very matter of the offerings is
released by its intimate contact with the Elect, on being eaten or
drunk by them.
 THE WAY OF RIGHTEOUSNESS 187

Alms reach the holy Church they are saved

thereby and are purified and rested by its
means; they come out thereby and go to the
God of Truth in whose name they have been
given.1 So again it is the holy Church which
is resting-place for all these Alms that rest
therein; it is this alone that becomes for them
a door and a vehicle to that Land of Rest
(Keph. 217 : 13-20).
Those who are encumbered by little of this world’s
goods can be most truly rich in happiness, strong in
independence, able to spread God’s light and wisdom
to all. So it is good to give generously of what we
have, for even the very things we give are thus con*
secrated, uplifted, transmuted into the Light for whose
sake they have been given. They support the Church
and help it to do good works, so by its merits are
themselves set free, refined, exalted by the noble use to
which they have been put; the Light in them is released
and enabled to merge in the unbounded Light of God.
St. Augustine, his materialistic mind being unable to*
understand a pantheism nobler than its own dualistic
concepts, found here only a fit cause for mockery,,
which sometimes became vulgar and almost obscene.

1 “ If food consisting of vegetables and fruits comes to the

Saints, ... by means of their chastity and prayers and psalms,
whatever is excellent and divine in it is purified, and so it is wholly
perfected in order to restoration free from all hindrance to its own-
kingdom ” (AMM. 36). “ The Life escapes in the mastication and
digestion of the food, so that only a particle remains in the excre¬
ment ” (AF. 6:8). This seemed merely funny, if not blasphem¬
ously foolish, to Augustine. Yet the doctrine follows legitimately
on the beliefs that God is pervading all things, and that contact
with the Saints purifies. . ‘
188 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

60, True Harmlessness

1. The word that wounds is this: When a

man speaks a word for the sake of1 the
killing of a man or the killing of beasts or the
killing of trees and the ‘ Cross of Light5, the
lying word, and that of anger and that of
anger and that of fury, or a corrupt and
viciously (?) obscene (word), or a quarrelsome
word that one flings at his brother—this is the
hurtful word (Keph. 211 : 9-14). For this is
Anger, that thou findest occasion to desire 2 an
evil deed wherein there is sin (Keph. 198 : 2-3).
2. It is proper for man to look on the
ground at the time when he walks on a road,3
lest he tread with his foot on the ‘ Cross of
Light5 and destroy the plants; it is specially
for the worm,4 lest he tread on it and kill it
with his foot. (Keph. 208 : 17-20). But it is

1 i.e.y to bring about—slander, accusations, etc.

* It is the motive that makes an act good or bad.
3 Probably this comes from the Jains, who even to this day avoid
by elaborate precautions the possible injuring of small creatures;
If a person walks on the ground here he injures the earth, and if
he moves his hand he injures the air; and the air is the life of men
and living creatures ” (H. 9)—an obvious exaggeration. It is the
•creatures on the ground and in the air which should not be hurt,
if possible, not the elements themselves.
4 or: serpent—a less likely meaning here.
 THE WAY OF RIGHTEOUSNESS 189 *

I who forcibly 1 say to you that every man of

the righteous Elect who walks on a path for
the sake of God’s work, or if he walks on the
earth, even when he crushes with the sole of
his foot the ‘ Cross of Light ’, he has no
sin therein,2 but his whole path is a
garland and a palm-leaf, because he does
not walk in his own desire, nor does he
run for the sake of gain and frivolous things
when he treads on the earth and the f Cross of
Light5 (Keph. 209 : 12-19). It shall not
bear resentment against3 thee with hatred
and anger, for it knows that thou walkest on
it for rest and healing, to preach for it. .. (and)
to reveal its mysteries (Keph. 210 : 26-29).
True gentleness is less in action than in motive.
The unintentional causing of pain cannot be a sin, as
the Jains have supposed; sin lies in the reckless and
purposive infliction of suffering on others, even the
most humble. It is good to watch carefully while
walking, lest we carelessly hurt some tiny creature of
our loving Father—ant or wrorm; but when we have to
travel on the work of the Church and not our own,
even the pain we may thus accidentally inflict becomes

1 lit: with a loud voice, i.e.y positively.

•Because the motive is now to work for their final liberation^
this makes all the difference. In the context Mani speaks of the-
lifelong gratitude of the patient for the use of the surgeon’s knife-
in cutting away the cause of a more dangerous and agonising pain,
3 or: be vexed with.
 190 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

a blessing to the Soul, the Light-Spark, in the crushed

insect or blade of grass. Because our motive is the
liberation of all imprisoned Soul, the very contact with
.us at that time releases the Light in the dying creature,
and it is grateful for that pain to us, as is the patient
to the surgeon for his healing knife.

61. A Sure Path

Pity and Sincerity 1 are, for all the Saints

of the past and also of the future, the essential
foundation 2 of brightness, the wonderful Gate
which lets (them) see everywhere ; they are
also the Straight Path one walks upon,
keeping to one side the length of the great
sea of troubles in the Three Worlds.3 Among
lakhs of men rarely is even one found to walk
in this Path!4 Were there any who devoted
themselves thereto, thanks to this Path they
would be born in the ‘ Pure Land5 6,5 would
1 i.e., humane kindliness to others and a total integrity of the
-self. We here come very close to the Confucian portrait of the
* Superior Man * (cf. GG 26, etc.)
* lit: base and root (Ch. ki-tche; Turk, toz-yiltiz).
3 Probably the Skt. trilokam; Mani usually speaks of the 4 eight
worlds \ In Chinese we read san-kiai.
4 The thought occurs in almost every scripture, and in daily life!
“ Many are called, but few chosen! ” E. g., “ One in a thousand wili
be found, and two in ten thousand, for the accomplishing of the
first mystery ” : Pistis Sophia, pp. 354-355.
6 Ch. tsing-t'ou, the Mahayanist 4 Sukhdvati * among the 4 Pure
Land Sect of Japan, in it can enter nothing that defiles or
•corrupts; cf. Rev. 21 : 27.
 THE WAY OF RIGHTEOUSNESS 191

free and save themselves from penalties, and

would at last without fear rejoice for evermore
in calmness and tranquillity (GMT. 68).
Summing up the whole Path in two words, the
Manichean would choose Compassion and Integrity
for its definition—a wholehearted sincerity in thought
and word and deed; a perfect harmlessness inspired by
sympathy and love. Through these the Soul can avoid
the miseries of being subject to passion, and come to
the sweet joy of eternal peace. But how few try to
hold to these!

62. Sincerity of Heart

1. Blessed is the man whose heart does

not condemn him ;l the faithful man of God
judges himself willingly.2 ... If perchance
thou wouldst give a lesson (to others), do it
(thyself) before thou hast given it (MP. 40 :
31-32, 6). Do not adorn thyself outwardly
and be found rotten 3 in thy inward parts 4
(MP. 189 : 11-12); do not strive, after
pleasing men and then become an enemy
to God; ... do not give rest to thy body and

1 Cf. 1 Jn. 3 : 20-21. Note that it is the conscience which really

judges.
2 lit: gives his judgment to himself alone, i.e., does not judge
others if he can help it.
3 or: wasted away, destroyed.
4 Cf Mt. 23 : 25-29.
 192 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

then pay the penalty with thy Soul1 (MP*

40 : 18-19, 21).
2. (Mani says:) “ My brothers, love me
with your heart, do not flatter 2 me with your
lips; the children of the lip are blotted out,
the children of the heart remain! Do not be
like the pomegranate whose rind is gay outside
. . . while its inside is full of ashes (?);.„.
do not be like the tombs of corpses, which are
indeed whitewashed outside but are inside
full of carrion; do not be like horse-
saddles, for outside indeed they wear fine
trappings 3 . . . while inside they are full of
straw (?) ! . . . For my sake be like ajar of
wine, placed firmly on its stand, for while the
outside is a piece of earthenware, there is a
fragrant wine inside 55 4 (MP. 220 : 1-24)!

The vital importance of Sincerity is further

stressed: it is a total one-pointedness towards the goal,,
a complete freedom from every kind of hypocritical
outer show. Outside it matters little what we seem, so

1 What profit in gaining the whole world and losing the Soul ?
(cf. Mk. 8 : 36).

* lit: please.

3 lit: Babylonian (cloth), an echo of Babylon’s traditional luxury:

* It is pleasant to have here the positive form for the so negative

denunciation by Jesus of the hypocrites of his day.
 THE WAY OF RIGHTEOUSNESS 193
long as we are really pure within and rich with the
fragrance of a true righteousness devoted to the libera¬
tion of the One Light everywhere.

63. The Work of the Light-Mind

1. The Light-Mind,1 who is the Awakener

of those who sleep, the Gatherer in of those’
scattered abroad 2 (Keph. 44 : 11-12), (is) the
Father of all the Messengers, (Keph. 35 : 22)
who chooses all the churches (Keph. 36 : 1-2).
The Physician of the Souls, he is the Light-
Mind, (and) this is the ‘New Man5.3 The
caustic medicines are the Precepts, while the
cooling medicines are the Absolution4—he
who would be healed, see, of two kinds (are)
the medicines of Life (MP. 40 : 13-16)!
2. There is a mighty power dwelling in
this body; ... it is very terrible with great
cunning 5 until the Light-Mind finds how to*
1 “ Christ ... is Mind, . . . that which is known and that
which knows*’ (AL. 24)—a dictum which sounds almost Indian!
He reveals truth to Hermes.
2 Cf. “ In all am I scattered, and whencesoever thou wiliest thou
gatherest Me; and gathering Me thou gatherest thyself” (Gospel
of Eve).
s Ch. sin-jcft.
* lit: forgiveness of sins. It is painful to know the Commands
we have so poorly kept, and delightful to know that our failures
have been condoned and put away.
5 lit: wisdom.
13
194 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

subdue this body and to drive 1 it according

to his will (Keph. 94:17-22). (Then) the
Light-Mind2 comes and finds the Soul a
captive in the flesh; ... he frees the Soul’s limbs
and makes them free from the five limbs
of Sin,3 . . . (and) those he chains4 (Keph.
66 : 7-9, 22-25).
3. Because he loathed the five craggy and
dangerous earths 5 of the Darkness, he flattened
t •

and overwhelmed them; he began by remov¬

ing the brambles and all the poisonous weeds,
and burned them in fire.. . . Then, being armed
with the sharp Axe of Wisdom, the Messenger
of the Light . . . felled the five kinds of poison
trees ... of death (GMT. 49, 58, 49, 52).

1 or: sail, wound.

2 “ He called an Envoy, a storehouse of life which is the Mind,
« . . and sent him forth: . . . ‘Dig up their land with the spade
and overturn the fragrant roots; . . . aid the Righteous and plant
thy Trees in the world.* . . . Then he armed himself and at once
girt himself, the Son of the Lights; . . . he dug up the fragrant
roots and took them, ... he helped his Righteous, (and) he
planted his Trees in the world ” (MP. 208 : 11—209 : 4).
r; 3 i.e.y the five aspects of the Soul, as corrupted by evil. See the
accompanying table of the Five Dark Trees.

4 “ When they had made all these things and established the
universe, imprisoned the five kinds of demons and chained them by
paeans of the third great Bright Powers . . .—the five Bright Sons
of First Reason, and the Bright Sons of Pure Spirit, then * Gall *
and ‘ Reply as well as Srasha.”
6 C/1 AnNadim in App. 14:8.
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 THE WAY OF RIGHTEOUSNESS 195

4. He took his own precious Trees „ . .

of Life ... of five kinds,1 shining, pure and
unexcelled, and he planted them in the soils
of the First Nature. He sprinkled these
precious Trees with the water of immortality,
and they produced fruits which give death¬
lessness (CMT. 58, 64, 58).
. 5. He arranges 2 the limbs of the Soul,
builds them, polishes them and organises them
into a * New Man5, a son of the Righteous¬
ness 3 (Keph. 96 : 25-27). He evoked the
Aeons of Peace in whom there is no waning
.and decrease; ... he established treasuries4
of Life, and in them set up living Images . . .
which never perish5 (MP. 203 : 9-11, 14-17);
then over the five kinds of precious luminous

1 i.e.t the five pure aspects of the Soul, as listed in the accompany¬
ing table.

2 or: organises, constructs.

3 i.e., the ‘ Christ in You *, who replaces the * Old Man s, the
fallen Adam enslaved to sin. “ God makes man when the Inner
Man is renewed in God’s image ” (AF. 24 : 2). The process is
fully described by Richard Rollo, The Mending of Life, and Walter
Hilton, The Scale of Perfection, and many other works by Catholics
on Ascetic and Mystical Theology; e.g. St.John of the Cross.

4 or: chambers, homes.

5 Are these the living portraits of disciples, whereof C.W.L.

rspeaks in his The Masters and the Path?
196 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

terraces he lit five precious Bright Lamps that

last for ever1 (CMT. 51).
6. The cNew Man5 becomes King through^
his love, his faith, his perfection, his patience*,
and through his wisdom.3 His King again, who
is the Light-Mind, is King over the ‘ All5; 4
he reigns over it according to his will (Keph*.
97 : 19-23). (So too) the Light-Mind . . *
comes and shines in the world and chooses the
holy Church, . . . and parts the Light from
the Darkness and separates the Truth from Law¬
lessness (Keph. 80 : 33—81 : 1). O Mind that
conquers Matter, spread thy mercy over my-
spirit (MP. 59 : 11-12) !
Now for a moment we look at how the Illumi¬
nator, Guru or Messenger of the Light, who is really
the awakened Light-Spark within the man himself,
proceeds in his work. First come the precepts in the
Scriptures, reproving and consoling, and then the
repression of the inner c demon5 and the steady
uprooting of the heart’s lawless tendencies. This
results in the purifying of the life and the change of
1 “ He hung up the five Powers of Darkness in the Five Lights,
the Sons of Men, for the whole Enmity is fastened and fettered in
them ** (Keph. 89)
* or: reigns in.
3 These five qualities correspond with the * Roots * in the
accompanying table. Such consistencies between lists in Chinese,
Persian, Coptic, Syriac, Greek, Latin texts, show how faithfully the
Manicheans guarded the details of their faith, even where technical
names may have varied somewhat.
4 or: the universe, everything (Copt, ajem pteref.)
 THE WAY OF RIGHTEOUSNESS 197

vices into virtues ; and these are carefully cultivated

until they come to fruition. Thus the 4 New Man %
of whom St. Paul also speaks, takes power in the Soul
-and manifests the five Divine qualities within it, and
equally in the wider field of the Church and society.

64. Five Kinds of Masters

1. Sometimes the soldiers of the c Old
Man 51 . . . are defeated ; then the religious
thought of the Kindly Light 2 . . . enters the
Town3 of the wonderful Pure Thought ; in
the stately Hall found there it places a Seat for
the Law and instals itself there. . . . When
the Kindly Light moves in the Town of
Thought, it should be known that this Master
preaches the Right Law wonderfully ; he
delights in speech about the Three Eternals 4
and the Five Greatnesses5 of the Great Light.6
and he fully develops all thoughts by means
of his supernatural intuition.7 In his preaching
of the Law he then stresses Pity (GMT. 39-40) :
1 Ch. kou-jen. St. Paul uses the same phrase.
2 i.e., the Light-Mind, or even God Himself; Ch. houei-ming
Ja-siang.
8 Ch. tcKeng (enclosure).
4 i.e., Light, Power and Wisdom.
6 God’s five Splendours; Ch. ta ming san-ch'ang wou-ta; cf.
■GPM 1 : 2.
4 i.e., Vazurg-Ro$an Naresaf, God the Supreme.
7 Ch. shen-t’ong, probably the Skt. abhijna.
 198 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

2. When the Kindly Light moves into the

Town of Feeling, . . . this Master is pleased
by talk of the bright Palaces of the Sun and
Moon,1 and he fully develops majestic power;
. . . then in his preaching of the Law he
stresses Sincerity (CMT. 41).
3. When the Kindly Light moves into the
Town of Reflection, . . . this Master delights
to speak of Obedience,2 the great Servant,,
and by means of his supernatural intuition he
fully develops silence.3 Then in his preaching
of the Law he stresses Contentment (CMT. 42).
4. When the Kindly Light moves into
the Town of Intellect, . . . this Master is-
pleased to speak of the Five Lights, 4 and by
means of his supernatural intuition he fully
develops . . . .5 Then in his preaching of the
Law he stresses the Endurance of Wrong
(CMT. 43).

1 Called the ‘ First Gate of the Kingdom * ; cf. GPM 25.

2 Text: Srosharay, Ch. Sti-lu-sha-lo-yi (Pers. Swyr-lu-fa’-/’ai). We
meet Sraosha in A vesta texts; he is Obedience, one of the three,
Judges of GZ 38 : 2, called there strong and holy. The name
may mean: Sraoso-asyo, like the King who judges affairs. He is-
called the fGreat Servant* /'Ch. ta-siang) and represents the
Column of Glory, the Perfect Man, the Church.
3 Ch. mo-jan; AnNadim calls one member ( Discretion V
4 Ch. wou-ming—the Five Bright Elements.
5 The word is missing from the text.
 THE WAY OF RIGHTEOUSNESS 199

5. When the Kindly Light moves into the

Town of Reason, it should be known that
the Master is pleased to talk of the Messengers
of the Light, past, future and present; and
with his supernatural intuition he develops
the power to be invisible or visible. Then
in his preaching of the Law he stresses
Wisdom. So, then, he who is wise in the study
of such a Master knows at once in which
Realm the Kindly Light is found (CMT. 44).
As there are five aspects, principles, of the Soul,
so there are five kinds of Saints, each manifesting
specially the quality of one of the aspects—Thought,
Feeling, Reflection, Intellect and Reason, or however
we may prefer to translate these terms. By observing
the ways of one of the Elect we can see which of these
is at the time illumined by the Divine Light, and by
following bis example kindle the flame in the corres¬
ponding aspect of our own Soul.

65. Exhortation to Spiritual Effort

1. O man of God, thou hast come on 1 to

the Road; do not fall, for the Gods have
desired thee; thou hast been called, do not
fail to hear. Look back no more—they do
not keep account of what is past, (so) do not

1 Copt, akpeh nsoohe; i.e., been set right.

200 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

think of what thou hast forgetfully done.1

Strain thyself forward, and God will not turn
thee away; but if thou slacken, thou shalt
receive suffering (MP. 164 : 20-26). Be thou
•zealous for God, . . . do not flinch within
thyself (MP. 165 : 30-31)! Do not prefer the
life of this body to this everlasting Life;
put the fear of God in thy heart, and thou
sha]t live without suffering 2 (MP. 82 : 27-29).
If thou hast resolved to love Me, then I will
put on thee the Robe of Glory and the Gar¬
land of Victory, because thou hast believed in 3
the Truth (MP. 53 : 12-14) O how great is
the joy that is prepared for the Perfect4
(MP. 64 : 2), the King’s Bride (M 20)!
2. My brothers, do not slacken in doing
good by night and by day,5 for what the man
plants is the same as what he shall reap6
(MP. 52 : 3-5). I myself left the Land of Light
1 This refers to the repentent convert, whose act of faith and
surrender blots out the past. Copt, dak ekiarme apahou, maubi op
men-netauouine, mpormeeu anetakeilou: cf. GPM 89.
* This is no promise to escape the suffering shown inevitable in
GPM 55; it is the pain of failure, of sin and darkness, which is now
destroyed. Other suffering is joy in the light of eternal bliss.
8 or: trusted to.
4 Apparently an echo of Isa. 64 : 4 and 1 Cor. 2 : 9.
5 Night is put first, because slackening is more likely at night.
4 The ‘ law of karma echoing 2 Cor. 9 : 6 and Gal. 6 : 7-9.
 THE WAY OF RIGHTEOUSNESS 201

and of eternal Bliss, and for your sakes I have

come here, bringing these Trees (of Virtue)
which I would plant in your holy multitude.
„ . . Each one of you must plant these Trees
in his own pure heart, that he may let them
thrive and grow tall. . , . If now you would
realise in yourselves the pure fruits of the
great Incomparable Light, you must welcome
all the precious Trees and let them have all
they need. Why so? Because, good people,
it is by means of the fruits of these Trees you
will be able to free yourselves from the Four
Afflictions,1 and all embodied beings will be
saved from worldliness 2 and come at last, ever
victorious, into the Realm of unmoving
Happiness (CMT. 92)! (For) he who sows his
soul with good seed finds the return again,
Eternal Life in the land of the Gods (Man.
III. 11).
3. See, my beloved, do not be enticed 3
by the forms of this Ruler, 4 the Root of all
1 Ch. sseu-nan. The Gnostics (FFF. p. 347) listed these as Fear,
“Grief, Doubt and Supplication; the Chinese list is not known, but
Afani is so close to the Gnostics it may well have been the same.
2 or: birth and death (Skt. samsara).
3 or: deceived.
4 The Pistis Sophia was trapped by the beauties assumed by the
Powers of Matter.
 202 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

the erupting wickedness and the Camp of

every hatred. But protect yourselves from
his tricks and his evil ideas 1 that dwell in
your body,2 lest they mix with3 you and
ruin your gentleness4 and lead your truth
astray into a lie. But be you zealous and
perfect before the Mind of Truth who has
shown himself to you, so that you may be true
of heart and be drawn up on high and inherit
Life from everlasting to everlasting (Keph_
79 : 1-12).
4. Because all the Souls that arise in
human flesh and (then) vanish are led to the
great Aeons of the Light, and there is a
resting-place for them there in5 the Aeons
of the Greatness. As for you, my beloved,,
try 6 every means that you may become good
Pearls and be assigned to Heaven by the
Light-Diver 7 when he comes to you and leads
1 or: impulses.
2 This is the * Sin ’ that lurks in the body and wars with the-
* New Man
3 or: contaminate.
4 or: sweetness.
5 or: through, by means of.
8 or: wrestle (?)
7 The Light-Mind that comes down into the Sea of Matter
(samsarasagara) to rescue Souls. The context is the moving story
of Mani and the Ugly Saint (see his Life in our Introduction, §11)-
 THE WAY OF RIGHTEOUSNESS 20$

you to the great Supreme Merchant, your Rest

in Life for evermore (Keph. 204 : 13-22).
5. You are the Sons of the Day and th.e Sons
of Light1 (Keph. 163 :30-31); fight yet a
little while, O Sons of Light, and you will be
victorious; he who evades his burden will lose
his bedchamber! . . . Support one another,
my brothers, do not flinch at all; we have a
God who cares (for us), He will help us in
His compassion. It is Jesus who has helped
me, he will help you, my beloved 2 (MP. 58:
24^26,17-19)! Be yourselves Refiners and
Saviours for your Soul which abides in every
place,3 that you may lead it to the dwelling of
the Fathers of the Light ... in the New
Aeon 4 in the Place of Joy (Keph. 77 :18-21)!

1 Cf. 1 Thes. 5 : 5 and Eph. 5 : 8, a very close parallel: ntotne

risere mphooue men-nsere ihpouaine; Thes. reads: nthoten hanseri hte~
pkouoini nem hanseri nte-piehoou, and allowing for dialect differences
this is practically verbatim.

2 Though these are the words, not of Mani himself but of a

converted Manichean, once Christian, they are consistent with
Mani’s own identification of Jesus with the revealing Angel-Twin,
when he calls himself<f the Apostle of Jesus ”.

3 Note this noble doctrine of self-help, combined once more with

a true pantheism of the omnipresence of Soul: Copt: ntotne hotiene
ari henrefsotef men henrefsote htethpsukhe tettek aretes hem ma nim.

4 The ‘New Heaven and New Earth ’ of Rev. 21:1, and the
* Renewal ’ of GZ 50 : 4, GPM 12:4 and GH 35 : 2.
204 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

6. The crowd 1 have erred because they

look to a distant day, but let us today do good
(MP. 162 : 15-16), so that our way (may) be
radiant once again . . . and we may be fear¬
less wherever we may ... go (BM. 207)!
Let us not slumber and sleep until our Lord
changes us, 2 his garland on his head (and)
his palmleaf in his hand, wearing the
Robe of his glory—and all of us enter the
bride-chamber and reign together with
him (MP. 193 : 8-12)!
Now the Soul is awake, taught, resolved; it
remains only to exert to the utmost to attain the goal
of freedom. This is won through detachment from the
world (vairagya) and attachment to the Messenger or
Guru (i.e., to God: sraddha-bhakti), with a steady per¬
severance in the spiritual life (ahhyasa:). Mani explains
that his mission is to sow the seed of these in every
heart, but that each must labour that the tender
seedling may grow into a mighty tree bearing luscious
fruit, and so each Soul will be freed from the misery of
fleshly life by a ‘ ceaseless awareness5, an unresting
watch on the lower tendencies .that again and again
drag it down to earth. All Souls are destined to
achieve (GMP 12:4), but each may aspire to a
brighter glory, as stars differ from each other in
their splendour. . Those who make real effort may be
sure of Divine aid ever ready at their side; to pro¬
crastinate is foolishness, for this is the ‘ accepted

1 or: majority.

2 or: transports, carries us over.

 THE WAY OF RIGHTEOUSNESS 205

time 5; today we must work at refining ourselves and

glorifying the inner self, to blow its tiny ‘ spark/ into a
vast and brilliant flame.

66. The Soul is Righteous Now

L Fair is a holy Soul that has taken the

Holy Spirit to herself (MP. 174 :19), fair is the
Dove that has found a holy Pool; it is Jesus
who flies into the heart of his faithful one
(MP. 161: 7-8)! See, the Gods rejoice over him
because he has become one like them;1 it is the
Soul that is safe 2 from stain 3 who can proceed
to the presence of God4 (MP. 150: 13-14).
2. I withdrew far from the world, I left
my parents behind, I turned to the Lord who
is greater than the heaven and the earth. . . .
I did not do the body’s will (MP. 93 :19-22),.
so I found the Land of Light, I made my way
to the City of the Gods, I communed with
the Righteous while I was in the bodys
(MP. 95:28-30). For I removed myself from

1 See the close parallels throughout GP; the idea is quite

Egyptian, like so much else we find in these Coptic Psalms.
8 or: healthy, free.
3 i.e.r spotless, flawless like a pure Pearl.
4 The pure in heart will see God.
6 The great value of saintly contacts is well known to all
.religious thinkers and practicants.
 206 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

the bitter waters,* I came to port even before

the sea became stormy,1 2 ... I put off the
vain garment of the flesh, being safe and pure;
I made my Soul’s clean feet confidently
trample on it;3 I stood in line with the Gods
who are clothed with the Christ (MP. 99 : 12-
13, 27-30), for I am a God (and) a servant
(of) God4 (MP 75 :5)!
The Soul that has thus deified herself by her own
unremitting effort against the lower tendencies of the
flesh, abstaining from carnal desires and ever seeking
the company of Saints, becomes glorious and radiant
even before escaping from the body; after death she
goes straight to God, whose nature of pure Light she
already shares.

1 i.e., sensual emotions and sex-contacts; sweet at first, but very

bitter in their results because they dim the glory of the Light and
destroy all peace of mind.
2 i.e., before the passions of growing youth came on, in early
manhood.
8 Cf. the Agraphon spoken to Salome: “ When you shall tread
on the vesture of shame ” and so conquer sex, then shall the Truth
be known.
4 Closely parallel to the Visishtadvaita-like ending of GP 70 : 3:
ei The King is indeed God, and the son of God.” One, yet distinct.
 CHAPTER SIX

LIBERATION OF THE
LIGHT

That same death of the body, which seems a cease¬

less dread or terror to the worldly when attached to the
body of flesh and its delights, is an ecstatic expectation
to the spiritual man. The body may feel pain in its
own dissolution, but the Soul rejoices at the sound of
its Liberator’s approaching steps and bids the sorrowing
friends around rather to share its joy. At the same
time the Soul knows it needs the mighty Guru’s help
at this moment also, and with passionate earnestness
calls him to take her across the river into the bright
Realm of God; her confidence bases on her knowledge
of mutual love and a devotion that has never wavered,
so that now between them there is the perfect intimacy
of heart-union.
To the prayer of the dying the Lord responds with
sweet assurances, and joyfully the Soul escapes from
the prison of the flesh, the evil thoughts that always
inhere therein flee away, and the angels of love and
piety welcome her home. They take her safely through
the judgment of the ‘ Lords of Karma ’, while she sings
with joy at her victory over death and enters into the
■eternal paradise of bliss, where all the righteous live in
endless joy.
 208 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

67. The Agony of Death

1. One1 too must die at last; . . . like a

shadow of his body he lies down, his goods
remain withheld (from him).2 . . . Ten
thousand demons come, black foggy demons
hover around, the darkness of night presses
on the dying, oppression comes to them; sitting
on the breast, the demons make them dream 5
(T. II. D. 169).
2. A false hairy hoary demoness 3 4 comes,
the hailcloud is like her (in colour); provided
with hideous brows, her look is like a bloody
butcher (?),5 her blackened teats are like a nail
(in sharpness). A grey cloud rises out of her
nose, from her throat ascends black smoke;
her breast is wholly compact with a myriad
snakes, her hair is a viper; her finger is alto¬
gether sharp and venomous. . . . She seizes
1 Not only others must be ready for the body’s end, but every
single one of us.
8 i.e.f those properties that were so dear to him on earth cannot
go with him now: cf. GZ 36 : 3.
3. Torturing memories of lost chances, cruel and blasphemous-
actions done, filthy thoughts encouraged and given rein.
4 This may be Humamah, the demoness of Arrogance, or Az, the^
description tallies with that of the evil conscience
m GZ 40 : 2-3.
5 This word bcana is not known elsewhere; from the context it
may mean a ‘ slaughterer ’ or the like.
 LIBERATION OF THE LIGHT 209

on the erring Soul; beating on its head, she

thrusts it into hell. The demons found in hell
seize ii, the evil demons come, they take it to
themselves. There you see many dark spirits,
to implore whom when near to death is pur¬
poseless1 (T. II. D. 169, 178).
Each man, naturally, while he faces with equani¬
mity the death of his friends, shrinks from the thought
of his own, imagining all kinds of terrors must lurk in
the dark hour of the inevitable end. Those whose
conscience is troubled by evil memories may easily be
afflicted then with ghastly visions and the dread of the
horrible hell which haunted his mind in early childhood-

68. The Righteous is Called

1. See, I have safely finished my voyage

(MP. 73 : 7), my own hour has already come.
They summon me (MP. 72 : 30-31): “O Soul,
lift up (thy) head and go to thy Fatherland
(MP. 182 : 11-12)! ” I depart from your midst
and I go away to my true home2 (MP. 72 :
31-32). I have cleansed myself in the washing
of immortality by the hands of the Saints;3
1 Refuting the idea that a mere deathbed conversion from fear
of punishment may avail the Soul. :
3 Naturally enough, the Soul’s true home is Heaven whence she
came and whither she returns: “ Qui vitam sine termino nobis donet in
patria ”, as St. Thomas Aquinas sings.
8 This may refer to a baptismal rite on the deathbed, such as
Mani, with Chaldean antecedents, is said to have used, while
14
 210 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

(now) they summon me to the bride-chambers

of the Height, and I will go up clothed in the
Robe1 (MP. 76 : 9-12).
2. I will go up to the Nature of Excellences2
(MP. 76 : 21), I will pass away up to the skies
and leave this body on the earth.3 The trum¬
pet sounds. I hear (it)! I am being called
up to the Immortals! I will throw away my
body on the earth from which it was assem¬
bled. Ever since I was in my early child¬
hood I have learned to walk in God's Path;
let no one weep for me—neither my brothers
nor those who produced me; my true Fathers,
those who are from on high, they love my
Soul, seek after it! My Soul’s enemy is the
world, its wealth and the love of it; all life
hates godliness. What am I doing while I am
in the place of my foes 4 (MP. 75 : 13-24) ?

insisting on the far greater value of a spiritual and inner cleansing

during life.

"^^e Light-Vesture of the Gnostics; it is the innate divinity

of the Soul now manifesting outwardly.

1 i 2*13*^1 G<>C>d TreC’ thc K,ng of LiSht> sP0ken of in GPM

* Sharply contrasting the different destinies of the two parts of

man as known down here; cf. GP 23 : 3.

A striking passage: Copt, pbios tiref masie ntmentnoute> cirtu tisoop

htnbma nnajajc.
 LIBERATION OF THE LIGHT 211
But those whose conscience is clear, who have
always longed for God and chosen the Light rather
than the deeds of Darkness, look to death rather with
delighted hope, for they are going home to join their
long-lost Kindred in the land of joy and radiant peace.
They feel no sorrow at the passing of all earthly things,
hut rather rejoice to be free from their entangling lure.

69. He Comforts his Friends

1. The life and death of everyone is in his
own hands1—as for us, let us live; what is all
the crowd to us (MP. 158 : 6-8) ? What have
we now (in common) with the world ?2 Arise,
Jet us go to our Aeons!3 Where are our Light-
Growns that never fall at all ?4 Let us wear
our Garlands that do not fade eternally
(MP. 154 : 15-18)!
2 The Living Kingdom shall once again
appear, the Love of God, the White Dove5
(MP. 156 : 25-26); the Kingdom is Love, this
White Dove—it is not gold and silver, it is not
^eating and drinking (MP. 158: 8-9)! The
1 Man chooses his own destiny—to walk on the narrow path to
Life, or on the wide way to ruin; cf. GY 20 : 4.
* Like the Hermetists (cf. GH 49 : 2), Manicheans were almost
always a small minority; their standards were too high for the
masses. Copt, ahran menpmese i&ref. . . ahrart tinou menpkosmos?
3 i.e., to our Divine qualities, parallel to the Twelve great
Maidens, who represent the Virtues of God Himself
4 Cf GPM 80 : 5; or: never never fall.
6 The gentle Dove, white because pure, is often taken as a
symbol of God's Spirit, i.eof Love.
212 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

Kingdom is Joy and Peace and Rest (MP. 154:

13); see, (it is) within us;1 look, (it is) without
us; if we believe in it we shall live therein for
evermore (MP. 160 : 20-21)! My brothers*
come in through this narrow Door2 and let
us comfort one another with the word of Truth
(MP. 156 : 5-6)!
3. See, the Bridegroom has come! Where
is the Bride who resembles him ? The Bride is
the Church, the Bridegroom is the Light-
Mind; the Bride is the Soul, (and) Jesus is the
Bridegroom3 (MP. 154 : 3-7)! If he rises in us*
we too shall live in him; . . .if we believe
in him, we shall transcend death and come to
Life4 (MP. 159 : 23-26).
Death for such is a happy hour, and the dying
calls on those he has to leave behind to share his joy at
entering the spiritual realm, where there is union with
the beloved Lord whom he has faithfully served on this
dimly lighted world. Knowing the Land of Light,

1 Not only within, as in Lk. 17 : 21, but all around; to know

this is to be always in the Kingdom, to be eternally one with it.
* Cf. Lk. 13 : 24.
3 This may profitably be compared with Catholic doctrine on the
Mystical Body, e.g. the Encyclical of Pius XII, and with all the
writing of the mystics—also with those of Sufis, Sikhs, and Vaish-
navas. God is Love, and to know Him is to love Him. There is.
no other way to express it.
4 The birth in our own hearts of the Living Christ is the cer¬
tainty of our spiritual ‘ resurrection * and ‘ ascension *. As He, so
too we.
 LIBERATION OF THE LIGHT 213

which is Spirit, is within as well as outside himself, the

dying realises that he goes to no alien environment but
rather merges in what is already one with himself, and
so is eternally full of confidence, restfulness and peace.

70. And Prays for Help to Jesus

1. O great c Call5 who has wakened

this soul of mine from slumber (HR. II.
62), O Merciful filled with mercy, the
Saviour of those who are his own1 (MP.
112:8-9), I worship thee ! I have called upon
thee with an innocent voice because I know
that thou art the Rescuer of Souls (MP.
65 : 31-32) ! Stretch out thy Right Hand to
me, and I shall leave the things of the body
behind me (MP. 69 : 6-7) ! Come, I implore
thee, draw me up out of (the) Underworld 2
of the Dead (MP. 67 : 15-16) ! Let not the
demons frighten me and the Fury with her
fearful face,3 because I have not served the
Error but have passed my whole life nourished
in thy Truth (MP. 84:21-22) ! (Now) save
my soul from this (state of) life and death
(M 311)!
1 How can those who reject him be saved by him ?
3 lit: the hidden (place)—Amente; i.e. Hades, “the Unseen”.
3 r/. GPM 67 : 2.
 214 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

2. See, my faith clings 1 fast to me; see

my alms that I have done in thy name; see,
my prayers and my zeal demand that I receive
grace upon me! 2 A robber was saved upon
the cross only because he confessed thee;5
. . . cleanse me from all my sins, for I too
have hung upon thy Hope (MP. 49: 20-24,
27-28) ! Behold, I am coming out of the body
of death; . . . now do I call on thee, O
Saviour: “ Come to me in the hour of my
need (MP. 50:11, 15)!” Show me thy
Maiden 4 at the moment of my departure from
the ‘All5 (MP. 112 : 9-10); let me too be
worthy to see thy Maiden for whose sake I
have toiled, and her three Angels also who
are with her, who bring all the Gifts of the
faithful one (MP. 66 : 22-24)! My holy Father,
let me see Thy Likeness that I saw before the
universe was created,5 before the Darkness

1 lit: stands.

wh° folkws the way taught by the Messenger can claim

his help and demand to be saved by him.
3 See Lk. 23 : 42-43.

* The SouFs perfect purity, which appears to the Righteous in

q Tr a gift of God’s own immaculate
Self, called m GPM 27 the ‘ Maiden of the Light ’.

6 Is this an echo of Jn. 17 : 5 ?

 LIBERATION OF THE LIGHT 215

dared to stir up envy against Thy Aeons.1 On

that occasion indeed did I become a stranger
to my Kingdom; 2 I have cut its root and
have come up victoriously on high (MP. 79 :
24-28).
3. O my prayers and my fasts and my
virginity which I have perfected in thy
name (MP. 51 : 26-27), Jesus my Light
(MP. 87 : 16), this is the moment of my
death when I have need of you (MP. 50 :
16-17)! Yoke for me speedily my soaring
chariots (and) my horses—which are my holy
fasts, my prayers to God, and my almsgiv¬
ings ! 3 Take me swiftly in to the Land of those
of the Glory (MP. Ill : 23-26)! O Mighty
One, crown me! Take me on thy wings, O
Eagle, (and) fly with me to the skies! 4 Put
my white Robe upon me, take me in as a gift
to thy Father (MP. 188 : 19-22)!
1 The revolt of GPM 2 : 2 and 19.
* Only to defeat this revolt did the Soul come down from
heaven and so was alienated from God and Spirit, contaminated
by the enclosing Matter. *
3 Surely a telling metaphor, based on the Sun-chariot of Mithra
or Phoebus-Apollo (GZ 22: 1), or on the fiery chariot of Elijah
(2 K. 2 : 11).
4 Closely parallel to GP 31. But the mystical state of Rapture
is usually compared with an Eagle snatching the Soul on high; see
Consummata’s beautiful account in Fr. Raoul Plus’s story of the
mystic’s life.
 216 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANX

4. O eternal Victor, I call to thee; hear

my cry, Compassionate! Let thy Members
cleanse me, and wash me, thou, in thy holy
waters and make me spotless,1 even as I
(really) am! 2 Lo, the time has drawn near
that I should return to my homes! Thou art
the Way, thou art indeed the Gate of eternal
Life, O Son of God, my Saviour, who has
taught me to wear his holy Precepts 3 (MP.
59 : 24-31)! Open to me, O Tree of Life;
O Tree of Rest, open to me! Open thine
essences 4 to me, and I shall gaze upon the
face of the Saints! Open to me thy halls, for
my heart has swooned after thy bliss! Open
thy gardens to me, and my spirit will receive
(their) fragrance (MP. 154 : 22-29)!
The Soul implores her Saviour, the Master, Jesus,
to guard and guide her through the approaching
crisis, putting all her trust in the memory of a life
lived in union with Spirit, into whose realm she is now

This h. the Mandean massigta, the baptism of the dying, an

older rite in Chaldea not to avoid later sins which could not be
absolved, as in the alleged case of Constantine. Cf. GPM 68:1.
3 The real Self is ever-immaculate; it is only a superficial, a
seeming defilement which we see.
3 > adopting his way of life, ‘ putting on the Christ’: as Paul
might well have said.
4 or: being. In union with God, we can really see the Saints,
tor they are invisible to those who are not themselves one with
them. “ Only the saint can know a Saint.”
 LIBERATION OF THE LIGHT 217.

-about to pass. May all dark and gloomy evil thoughts

give place to the quiet happiness of this blessed
memory, personified now as the lovely Maiden of his
righteousness! And may the joyful consciousness this
brings become a fiery chariot to waft the liberated Soul
towards the skies, there to be glorified for evermore as
Victor!

71. Having always Preferred Him to the World

1. Come, my Saviour Jesus! Do not aban¬

don me (MP. 51 : 4), help even me ! I have
depended on thee, victorious stiller of the fear
of death through the Cross1 (MP. 53 : 30-32)!
Jesus, it is thou whom I have loved! . . .
See, the glorious armour 2 of thy Command¬
ment wherewith thou didst gird thyself, I
have put it on my limbs; I have fought
against my foes (MP. 51 : 5-10)! I have sub¬
dued youth,3 running in thy virtue, O Christ;
... I have forsaken the defilement of inter¬
course, have put on me this purity thou
desirest4 (MP. 88 : 27-30); the murderous
snake, foe of virginity,5 I have not listened to
1 Gould any Christian have spoken with greater fervour ?
3 The ( armour of light ’ of Rom. 13 : 12 and GPM 3 : 2, called
righteousness and peace ’ in 2 Cor. 6 : 7 and Eph. 6:11.
3 ue.y youth’s passions, such as sex desire.
4 Catholics too hold that Christ loves chastity and virginity.
5 Psychoanalysts have shown how often the snake recurs as a
symbol of sex desires.
.218 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

his laws and his lying words (MP. 60 : 18-21).

I have not even tasted the pleasure of the
bitter sweet (MP. 55 : 27), nor have I meddled
with the intercourse of the flesh, for it is a.
thing that perishes (MP. 86 : 31-32), nor have
I let the fire of eating and drinking rule over
me1 (MP. 55 : 28-29).
2. Show to me thy face, O holy and un¬
sullied 2 Radiance, . . . my true gracious
Physician (MP. 61 : 27-29)! I am thy sheep,,
thou art my good Shepherd! 3 Thou didst
follow me and save me from the destroying
wolves; I listened to thy words and walked in
thy laws, I became a stranger in the world 4
for thy Name’s sake, my God (MP. 60: 26-29)!
(Yet) thou didst not leave me in want, . . .
for I was given food and drink because of thy
Name (MH. 2 : 3-4)
3. I have touched the world and known it
that there is not a scrap 5 of life in it (MP.
223 : 24-25). I have wandered over the whole
1 Cf GPM 57 : 2.

* or: immaculate.

8 Cf GPM 50 : 3.

4 i.e.y turned away from worldly loves and ways.

5 lit*, little toe.

 LIBERATION OF THE LIGHT 219 ^

world and witnessed all the things that are

therein, (and) I have seen that all men vainly
run about,1 . . . for they have forgotten the
God who came and gave himself to death for
them 2 (MP. 51 : 11-16). The strangers with
whom I mingled, they never knew me; they
tasted my sweetness 3 and wished to keep me
with them; I was life to them, but they were
a death to me! I tolerated them,4 and they
wore me as a garment on themselves 5 (MP..
54 : 19-24)!
4. My Lord, when I saw these things I
took thy Hope and strengthened myself upon
it, I did not refuse thy yoke which thou didst
lay on me, thy good Precepts which thou
gavest me I have fulfilled, my Saviour; I did
not let my enemies put out thy Lamps of
Light 6 (MP. 51 : 17-22)! I have despised the
world to give life to my Soul, I have forsaken
the things of the flesh and been content with

1 This definitely seems to refer to Mani’s own experience.

9 Surely this refers to Jesus, the * God * who died on the Cross.
* i.t., exploited me.
4 lit: bore up under.
5 i.t., used me as a cover for their own actions.
• Cf. the Agraphon: “ Do not put out the light which has shone
forth in you.’* These may be the 6 Lamps * of GPM 63 : 5.
“220 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

those of the Spirit1 (MP. 63 : 28-29). I have

known the c Cross of Light5 that gives life to
the universe,2 I have believed in it that it is
my beloved Soul which nourishes everyone,
whereat the blind are offended because they
are ignorant of it 3 (MP. 86 : 27-30).
5. Since I found my Saviour I have walked
in his footsteps; never have I in the least4
hung back, so as to receive this Garland (MP«
<63 : 33—64 : 1); the gay trees that blossom
and are full of fruit I have given thee, my
husbandman: namely, Prayer, Fasting, Alms,
Love to thy children (MP. 91 : 8-10). My
* Inner Man 5 is like thee in his form, my
‘ Outer Man 5 receives grace through the
Word5 (MP. 173 : 19-21). I have con¬
stantly practised in thy holy Wisdotn,

1 The Soul says. “ Go away, you of the Hebdomad; go, attend

to your snares, . . . and let your snares attend to you. • Go, sink
-down in the madness, and fall into the fire that is kindled: I am
not of the sons of the world that I should fall into the snares and
be caught; I am a scion of the Living Ones, an entire Lamp of
Light (MP. 211 : 6:13).
* Copt, ettenho mpteref.
3 i.e.y I have known myself to be the same indwelling life in
everything; those who do not know this despise subhuman life as
inferior, to be ruthlessly exploited and misused.
4 or: at all, at least.
5 The inner self is in God’s image, the outer man lives by His
•commandments.
 LIBERATION OF THE LIGHT 221

which has opened my Soul’s eyes to the

light of the Glory and let me see the hidden
and revealed things, those of the Abyss and
those of the Height (MP. 86 : 23-26)!
6. O Light-Mind, the Sun of my heart that
gives my Soul the things of the Light, thou art
my witness that I have no comfort save in
thee (MP. 173 : 14-15)! I have heard every
voice, (but) no other voice save thine has
pleased me (MP. 154 : 31), for it is thou alone
whom I have loved from the beginning to the
end (MP. 87 : 9-10)! Since my childhood it
is thou to whom I have given thanks; I have
forsaken everything (MP. 91 : 22-23)—I do
not know the day when they vanished. . . .
I have left behind my beauty for the sake of thy
Name (MH. 3 : 5-7), I have stood firm in thy
Name, O Aloneborn1 (MP. 91 : 23-24)! I
have accepted thy sweet yoke in purity (MP.
55:30-31), I have borne thy yoke, have
bound my limbs to thy Cross (MP. 92 :
5-6); I have made myself pure for thee
according to my power, O King of Saints
(MP. 89 : 30)! It is thou to whom I have
given my Soul (MP. 91 : 27), for thou art
1 i.e.y Self-existing, not ‘ only-begotten son ’.
 222 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

the hidden Joy of thy children1 (MP.

92 : 19-20)!
It is only the knowledge of a devoted life on earth,
faithfully clinging to righteousness in this hard environ¬
ment, which can give this confidence. The Soul knows
that she is the Lord’s, because she has always striven
after Him and renounced the flesh; how then could the
Lord fail to receive her to Himself, when He has always
watched, protected, nourished her through the years ?
:Seeing for herself the vanity of this fleeting, unreal
world, the Soul has long ago made her choice of the
beloved Lord and tried to live without hurt to the Soul
hidden in every form, while cultivating all virtues in
herself. Now she is sure of the Master’s blessing, and
.confidently prays for His active aid.

72. The Bride to her Spouse

1. Jesus, my Light whom I have loved,

take me in to thee! I have trusted to the
knowledge of thy Hope which called me to
thee (MP. 85 : 23-26), take me up to thy
homes, Jesus my Spouse! . . . Pick me
ripening on the pleasant bush of the Church;
I am a gay2 fruit, pure since I was small3

What beauty, what deep experience in love lie behind these

1
words! Copt, ntak petaiti dtootek ntapsukhi, Je iitdk pcpftse cthcp nil

3 or: ripe, flourishing.

8 A charming conceit, worthy of St. Th^rese. Copt, jalet eiraut

hentbo etnatme ntekklesia, anak oukafpos efraut eitoubail jen ntamentkoui.
It is almost exactly the phrasing used by little Maria of Padova.
 LIBERATION OF THE LIGHT 223

{MP. 58 : 3, 9-11)! I am a Tree in thy Light-

Orchard (MP. 175 : 8)\my lamp shines like the
Sun; I have lit it, O Spouse, with the good
oil of purity (MP. 80 : 13-14).
2. My Bridegroom, Saviour, cleanse me in
thy waters1 . . . that are full of grace
(MP. 79 : 29-30); wash me in the dew-water2
of the Column of Glory (MP. 103 : 35)! I
have become divine again as I was (at first),3
. . I have set myself to please thee to
the end (MP. 58 : 28, 5)! Make even me
worthy of thy holy bridechambers (MP.
62 : 13-14) that are filled with Light4 (MP. 79 :
17-18), for I have loved thy Saints like thee
thyself, my Saviour (MP. 62 : 14-15)!
3. Jesus Christ, receive me to thy bride-
chambers (MP. 79 : 19), that I may chant
with those who sing to thee; add me too to
the number of those who have conquered and
have received their garland (MP. 117 :29-31).

1 Cf. GPM 70 : 4.
* i.e.y sweet dew, immortality (cf. Skt. amriiam),
8 Copt, aiemoute htahe nkaisap. Cf. GPM 70 : 4.
4 The Bridechamber of Light is common also in Ephrem. the Gk.
and Eih. Acts of Thomas, and the Chaldaic and Nestorian
liturgies: e.g.: “ The King’s son has built for his bride a glorified
bridechamber ” (genona, a protected retreat, like a walled garden).
 224 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

Let me rejoice in all the bridechambers, and

do thou give to me the crown of the Saints (?)
(MR 80 : 20-22)!
So great is her confidence, born of lifelong unity
of will, that the Soul really feels the Master to be her
Spouse, and in an overflowing ecstasy of love she longs
for an even closer union with the Beloved, and for the
total purifying that can alone make such perfect union
possible. Who could read these glowing words without
a memory of St. Gemma Galgani, Sri Krishna
Chaitanya, St. John of the Cross, the * Little Flower * ?
Mysticism is a grace deeply planted in the human Soul
everywhere, the crowning glory of ages of longing for
the Lord.

73. The Lord’s Reply

1. As I was saying these things weeping,

the Saviour called to me (MP. 93 : 25) and
spoke with me, . . . and my spirit1 was
exalted 2 (T. II. D. 178); Jesus, the King of
Saints (MP. 61 : 9), the true Light of the
Faithful (MP. 62:6), in a sweet voice answered
me, saying, “ O blessed righteous man, come
forth (MP. 50 : 18-19)! Ascend, thou Soul, and
alarm thyself no more; death is vanquished,
and the longed-for bliss has now drawn near.
. . . I have come, I who will redeem from
1 or: ego (Per. griv), i.e., the personal self.
a i.e.} with joy at his reply.
 LIBERATION OF THE LIGHT 225

evil, cure the pain, and make peace in thy

heart; I shall give thee all thou hast desired
of me, and restore thy place in higher splen¬
dour1 (M 91: 24, 14-15)! Be not afraid (MP.
50 : 19)! I am thy Higher Self,2 a security and
seal; thou art my body, a garment I have put
m in order to terrify the Powers, while I
(myself) am thy Light, the original Effulg¬
ence 3 (T. II. D. 178)! Arise in a joy free from
sorrow, and I will lead thee! Do not sit in
fatal 4 apathy; turn thyself round and see the
embodied beings, how they wander in misery
.. . . and are certainly reborn in all shapes 5
<M 91 : 29-32)!
2. “ I have heard thy prayer, O blessed
Soul; it is I who will give to thee the reward
of thy good deeds (MP. 113 : 14-15)! For in
this world thou didst abstain from killing, thou
didst feel compassion on the lives of all
creatures, so that thou didst neither kill them

1 I will restore to the original glories, but as it were on a higher

plane.
2 Text has ‘ Manvuhtned*, the Vohumanah, Light-Mind, or
Higher Mind; cf. GPM 75 : 1, GZ p. li, etc.
8 lit az hem to rosan ‘ispext hasenag.
4 lit: death-bringing,
6 This sight will encourage and spur on to the final effort needed
for freedom from material bonds. The doctrine of Reincarnation.
15
226 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

nor eat of their flesh1 (T. II. Toyoq).2 Com¬

fort thyself, stem thy tears, beloved! Good is
the profit of thy treasure, for thou hast laid
the foundation of thy tower upon the Rock of
Christ,3 hast kindled thy lamps . . . with
the oil of faith;4 thou hast cared for the
widows, clothed the orphans, endured the
persecutions for the sake of the Name of God,
the Giver of rewards, the Granter of grace
(MP. 53 : 21-26)! Thy prayers and fasts have
become a crown upon thee (MP. 54 : 3);
victory and salvation (to thee), O garlanded
Soul who has fulfilled her Father’s desire
(MP. 85 : 16-17)! Now step forward to the
fragrant wonderful Garden where there is
eternal joy (T. II. Toyoq);2 come and rest
henceforward in the Land of Light, O Soul
that lovest God (MP. 85 : 17-18)!
5. u Fear not, I am thy Guide in every
place 5 (MP. 50 : 19-20); I will open before
thee the door in every heaven and cleanse thy
i.e.f kept the * Seal of the Mouth and so preserved bodily
punty-and purity in the mind; cf.-GPM 42 : 1. The influence
of diet on the lower passions seems, in fact, to be beyond argument.
2 Quoted from W. B. Henning: Soghdian Tales, in BSOAS, 1945.
3 Cf the parable in Mt. 7 : 24, and also Mt. 16 : 18,
4 cf- the parable in Mt. 25 : 4, and GPM 72 : 1.
5 Cf: Isa. 41 ; 10, 13.
 LIBERATION OF THE LIGHT 227

way in fearlessness and without trembling. I

will establish thee in strength,1 clothe thee in
radiance, and lead thee to the place of the
blessed regions; . . . there shall I show the
beauties of the King of Light, of all the
Angels and the Gods; ... I shall show thee
the Father, eternally the Sovereign, and lead
thee up in pure raiment before Him! I will
show thee the Mother of the Light, and thou
shalt for ever be at peace in the praised joy
(M. 91 : 16-17, 39, 18-19)! I am thy Light,
thy beginningless Illumination (T. II. D. 178).”
How can a loving Lord, a Bridegroom, ignore His
faithful lover’s appeal ? At once the response comes to
her cry of faith and aspiration: “ Put away all fear,
you belong to Me, I will never leave you; the good
that you have done for others I will do for you, and I
will take you to be for ever with Myself in the infinite
joy and beauty of the visible presence of the Father
and Mother of the Light.”

74. The Soul Breaks Free

1. When I heard my Saviour’s voice, a

Power clothed all my limbs 2 (MP. 50 : 21); (I
said to him:) “ I have received thy words,
O my Father; stretch out to me now thy
1 Words familiar to members of a certain Order.
* *.#., every part of the nature—mental, spiritual, physical.
228 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

Right Hand, so that when the seven demons1

before me see they may flee afar from me
(MP. 108 : 17-18)! ”
2. (Then after that) the seven frightful
demons 1 departed from me, their foul hands
being also empty of my blood, their heart
being further laden with grief and sorrow
because they had been unable to inveigle me
into the nets of pleasure—for I have never
been a slave of the outrage-working wicked¬
ness (MP. 103 : 29-33). See, I have subdued
the Darkness; see, I have put out the fire of the
\

eruptions (MP. 55 : 6-7), their bitter walls I

have destroyed, and battered down their gates
(MP. 50 : 22-23).
With a cry of joy the Soul breaks the bonds of the
body and comes forth free into the new life, its dark
and anxious tormenting thoughts scattering on every
side before the joyous confidence the Beloved’s words
have strengthened in the heart.

*
75. Deathbed Scenes 2
1. In the time of his departure, when the
Light-Form3 (Keph. 41 : 11) that appears to
1 Possibly the seven planets, whose power over man ends with
the death of his physical body.
a This account may be compared with that of Mani’s own death,
as told in the passages used for our Introduction.
3 i.e., the Maiden, the parting Soul’s personified merits.
 LIBERATION OF THE LIGHT 229

everyone about to leave his body, after the

example of the Image of the Messenger1 2
(Keph. 36 : 12-14), comes forth before him
and separates him from the Darkness to the
Light (Keph. 41 : 12-13), the Higher Self *
rises out of all dark embraces (M 284). The
blessed glorious Man has mysteriously become
—in his likeness, in his form, in his love, in
his holy Maiden who is the Maiden of Light
—the Father’s Soul 3 (Keph. 84 : 17-20). This
Light-Form pacifies the man by the Kiss 4 and
its quietness 5 from the fear of the demons that
(would) destroy his body; through its appear¬
ance and its image, the heart of the Elect who
leaves his body is calmed (Keph. 41 : 13-16).
At whatever time he dies, ninety-nine
thousand 6 girl-Angels will come to meet him
with flowers . . . and a golden litter,7 and

1 i.e., Mani’s own Light-Maiden, who came to escort him home.

2 Text: Manuhmed; cf. GPM 73 : 1.
3 i.e., “ The blessed . . . has become . . . the Father’s Soul (Copt.
prome mmakarios. . . afsope . .. tpsukhe rhpioty ’•—another hint at a
final deification of the Soul, even in Manicheism.
4 The kiss of peace and union, whereof much is said in the
Kephalaia.
5 lit: rest (Copt. hrak).
8 The text reads 80 plus—the last part being broken away.
7 This is the shining chariot of GPM 70 : 3.
 230 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

speak thus to him: “ Fear not, righteous

Soul ! 55 . . . And his own merit1 will come
before his face like a divine virgin Princess,
immortal and lovely, a flowery wreath upon her
head; she herself will set him on his way 2
(T. II. Toyoq).
2. (Thus) the glorious Deity of Righteous¬
ness 3 comes to the Soul with the three Gods
who are He Himself4 (T. II. D. 175), the
three great glorious Angels who come with him
—the one holding in his hand the prize of
victory, the second bringing the Light-Robe,5
(while) the third is the same who holds the
diadem, the crown and the wreath of
Light 6 (Keph. 36:14-18). Then the Angel

1 or: action (karma).

2 Cf. GPM 70 : 2. She does for the Soul as Jesus does for Adam
(GPM 10 : 4), and the Living Spirit does for the First Man
(GPM 4:3). The righteous Parsi sees the same vision.
* I.*., the <£ God of the Majesty of Law ”, the Judge.
* The three Angels of GPM 70 : 2, who bring the rewards in
hand.
5 In the old Parsi texts, paimogh ‘ibrazagh, the gift of Vohu-
manah; in Kausitaki Upanisady the Brahma-garment given by the
Apsarases.. In Bundahifn Vayu puts on a “ robe which was golden,
silvery, bejewelled, and adorned with all colours of many tints ”
-—the same as the Robe in the Hymn of the Soul—a largely
Iranian poem. The Mandeans also speak of this Robe—the
heavenly body (Skt. sukfma sariram).
. |. ** . ^ a tells us that the c bishops ’ of Manicheism were also
m life invested with a Robe, a Diadem and a Garland!
 LIBERATION OF THE LIGHT 231

who holds the prize of victory stretches

out to him the right hand and draws him out
from the abyss of his body, and embraces1
him with the Kiss and the Love.2 That Soul
worships her saviour who is this Light-Form.
Now at the very moment when he dies, he
perfects (himself) and awakes in conformity
with God's will (?) in the House of the Living
and the Gods, Angels, all the Messengers and
the Chosen Ones,3 and he receives the
shining garland of glory in everlasting life
(Keph. 41 : 17-25), (and) puts on the raiment
of divinity (M 284).
As the radiant Soul steps out of the dark encum¬
brance of the flesh, she is welcomed by the smiling
Judge—a happy conscience—and the Angels who
bring her rewards; she is robed and crowned with the
glory of her well-won victory.

76. Individual Judgement

1. (The glorious Deity of Righteousness)4

sends the Soul to the Judge of the Dead
. . . (and) the just Judge seizes the
1 lit: receives in (herself).
3 i.e.y the kiss of love, or the loving kiss, a hendiadys.
3 i.e.y the Kingdom of the Light, God’s Paradise; cf. GPM 80.
4 These words have been reused from the context.
232 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

confused Soul which appears as in a mirror.1

It is set down in the Balance 2 . . . its
merit 3 is apparent, its evil deed revealed . . .
the deeds done by itself appear—the majesty
of the Earth and Water 4 is unhappy, the
splendour of the Fire and Water 5 weeps, the
brightness of Plants and Trees wails aloud
(T. II. D. 175 : 5; 173, 178) ! On that day
of danger no bribe or gift or pleading (can)
avail ; the Father’s Image, the Maiden of the
Light, is the (only) one to help upon that
day6 (M 727) ! Those near the King are the
Righteous (M 47).
2. If the Balance rises, his (good) deeds
will overcome his sins committed and will raise
him to the Garden of the Light1 (T. II. D. 173).
1 i.e.y reflected perfectly and clearly revealed.
2 An Egyptian (?) touch, or as in GZ 38 : 2, perhaps itself
ultimately derived from Egypt, like so much else in religious,
thought and expression.

3 i.e.y action, karma, deserts.

4 i.e.y the ‘ Light Cross *, the Light imprisoned in the * Elements’.

5 Possibly this is an error for Air, the fourth element.

6 i.e.y the nature of the man’s own being, his own merits, alone
helps him to face the judgment of his own conscience.

7 “ The souls of the Elect, when they have left their bodies,
unite with the Column of Glory in order to reach the Light that
is above the heavenly sphere ”, says Shahpur ibn Tahir (Shahra-
stani, 2:422).
 LIBERATION OF THE LIGHT 233

Those indeed who are doers of good, to them

He rewards the good deed according to their
goodness, . . . He gives them the Kingdom of
Light and makes them heirs in everlasting
Life (Keph. 223 : 10-13)—they will be for¬
given because they have forgiven (others)r
but they will atone for every sin they
have committed1 (S 9). Woe to it, the
empty (Ship) that comes empty to the
Customs-House,2 they shall ask it when
it has nothing to give! Woe to it because
there is nothing on board! It shall be roughly
treated as it deserves and sent back to re¬
birth 3—it shall suffer what corpses suffer
(MP. 218 : 3-7)!
3. “ O Gods, to You must I appeal; all
Gods, in pity take away the sins from me
(M 4)! Wipe away our iniquities, the scars
that are branded on our Soul (MP. 47 : 10)!
1 Forgiveness of the sin does not exempt from the need to make
amends; cf. GZ 46 : 8.
* Customs officers appear in the Mandean Ginza and John-Book:
“Woe to the empty one who is standing empty in the house of the
Customs officials ”—a close parallel. The Mandean liturgies
explain ‘ empty ’ as having no merits or sweetness, i.e., not acting
as a good Merchant. The old Syr. Acts of Thomas also uses the
metaphor, which is probably Chaldean.
3 “ The souls of the dead, if they are wicked or not purified, are
made to pass through various changes, or suffer punishment yet
more severe ” (AF. 20 : 21).
234 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

We have controlled our lightless Earth 1 we

have known and understood our Body and
our Soul (Man. III. 6).95
“ Lift up thy face, beloved, and look upon
my face! See how I gaze at thee with no
(such) evil look in my eyes as I stare at the
sinner when he is brought to my judgment and
found guilty (MP. 104 : 27-30)! Mayest
thou live for evermore (M 43)!55
“ Hail, righteous Judge, strong Power, the
Path of Truth, clear Mirror 2 separating the
acquitted and the condemned! Clothe me in
thy Robe, give me the Garland and the Prize
(MP. 83 : 21-24)! I have lived ever since I
heard thy sweet voice, O true Judge, O Glori¬
ous One (MP. 104: 31-32)! ”
How can such a Soul dread the baring of its every
thought and act before the conscience, before the
‘ lords of Karma who ensure exact return, a precise
effect for every cause? It is only the wicked and cruel
Soul who must dread the accusation of all it has
injured, the misused creatures, the broken flowers and
trampled ants. The righteous one is fearless there,
confidently awaiting the reward of her kindness, gentle¬
ness and purity. A prayer for final absolution is
answered with kindly assurances, and the Soul, acquit¬
ted, goes on towards her eternal home.

1 lit,, seized: (Turk: tuidumuzyaruqsuzyirimizin.)

■* Cf the Mirror in GPM 35 : 4 and that in GPM 76 : 1.
 LIBERATION OF THE LIGHT 235

77. Joy of the Freed Soul

1. My Lord, the joy of thy sweet cry has

made me forget life,1 the sweetness of thy
■voice has made me remember my City 2 (MP.
-53 : 27-28); I myself again have received the
three holy Gifts which the three holy Angels
extend to me (MP. 108 : 19-21); from Light-
Mind 3 and the Divine Teacher have come a
fresh Garland, a new Diadem, and a shining
Robe (M 31). I ran to my Judge; he set
the garland of glory upon me, he put the
prize of victory in my hand, he clothed
me in the Robe of Light, exalted me over all
my foes (MP. 50 : 23-26). See, joy has over¬
taken me through thy Right Hand 4 that came

1 i.e., livelihood, worldly life (Copt, bios).

2 i.e., the true Native Land of Light where we have “ our abiding
City
3 Text, Vahmdn, or Vohumanah, who is Tisd‘ qanig rofan, Jesus
the Maiden of Light; he receives the Righteous into heaven, and
is God’s Great Mind (Vahwnan-vazurg, almost Skt. Paramatman) and
at the same time the mind or self in eaeh individual. So in BuBb
p. 27 : 329-330 we read: “ We glorify the Great Vahman whom
you have arranged in the heart of the good-souled ones ” (i.e., the
Hearers; cf. GPM 63 : 5). S 7 says: May the procession of the
Vahmans of Light ascend in purity to the dwellings of immort¬
ality”; here the Great Mind (Copt, pnac nnous, Syr. hauna rabba)
is the same as the Column of Glory (Syr. eston subha) and the Per¬
fect Man (Parth. mard ispurrigh).

4 The usual metaphor for giving help.

236 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

to me (MP. 153:4)! I embrace1 you, O Gods,.

Angels of glory who are in the Land of Light
(MP, 69 : 17-19)! Henceforth no longer shall
I be a Prisoner, a Slave (Man. III. 25)!
2. I have found the Ships—the ‘ Ships5
are the Sun and the Moon—they have trans¬
ported me to my City; . . I have found the
Haven—the ‘ Haven 5 is the Commandment!
I have set my foot on the Path—(and) the-
Path is the Knowledge of God2 (MP. 168 : 5-8,
1-4)! Ferry me to the Sun and Moon, O
Ferryboat of Light 3 that hovers 4 over these
three earths (MP. 81 : 10-12)! Disperse the
dark cloud that is before my eyes, that I may
be able to cross rejoicing to thine honoured
. dwellings. I have contrived5 to see thy
Light, so I have no concern with the Dark¬
ness6—therefore let no one weep for me; see,
the Gates of the Light have opened to me7
1 or: greet, kiss.
- i.e.j true Gnosis.
3 This must be the Column of Glory whereby the Soul is raised ,
to the Moon, then to the Sun, and finally to the Light-Kingdom.
4 lit: rests; i.eit waits for us.
5 lit: attained.
4 Copt, sji ce arai en hapkeke. Cf. Jn. 14 : 30. How can darkness
co-exist with light ?
7 before me. This is a constant refrain in the Pyramid Texts-
(GP).
 LIBERATION OF THE LIGHT 237

{MP. 62 : 21-26)! I rejoice as I ascend to my

Father with whom I have conquered in the
'land of. darkness O my great King, trans¬
port me to the City of the Angel-Gods
(MP. 50 : 27-29), take me in to the homes of
joy—for I am thine!—and count into my
hand the reward of my many contests
(MP. 101 : 29-31)!
3. I rejoice, I rejoice for eternity of eter¬
nities (MP. 168 : 16-17)! I worship Thee, O
Father of the Lights, and I bless you, O
Aeons of Joy, and my brothers and sisters
from whom I have been far away and have
found again once more (MP. 85 : 13-15)! I
have become a holy Bride 2 in the peaceful 3
Bridechambers of the Light; I have received
the gifts of the victory (MP. 81 : 13-14).
She oknows the way, the doors fly open, the
heavenly £ships of salvation land her on the shore, the
clouds of ignorance and doubt disperse—the Soul , steps
out boldly, singing, in her overwelling ecstasy. Free,
free for all eternity! Free from every hindrance to a
perfect union with the beloved Spouse, long dimly
visioned during the faithful service of ages in the dark
Abyss that now lies behind!

1 i.e.y the body. It is victory in the body that earns spiritual bliss*
s Treated here as a masculine noun—for it is sexless.
5 or: restful, still, quiet.
 238 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI
%

78. Depart, O Manichean Soul!

1. Victory and salutation,1 O busy Soul

that has finished her fight and subdued the
Ruling Power, the body and its passions2
(MP. 57 : 27-28)! Today thou art called to
dwell with the Angels because thou hast left
behind thee (MP. 64 : 30-31) the hunger and
thirst of death.3 . . . Hereafter thou hast
become free of anxiety, for thou hast abandon¬
ed the house of care, the body of death, and
hast flung it before the face of its enemies4
(MP. 70 : 22, 29-31). Thou hast swiftly gone
beyond the authority of the flesh, thou hast
ascended like a swift bird into the Air of the
Gods 5 (MP. 64 : 18-19)!
2. Thy wares 6 which thou hast produced,
look, they have gone before thee—a part of

1 Copt, jro mtnio.

3 Copt, pathos; or: feelings, affections.
8 i.e., the desires which lead to death, physical and spiritual, and
to rebirth later on.
4 In Mani’s own death the same idea recurs: vide Introduction.
In Ephrem, Christ wears the same armour as the defeated Adam,
t.ethe physical body; in an Epiphany hymn we findHe put
on the armour, triumphed and was crowned; he left the armour
on earth and was raised.’* Cf. also Odes of Sol. 22 : 3.
8 Again we are in the atmosphere of the Pyramid Texts (GP).
6 These are the soul’s good deeds, brought home as * talents *
rom its trading in the world, together with God’s gifts.
 LIBERATION OF THE LIGHT 239

them following after thee, a part of them

overtaking1 thee; rejoice then, being glad as
thou steppest before the Judge2 (MP. 70 : 18-
21)1 He will appear to thee . . . with a
face that is full of joy; he will also cleanse
and purify thee with his pleasant dewdrops,a
he will set thy foot on the Path of Truth and
furnish thee with thy Light-wings like an
eagle becoming distant as it soars forth into
its air (MP. 100 : 27-30)! Go now aboard thy
Ships of Light and receive the Garland of Glory4
(MP. 55 : 11-12) and the Gifts of Light from
the Judge’s hand (MP. 57 : 29)!
3. Look, the Ship has put in for you:
Noah is aboard,5 he is steering—the Ship is
the Commandment, Noah is the Light-Mind
(MP. 157 : 19-20), he who comes and puts on
the Saints (Keph. 89 :23). Embark your
wares, sail with the windy dew6 (MP. 157 ::
1 i.e., preceding. The idea is also in the Qur’an (GI).
8 Cf. GPM 76 : 3.
* lit: water of dew, i.e., the purifying draught of ambrosia,,
immortality.
4 or: glorious garland.
5 If Manicheans were really so hostile to the Old Testament as we
are often told, how can we account for this identification of Noah
with the saving Light, the Messenger ?
•Could this mean rather the ‘ dewy wind*? It would make
better sense, the immortal Spirit. Copt, erhot mentiote hteu.
 240 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

20-21); return to thy kingdom and rejoice

with all the Aeons (MP. 55 : 12-13) and rest
thyself (MP. 57 : 30)! Thy defence is Christ,
for he will welcome thee to his Kingdom
•(MP. 54 : 10), he will bring thee to the haven
of peace (MP. 78 : 23-24)!
4. Walk on rejoicing; thy troubles 1 today
have passed. See, thou hast moored to the
harbour of peace (MP. 163:27-28)! Now
shalt thou have thy fill of the joyous Image of
Christ,2 so go thy way victoriously to thy
Xight-City! Thou art glad that thou hast
mingled with the holy Angels, on thee is set
the seal of thy glorious purity! Thou art
happy that thou hast seen thy Divine
Brethren3 with whom thou shalt dwell
in the Light for evermore (MP. 64 : 12-
17). Thou hast reached thy Light-Suburb
wherein is neither hunger nor thirst;4
implore thy Father for a grace on our

1 or: pains—the bondage in flesh, and all its implications.

* So Mani told his disciples on his last journey to ‘ gaze their

fill * at him. What we think of intently, specially at the end of life
we become.

8 i.e., the spiritual kindred of the Light Realm.

Cf. the hymn: 1 Looking for home on Zion’s mountains_No

thirst, no hunger there!5* based on Isa. 49 : 10 and Rev. 7 : 16.
 LIBERATION OF THE LIGHT - 241!

behalf;1 do not leave us to be desolate 2 (?)

(MP. 70 : 22-25)!
Sensing the bliss on which the dying Soul has
entered, even his friends on earth now take up her
song and urge her onward, swiftly, swiftly to the ever¬
lasting Abode. Death is left behind, the flesh is over¬
come, consecrated to decay, the Soul’s righteousness
has gone ahead to smoothe her path into heaven where
all lovely Angels wait to welcome the returning
pilgrim, the exiled f Prince ’, as she draws near to
receive the Father’s kiss and to take her throne.

79. Jesus Takes Her Home

i

L The Ship of Jesus3 has come to port

laden with garlands and gay palms; it is Jesus
who steers it, he will put in for us till we
embark; (it is) the Saints whom he takes on,
the Virgins whom he accommodates (?). Let
us make ourselves also holy that we may make

1 lit: some grace upon us. “ May it happen to us together that

we may be included in his Merchandise and rejoice with all the
Aeons; may we be counted among those of the Right Hand,
and inherit our Kingdom; and may we live with our Kinsmen
from everlasting to everlasting ” (MP. 202 : 18-22).
3 This shows that Manicheans believed in the intercession of
departed Souls for those left on the earth.
3 i.e., both the Moon, and the Church, wherein Jesus dwells as
Saviour. Ephrem (IV. 601 : 15) calls Jesus a “ skilful Shipmaster*
bringing out his treasure”, i.e., the Soul; and “his Ship is the
Moon” (GPM 7 : 1). In Babylonia the Moon-god was a' Ship
sailing over the skies, and Ishtar sails in a Ship to rescue Tanunuz.
Widengren quotes (p.‘d02) from Assyria: 4‘ The rope of the Ship
is at the quay of Life ”.
16
242 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

our voyage to the Air (P).1 The Ship of Jesus

will make its way up on high, it will add its
cargo to the shore, and return for those who
are left behind; ... it will take them (also)
and bring them home to the Haven of the
Immortals (MP. 151 : 31—-152 : 7).
2. How great a lover of men thou art, O
Jesus the First Rose of the Father! How
gentle thou art (MP. 151 : 24-25), my true
Bridegroom! 2 Glory to thee, O Christ of the
Bridechambers of the Light (MP. 102 : 31-32)!
I worship thee, O Image of my Master which
I have loved before I ever saw it, but because
of its fame whereof I heard I kept myself
holy3 that I might be worthy of it! . . .
Draw now the veil of thy secrets until I see
the beauty of the joyous Image of my Mother,
the holy Maiden who shall sail with me until
she brings me to my City 4 (MP. 84 : 24-26,
1 Augustine says bitingly: “ while the good souls are placed in
ships and sail through heaven to that imaginary Region of Light
for which they died fighting ”; but does Christianity tell us any¬
thing more true, or consoling to the sorrowing sou], in the hour
of death ? It is so easy, so childish, to scoff at others.
2 Obvious is the devotion behind this cry: (Copt, ntek oumahome
nouer, Iesous, tsarep nourt mpiot, htek ouhelcet saouer . . . papatseleet
mmee).
3 lit', watched over myself being holy.
4 First he sees the Ideal of the Saviour, and then he purifies
himself till he can see the ideal of his own perfection.
 LIBERATION OF THE LIGHT 243

30-32)! Embark me on the Ship of the Saints,

let them put in quickly for my Soul1 (MP.
95 : 26-27)!
We are once again reminded of Mani’s deep love
for Jesus, planted in his disciples, when we read these
glowing words. He is the Shepherd, the Guide of
Souls, the Pilot of the homeward bound; it is he who,
in the Ship we by metaphor call the Moon, plies to and
fro between the earth and heaven, carrying the un¬
ceasing freight of aspiring Souls, the Ferryman of the
old Pyramid Texts (GP 34) to the Ship of Re4, the Sun
(GP 37). Relying on this gracious Saviour, the Soul
knows well she cannot miss the road to glory. - „ ..

80. The Land of Light

1. My Father is the glorious, .... the

glad Light, the glad and blessed Light
(MP. 203: 3-5), self-existent, eternal, miracul¬
ous (M 178)! No height or dimension forms
a limit and measure2 where all is Light and
no place is dark, where all the Illumined 3
and the Messengers of Light reside; it is in
1 The essential optimism of Manicheism is shown by these words
of Shahpur ibn Tahir (Shahr. 2 : 422): “ The spirits of those
involved in error enter into the bodies of living beings and pass
continuously from one to another until they are purified of their
sin; whereupon they are united with the Light above the heavenly
sphere”. Few indeed are eternally lost, as many Christians averred.
2 How can there be a boundary to the omnipresent? Yet with
strange inconsistency Mani visualised a boundary on the side of
darkness, below; of. App. I 3 : 1; 4 : 3.
3 i.e., the Race of Light, called in this text, the Buddhas. •
244 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

brief the Home of the Adorable of the Light T

(BM. 265-266)! In height it is beyond
reach (?), nor can its depth be perceived
(M 178); there Light is omnipotent, and all
is clean and pure, eternally happy, calm and
quiet (BM. 266); no enemy and no injurer
walk this Land (M 178)!
2. In the unsurpassed World of Light, the
many lands of subtle and wondrous nature
. . . are like grains of sand (in number) . . . ..
These many countries have precious diamond
soil, radiating light downwards from the dim.
past until now and to everlasting time . . .
with countless miraculous hues illumining;
one another (BM. 270-271, 276). (That
world), its divine pavement is of a diamond-
substance that does not shake for ever
(M 178); whoever is allowed to live in that
land will be eternally free from every care
and sorrow 2 (BM. 268).
3. In that land are spacious gardens and
parks, stately and clean, . . . without dust or

1 Zrwan or Azrua, the Father of Light (Pidar Rosan, Barist

i Rdf an 5 Ch. Ts ing-tsing kwang-ming she-kiai m ing- tsouen—te the-
Venerable of the Light of the pure Light-World ’*).
2 The spiritualist sources of Drayton Thomas, etc., and the Maha-
yanist scriptures, closely agree with this account.
 LIBERATION OF THE LIGHT 245

screen, . . . broken tiles and gravel, bram¬

bles, thorns and all unclean weeds; . ., . the
country is rich and fertile (BM. 299, 302, 299,
281). All good things are born from it:
adorned graceful hills wholly covered with
flowers most excellently grown, (and) green
fruitbearing trees whose fruits never drop,
never decay, and never become wormed
{M 178). A strange unique fragrance, . . .
spreading like a vapour, pervades the whole
world, . . . and the wonder of perfumes is
perfected when the Saintly masses 1 walk
about. ... In this realm all glorious blos¬
soms may be gathered; . . . floral crowns
are verdant, nor ever fade or fall (BM. 299,
301, 280, 283). Fountains flow ambrosia
that fills the whole of Paradise,2 its groves
and plains (M 178). From a hundred
streams, rivers, seas, and fountain-heads the
deep and clear Waters of Life are all
fragrant and wonderful, . * . tasting like
veritable nectar; ... in them one will
neither drift away nor drown (BM. 290,
304, 290).
1 i.ethe countless hosts of the redeemed. . •
* The word is the ‘ Bahisht * of GZ; i.e., the 4 better place V
 246 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

4. The Saints live safely and are always

happy (BM. 291); they go to the heaven of
Light where the Gods dwell, and are at
peace. They receive as their nature the
original Splendour of the radiant Palace, and
are joyful; they put on the shining Robe, and
live for ever in Paradise1 . . . They are
calm in quietude and know no fear. They
i ive in the Light where they have no dark-
ess, in endless Life where they have no
death, in Health without sickness, in Joy
without sorrow, in Charity without dislike*
in the company of friends where they have
no separation (M 737, 178). (They) are fully
fed without want (BM. 304) on unlimited
ambrosial food, wherefor they bear no toil or
hardship (M 178); (their) foods are all (like)
sweet dew 2 (BM. 281), manna of the Land of
Light, . . . our resplendent City, . . . the
home of the blessed ones (MP. 136: 38, 40, 43)*
countless mansions and palaces, thrones and
seats that remain perpetually for ever and
ever (M 178), trees of fragrance, fountains
1 The word is the ‘Bahisht * of GZ; i.e., the better place.
fmbrosia~the subtle inbreathing of vitality from the im¬
mortal airs everywhere pervading.
 LIBERATION OF THE LIGHT 247

filled with life, all the holy mountains (and) the

trees that are green with Life (MP. 136: 45-48)!
5. Those Saints are pure, humble and
ever gay in body (BM. 285), in a shape that is
not brought to naught,1 in a divine body
where there is no destruction; . . . in appear¬
ance they are lovely, in strength powerful
(M 178), light,2 ever clean and pure; . . . free
from weariness, . . . their diamond frames
need no sleep, . . . never becoming feeble
and old; . . . very subtle and wonderful
(BM. 284-285, 312, 314), their brightness never
darkens (M 178). Light shines on them, and
their bodies become splendid and translucent;
. . . light is within and without, . . . radiat¬
ing great brilliance limitless in extent . . .
for evermore (BM. 277-278, 314). Their robe
of joy is a finery that is never soiled, set with
jewels of seventy myriad kinds (M 178). All
the glorious clothes they wear are delightful,
not fashioned with the work of hands, . . .
fresh and clean, incorrupt despite much wear.3
1 i.e., changeless, incorruptible.
2 Because weight derives from gross matter, which does not exist
there.
3 So too the clothes of the Israelites in the wilderness did not
wear out during the forty years.
 248 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

(Their) crowns, with ornaments of hanging

jewels, can never perish, nor be taken
from whoever has once put them on 1 (BM.
279,282).
6. Their wondrous bodies roam in many
temples, wherever they may desire; . . .
wherever one wanders freely, all is peaceful
and, smooth! . . . There no temples or halls,
palaces or cells were built by hands, and yet
they are strong;2 no craftsmanship was
needed, they were instantly completed by the
Law. . . . Wonderful breezes, blowing and
waving, are all delicious, mild and pleasant,
spreading all around in the ten directions,3
gently . touching the jewelled towers . and
.pavilions, and constantly moving the lovely
bells, small and big, to music (BM. 319, 325,
308, 305).
7. Ever honest and true are the minds
and thoughts of the Saints, . . . enlightened
.and with wondrous kindness, . . . freely

1Because they arc a part of their very nature, the glory of the
Soul itself.
r a Houses, gardens, etc., are produced by the very thought of
the glorified Soul, in the beauty which his own acts have merited.
The process is well described in modem Spiritualist books.
3 Up and down, to the four Cardinal points, and to those
between, the north-east, north-west, south-east and south-west.
 LIBERATION OF THE LIGHT 249

enjoying body1 and mind in the sweetly

scented air (and) counting neither years
nor months, nor hours and days,
(being) void of birth and death and
mundane love. ... All who live there are
unstained by ignorance, passion and desire;
- . . how can they be pressed or hurried by
rebirth ? 2 . . . They relax in mind and
move at will unhindered . . . more swiftly
than the wind, . . . (for) they are not as
heavy as a feather. . . . By nature they are
not forgetful and short of memory, but they
totally see everything ... in the boundless
world as if looking in a bright mirror.3 ...
Merciful and generous, they exchange sym¬
pathy; . . . (they) are of one mind, harmoni¬
ous.4 ... In response, (Saints) appear in
1 u., of course, (,thc subtle refined ‘ spiritual body * which alone
■exists there—the astro-mental bodies of the Theosophists.
2 This does not deny the possibility, but only the urgency of
rebirth—which depends on physical desires. When there is no
* stainful desire *, how can birth in a gross and filthy body, born
from lust, take place—save as a pure Messenger of the Light ?
Mahendra’s wife said to him: “ Do not speak that word! We never
-speak of it, for if .we expect to be soon reborn it happens so, and
this is far better—we none of us want to go back to earth.”
Naturally!
3 All authorities speak of the power to move with the speed of
-thought and to see earthly events at will.
4 Cf. GH 29 : 9, a very close parallel. But if it were untrue, it
-could be no heaven, for it is disharmony that fashions hell and
makes our lovely earth unhappy.
 250 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

the ten directions1 unchecked; 2 . ♦ . every

thought and feeling reached, and all inten¬
tions of the mind, are mutually shown and
seen (BM. 287, 286, 330-331, 272-273, 292*
278, 286, 292, 273, 293, 318). They are all
in agreement and concord, . . . rejoicing and
being glad in the Glory (?), filled and abiding
in everlastingness (MP. 203 : 22-25).
8. Whatever has sprung from the precious
soil gains the power to see and hear, to feel,
know and watch the unequalled King of
Infinite Bliss,3 and to . . . praise . . . the
Great Saint’s authority. . . . Chanting hymns*
their wondrous voices are clear and lovely, all
peaceful and calm, harmoniously vibrating
wondrous echoes from above and from below
—which of themselves and ceaselessly spread
around the monasteries,4 . . . (which) are
clean and holy, . . . comfortable to live in,.
. . . without troubles and calamity. . . ,

1 Up and down, tt> the four Cardinal points, and to those-

between, the north-east, north-west, south-east, south-west.
2 So too our later authorities claim that spirits can see other
spirits almost instantaneously at will.
3 The greatest joy of all—the Beatific Vision that only a per¬
fected love can know.
* i.e., separate dwelling-places, for some there also delight in a.
solitary retreat among Nature’s glories for contemplation.
 LIBERATION OF THE LIGHT 251

Light (BM. 309, 321, 328, 335, 332, 329),

clouds of brightness dropping dew (?) and
life (MP. 203 : 17-18), fills all things; life is
eternal and ever full of peace (BM. 329).
This vivid and detailed description of the
4 Summerland agreeing closely with those from every
other source (see e.g. Antony Borgia's Life in the
World Unseen, 1954), seems to show that its first author,
the Apostle Amu (Ammos), had himself a persona!
experience of its delights. We may note here how he
stresses the continuing personal life of the redeemed,
sharing bliss on spiritual planes of a subtle radiant
matter with their fellows in perfect understanding and
brotherliness, free from limitations of time and space,
pillowed in exquisite natural beauties, and eternally
delighted by the presence of the beloved and adored
King of All. It is indeed, as the Spiritualist has sung:
“ a land upon whose blissful shore there rests no
shadow, falls no stain; where those who meet shall part
no more, and those long parted meet again ”. The
££ heavenly Jerusalem to which our hearts aspire ”—
how can words created for our earthly needs serve to
describe the abundant blessednesses of its loveliness?

81. The Triumph of a Holy Death

1. Who can see, my brothers, and return

to earth and make known to all men the
glory I have received today? . . . For I
have found the reward of my toil (MP. 93 :
25-28, 30)! See, I have brought my Ship to
the shore; no storm has risen against it, no
252 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

wave has snatched it away! . ... .1 was

Leading for shipwreck1 before I found the Ship
of Truth ; a divine tacking was Jesus,, who has
given me a hand.2 Who then shall be able
to tell of the Gift that came ? A grace over¬
took me, (but) there is no one who can say
it3 (MP. 63 : 13-14, 17-20).
2. I have left the garment 4 on the earth,
the senility of diseases that I had; I have put
upon me the immortal Robe (MP. 81 : 8-9).
I have taken my washed clothes, my robes
that grow not old; I have rejoiced ... in
their gladness, have rested in their rest
(MP. 155 : 10-12).
3. O Saints, rejoice with me, for I have
returned again to my beginning5 (MP. 155:9) j
the Path of Light has stretched for me right
up to my first City (MP. 80:29-30), it has
victoriously given me into the hands of the
Angels, and they have escorted me to my*
Kingdom (MP. 52:1-2). See, the Maiden’s
1 lit: was about to be shipwrecked. *
* i.e.j he helped me.
3 or: an unspeakable grace overtook me.
■ 4 the gross physical body; cf. GPM 70 : 1.
5 * or: source; i.e., the heaven-world whence I came.
4 Perhaps we should read “ to His kingdom **.
 LIBERATION OF THE LIGHT 255

light has shone on me, the glorious likeness

of the Truth, and her three grace-giving
Angels.1 The gates of the skies have opened
before me through the rays of my Saviour
and his glorious Light-Image (MP. 81 :3-7)!
Christ my Bridegroom has welcomed me to
his bridechamber, (and) I have rested with
him in the Land of the Immortals; my
brothers, I have received my garland (MP.
63 :3-5)! O excellent pain that I have
suffered! O my end which has had (so)
happy an issue! O my everlasting possession
(MP. 81 : 15-16)!
And so at last the Soul, about to enter on her
everlasting bliss, looks back once more on the friends
left behind upon the gloomy earth. Telling of her
happiness so far as words can reach, touching on the
wordless glory of the spiritual marriage now attained,
she encourages the poor delaying ones to “ look upward
to the skies, where such a light affliction shall win so
great a prize *\ Indeed, the burden of the short day
on earth is not worthy to be mentioned before the
wonder of the glory that lies beyond the tenuous
translucent veil of death. Who then can fear the
change? Who among the Manicheans could shrink
from the brief pains of martyrdom ? Rather they rushed
upon it, singing like a bird that finds the cage door
opening to the sweet air of fragrant freedom blowing
above the trees!

1 Cf. GPM 70 : 2.
 CHAPTER SEVEN

THE END OF THE WORLD

And here indeed we might have ceased. Yet
Mani, obedient to the curiosity of his age about the
final scenes of our humanity, drew aside a little the veil
that drapes the future. We glimpse the fulfilment of
the purpose of creation, when all the Light that can
possibly be redeemed from contaminating Darkness has
been freed and together forms the Perfect Man, the
*c fullness of the stature of the Christ ”, perfectly reflect¬
ing the Father as His ‘ Image \ Then comes the final
settlement of things; those Souls which by their own
deliberate will, strengthened by ages of repeated choice,
have preferred to adhere to Darkness and to spurn the
Light, go where they desire to be—in the Darkness—-
and share its fate of eternal ruin; while those—the
overwhelming majority, almost all—who have sought
and loved the Light are merged therein. Mani there¬
fore implores his hearers to choose the blessed Light
and so be safe for evermore, entering upon the un¬
imaginable bliss of everlasting union with God, the
Source of all Goodness.

82. The End is Near

The time draws near when the Light-Body

shall be freed from (its) fetters, the forces of
 THE END OF THE WORLD 255

Light and Darkness will be separated ever¬

more, and so will the doers of good and their
evil foes. The universe—heaven and earth,
and the countless dense and close things—will
be properly dissolved and freed by the pitiful
Adorable One; the demon races will be put
into the dark prison for ever, and the Race
of the Illumined 1 will leap for joy and return
to the Realm of Light (BM. 232-234). Then
shall the light go to the Light,2 . . . while
darkness (MP. 215 :24-25) shall fall and
henceforward never rise again (MP. 212 : 5);
(it shall) be blotted from its place (MP.
215 : 26).
Mani warns the world that its days are limited
and the end is hastening on, when the Darkness and
the Light, Evil and Good, will be finally and altogether
separated once again (cf. GPM 12 : 2).

83. The Last Statue3

1. At the time when all the Light in the

universe has been purified and refined (Keph.
165 : 6-7), Jesus the Child,4 who is the Image
1 lit'. Buddha-family.
2 The Spirit returning to God who gave it; cf. Eccl. 12 : 7.
3 Copt, pandreias nhae, a technical term for the perfect Image of
God to be revealed at the 4 End
4 So called because he is bom in the faithful heart (cf. Gal. 4 : 19).
256 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

of the Living Word1 (Keph. 92 : 7-8) in his

two persons (Keph. 35 :28-29), who is the
Call and the Hearing that lie in the Elements
(Keph. 81:2-3) which are mingled (Keph.
54 : 11)—it is he who makes a separation
between the good and the bad2 (Keph.
81 : 3-4).
2. Again at the end (Keph. 81 : 4) he
joined with them, he stood up in silence, he
drew up the Light-Sparks until the jinal
moment when he should awake and stand in
the Great Fire, and gather his own Soul to
himself3 and form himself into this Last
Statue (Keph. 54 : 11-15), which is the last
Hour of the Day, the time when the Last
Statue will go up to the Aeon of the Light
(Keph. 165 : 9-11).
3. And thou shalt find him purging and
refining out of himself this impurity which
is foreign to him, but the Life and the Light
that are in everything he gathers in to himself

1 i.e., the Logos, almost in a Johannine sense, because Jesus, this

‘ Perfect Man *, perfectly fulfils God’s word.

2 Cf. Mt. 25 : 32.

8 The mystical gathering in of the scattered members of his Body

to form the perfection of Humanity divinised; referred to in many
Gnostic works.
 THE END OF THE WORLD 257

and builds his body thereof.1 When this

Last Statue is complete in all its limbs,2 then
it shall emerge and come down in that great
struggle through the Living Spirit, its Father 3
(Keph. 54 : 15-22).
Uniting the Master who awakens and the Pupil
who listens and obeys, the £ Perfect Man the Mystical
Body of Christ’s universal Church in every creed, now
comes to birth and stands forth as the silent Judge.
Those who love the Light are then in Him; those who
cleave to the Darkness because they love the deeds of
darkness are left outside (Jn. 3:19) and will inevitably
perish in the Fire that burns away all dross and delivers
the gold in perfect purity.

84. Perfect Justice will Prevail

1. The great Judge (Keph. 35 : 25) who

sits in the Air judging all men (Keph. 80 : 30),
his tent is set up in the Air under (?) the
Great Wheel of the Stars 4 (Keph. 35 : 26-27)
—there is no partiality in his law, no turning
in his righteousness. He knows (how) to
forgive the one who has sinned and repented,
(but) he has no dealings with one who may
1 lit: builds it upon his body.
2 or: parts.
3 So called because it is made up out of the living beings created
by Him.
4 i.ehe judges all acts done under the horoscopical influences.
17
258 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

come to his feet and implore him; he does

not forgive the one who is of two minds 1
(MP 45 : 27-30).
2. No one will be able to hide from him
when he searches out the deeds that each one
has done and repays them according to their
deserts (MP. 49 : 14-16), so he who has some¬
thing good let him put his trust in his deeds
(MP. 81 : 29-30)! Let us not neglect ourselves
and keep to our own regret2 (MP. 45 : 31-32)
There can be no possible injustice in this final
settlement, for each must inevitably go to its own
nature; the gold can never be burned, nor can the
dross survive that fearful flame. Nor can the Judge be
deceived, for being within the secret crevices of the
very heart, an infallible memory, he knows everything
and pitilessly brings the truth to light.

85. Signs of the End

1. Thou seest how near it has come to the

end of the world; the lifetime of men has
come to a fraction, their days have decreased,
their years have become fewer, for the Life
and the Light that were in the world in the first

1 i.ehypocrite. Jesus also was most stem with such.

2 or: fail in our hearts through our own neglect. There is no
outer judgment, but the inescapable judgment of our own hearts.
 THE END OF THE WORLD 259

generations were more than today’s1 (Keph.

146 : 9-14). Those who are bom today in
these last generations are small and stunted
in lifetime, and they are also born each one
in a single womb, scarcely two or less or
more, while they are also ugly in their appear¬
ance, small in their size, and weak in their
limbs. Their ideas and thoughts are filled
with wickedness; ... in old age they waste
away2 their lifetime with sufferings, also death
comes to them swiftly.3 (Keph. 147 : 10-17).
2. When that immortal Light is led up to
the Gods, then will both the zenith and the
nadir of heaven be brought together, for the
Custody of Splendour4 will seize the topmost
heaven, which exactly matches the lowest,
and it will become loosened from bond and
order.5 . . . Then will the Third Envoy6 come
from the Vehicle of the Sun to the combined

1 So in the first ages the ‘ Patriarchs * could live for nearly a

thousand years, and now few indeed survive a hundred.

2 or: spend.
8 This old idea of the degeneracy of the aging world is met also
in GH 34 : 5-8.
4 Text has ‘ Pakragbed*, an equivalent name.

6 A very close parallel with GPM 12:2.

« Text has f God Mithra an equivalent, the deity in the Sun.
260 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MAN1

region, and a Shout will be raised,1 . . -

(and) in the Moon and the Zodiacal Signs 2:
and the Stars a great Sign will become mani¬
fest 3 . . . the whole world will get the news
(simultaneously). . . . Afterwards will come-
the God of the Realm of Wisdom,4 he who is
the First . . . Knowledge,5 and just because
of the sorrow upon sorrow and distress upon,
distress6 he will send down Wisdom and
Knowledge (M 472-473).
3. Then will appear the Kingdom of the God.
of Wisdom; . . . those Gods who are in alB
the regions of the heavens and the earths—
the Supporter, the Light-Adamas, the Glorious-
King, the King of Honour (and) the Custody
of Splendour7—and who are revilers of the
1 This is parallel, of course, to the Cry of GPM 4 : 3 and 73 : \y.
cf. Revelation of Thomas.

3 Text reads £ Zodiac \

3 Some believed that this c Sign ’ was that all the planets would
come close together and form a Cross in the sky (cf. Mt. 24 : 30).
4 i.e., Jesus, who is to return as Judge at the end; Islam kept
the same idea derived from Christianity. He is called the God of
the New Kingdom (nogsahr-yazd), because he initiates the new age.
5 t.e.j pratumin khrad; Ch. Sien-yi.

* Cf. Mt. 24:21-22, and countless parallels in apocalyptic-

everywhere.

7 These names are given in the text as Manbed, Visbed, Zand-

bed, Dahibed and Pahragbed—the equivalents.
 THE END OF THE WORLD 261

demons, will bestow a blessing on that Realm

of Wisdom, and the men who are righteous will
become Rulers in the Kingdom (M 473).1
They shall themselves see him, the Image of
the Light, all rejoicing and being glad over
-him. . . . Desire shall depart far from them
with also the other kinds of temptation. . . .
When they wish they shall clothe themselves
with their body and gain the victory over it,
and they shall find the way from it to the
Kingdom of Life made smooth2 (MH.
39 : 12-18). They will pay homage and receive
him with joy . . .; but the man who is a
worker of Greed, along with the evildoers and
the perverters (?) of men . . . will be filled
with remorse (M 473).
The steady decline in human nature, the weaken¬
ing of the body, the lowering of its moral standards,
show how near the crisis is to us, when the clear eye of
the Sun, of Mithra the all-seeing Lord (GZ 22 : 4),
will shine forth and illuminate every dark corner of all
lives. Then will dawn the glorious Day of that
-Church, the Mystical Body of the universal Christ, the
Logos of the ‘ All ’, the God of Wisdom, and the long
night of wickedness will hasten to its close.

1 Cf. Mt. 19 : 28.

12 Implying that the redeemed may take incarnation when they
will, but they are never again under the control of their bodies,
and may re-enter the spiritual realm easily.
262 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

86. The Universal Judgment

1. And then the God of the Realm of

Wisdom1 will send Envoys to the East and
the West; they will go and gather mankind ^
—the Helper (?) and also the Hearers; . while •0 •

the evildoers, with those of like malice, will

come before the Lord of Wisdom. . . . More¬
over the demons will go into his presence^
offer homage and carry out his command. . . .
They will rush in and speak thus: “ We are
imitators of our Gods, and everyone believes in
this doctrine that we taught mankind, but
they will go on in the love of evildoing!55 *
Further, the Elect who may not believe in
Religion, he too wTill sell himself to them. At
«

that time, when things in the world become

like this, the Righteous and the Pretenders alike
will be arraigned both on earth and in heaven
(M 473).
2. Then the Righteous shall say, “ O our
Lord, if (we have) hidden (anything) we shall
say it now in thy presence !55 To them the
1 i.e.y Jesus.

2 Cf. Mt. 24 : 31, et al.

3 Cf Lk. 1& : 26. Even missionary work is npt enough.

 THE END OF THE WORLD 263

God of the Realm of Wisdom1 shall make this

answer, “ Gaze on me and be happy2 (M 475),
my brothers and my limbs (Keph. 213 : 3)!
For hungry and thirsty was I and you gave
food and drink, I had become naked and I
was clothed by you, bound was I and was
freed by you; I was caught and I was released
by you, and I became a stranger and home¬
less (?)3 but I was taken by you into the
house.55 Thereon they, the Righteous (and)
the Helpers,4 shall prostrate 5 and then speak
thus: “ O Lord, thou art a God and an
Immortal whom neither Greed nor desire
(can) vanquish, who becomes neither hungry
nor thirsty and on (thee) distress never comes.
When was it that we (did) this service?556
Then shall the Lord say to them, i( Whatever
you have done you have done to me; To you
I shall give the reward of Paradise!55 (He
shall give) them great joy (M 476-477).
Those whom he has called to the Kingdom
1 i.e., Jesus.
2 The very sight of the Lord is itself the happiness of Paradise.
3 Text: ud uzdeh vd qarddg bud hem, 6tan 5 qadagpadirift (?) hem.
4 i.e., the Hearers, who support the Elect on earth.
6 Text: oysdn H dinvardn hiyardn namazh bar and.
• Cf. Mt. 25: 37-38.
264 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

of Light, his Righteous and his Virgins,

he has made them like the Angels 1 (MH.
38 : 15-16).
3. The ‘ Goats5 who stand at his left
hand 2 shall see the Hope that he has given
to those on his right; their heart shall rejoice
for a moment, while they think that the
victory of the c Sheep5 will come to them
also.3 Then he shall turn to those who stand
to the left, and speak and say to them:
“ Away from me, accursed ones! Go to the
Fire made for the Enemy4 and his Powers,
for I have hungered and thirsted, but (?)
never has one of you given help to me
(MH. 38 : 16-23)! 55 5 He will (then) put
Angels in charge of the sinners and they will
take them into keeping and (throw) them into

1 Cf. GY. 107 : 3. “ Then shall their bodies be changed into the
likeness and image and honour of the holy Angels, and into the
power of my holy Father’s Image. Then shall they be clothed
with the Robe of eternal life out of the Cloud of Light which
has never been seen in this world—for that Cloud comes down out
of the highest realm of the heaven from my Father’s Power; and
that Cloud shall compass with its beauty all the spirits who have
believed in me”: Revelation of Thomas.
*Cf. Mt. 25 :33.
8 So too when they see the Angels on their deathbed; cf. App. I
9:3.
4 or: Adversary; in our Bible, * Satan or the ‘ Devil \
8 Cf Mt. 25 :41-43. - •
 THE END OF THE WORLD 265

liell (M 477). As for c Death 5 the Enemy/

he will enter the chain in the dungeon of the
souls of the deniers and blasphemers who
have loved the Darkness, . . . and there shall
be dark night on them (Keph. 165 : 11-14).
Following closely the lines already traced in
Mt. 25, Mani in the usual metaphorical language we
have seen in other Scriptures (e.g., GH 29 : 8, GI 52-
56, GMG 49, GZ 49-51, GGS 23-24, GY 100-107)
sketches the scene when good and wicked stand side by
side, to learn in public the fate that each individual
soul has earned. None can escape that awful tribunal,
-and some whom men may have deemed impious and
godless blasphemers while on earth will there be found
transformed to angels because through kindly deeds of
charity they, being atheists, yet waited on and served
the Lord.

87. The Fate of the Wicked

1. God too is a Judge of the Souls who

obey the Adversary and do what is evil, not
believing in the Truth, . . . and He condemns
them through their deeds (Keph. 222 : 30—
223 : 1), because they are cut off and exclud¬
ed from the Last Statue2 (Keph. 150 :
3-4) when the universe3 shall be dissolved
1 So called because Evil leads to death; cf. Rom. 6 :23.
3.This is punishment enough, to be cut off from the perfection
they were created to attain.
3 Copt, kosmos—i.e., the organised creation designed for a certain
■end, which is now achieved.
 266 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

(Keph. 52 : 16) and all things destroyed, and

the Great Fire be let loose (Keph. 102 : 33-34)
and the Last Statue be formed out of the
remains of all things (Keph. 75 : 24-25). The
souls of the deniers and blasphemers shall
weep (Keph. 149 : 30-31) when the Last
Statue comes down therein; . . . then shall
they cry aloud that they are cut off from the
company of this great Statue and remain
behind for ever.1 . . . For from this time
there is no rest for them . . . who shall go in
to this Darkness and be chained with the
Darkness as they have desired and loved, and
put their treasure in its keeping (Keph.
150:9-12,16,6-8).
2. He does not take them to Himself at
their end, but they become the portion of the
Enemy whom they have loved.2. . . God
Himself has not done them any wrong, but it
is themselves alone who are against them; it
is their own actions which condemn them
and throw them to the hell of burning

1 “ They were to be cut off from their own kingdom and bound
f or ever in the Mass (Solos) of Darkness ” (AF. 21 : 15).
This is their conscious will, so there can be no remedy from,
outside their own will j the evil spirits too gravitate to their own
6 loves *,'as Swedenborg also tells us.
 THE END OF THE WORLD 267

(Keph. 223 : 2-3, 7-9); the wicked justly come

to hell through the venomous beast’s1 wicked¬
ness (M 544) (and) through the disease of
pollution (S.J., p. 121).
3. The Light shall withdraw to its place
and ascend and reign in its Kingdom,2 while
the Darkness falls and is taken into the Gravea
with all its children, and they shall be chained
with it (Keph. 75 : 25-28), binding with
them4 the Darkness, the Enemy, who has-
lifted himself against the Light from the
beginning (Keph. 104 : 27-29). The souls,
of ill the sinners who have been condemned
through their deeds . . . are fastened to the
Enemy (Keph. 105 : 2-5) in the Grave—its
masculine and feminine 5 (MH. 41 : 6-7); the
masculine shall be parted from the feminine
and bound in the 4 Lump \6 . . . This final

1 i.e.3 the ‘Dragon’, the ancient enemy of God and King of

Evil.
2 Cf.; GPM 82.
8This is the 4 bottomless pit * of Rev. 20 : 3; it was dug by the^
Great Builder, or Architect.
4 i.e.y with the chains.
5 i.e.y Ambition or Arrogance, and Lust or Greed, the two chieF
demons manifesting the nature of Evil.
• Copt, bolosy the shapeless mass or clod of filth, the dregs from
which no further Light can be distilled. Also called sphaira, Globe -
 268 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

< Lump 5 shall be densified1 (?) when all

forms and images are enclosed 2 in it (Keph.
105 : 31-32, 5-7); the Globe shall sink down
Ly its (own) weight to the Abyss, the Abyss will
(also) sink down (MH. 40 : 23-24) for all
eternity; 3 . . . whereas the feminine shall be
thrown into the Grave (Keph. 105 : 14,32-33).
4. The Light shall be purified and separ¬
ated from the Darkness by means of that
Oreat Fire (Keph. 104 : 3-4) wherein the
universe will be dissolved and all things be
destroyed, and perish in that Great Fire4
which shall burn them in fourteen hundrM and
sixty-eight years (Keph. 75 : 20-23).
Lest any blaspheme against the terrible fate of the
incorrigibly wicked, Mani assures us that it is their own
deliberate choice to stand apart from the Mystical
Body 'which alone can exist in God’s high Heaven.

1 Copt, selce, an unknown word.

* or: included.
3 lit: to eternity of eternities.

* Ch. “ The violent greedy and poisoned fire v (tch*an-tou-mong-

houo). AnNadim gives the same figure, whereas Hegemonius
reports that he has not in his texts found the duration. I do not
know the significance of this number 1468; it may be * mystical *
as IHCOYC = 888 = 87 = XITflN; so the-Vestment (^ytTcov) is a
^ymbol of Jesus; and CIMftN (76) + IX©YC (77) = 153 (fishes)
in Jn.<21 : 11; Simon contacting the ‘Fish* (*.*., Jesus) catching
many fishes. Such play with Greek numerals, and Hebrew, was a
‘delight in those ages, as Eisler has shown in his Orpheus the Fisher;
cf. the number 666 in Rev. 13: 18.
 THE END OF THE WORLD 269
There is no injustice; they too are happy, enjoying the-
Darkness they have preferred and the depth of the
bottomless Abyss where it must evermore be held
enchained so that the Light be free from aggression.

88. The Messenger’s Appeal

1. Not one of all the Messengers has

wished to receive his recompence on the earth,,
but they have spent all their time in trouble,
welcoming sorrow and crucifixion 1 in their
body so that they might save their souls2:
from that dream 3 and ascend to this Rest for
evermore (Keph. 150 : 27-32). From the time
I came to the world I have had no joy in it
because of the holy Church which I have
chosen in my Father’s name. I have freed
her from the slavery of the Authorities,4 and
placed the Light-Mind in her; every time I
see her in trouble and persecution that afflict
her through her Enemy, I shall feel pity for
her.5 I have no other grief, save this for the
souls who neither accepted the Hope nor
1 Doubtless in the wider sense of all kinds of torture and pain.
2 i.e.y the souls of human beings.
3 or: error, wandering (Copt, sorme); it may be almost ‘ illusion L
4 i.e., the Rulers of che body, the planets which generate evil!
passions in the heart.
5 Manicheans must often have found courage in such a promise.
270 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

strengthened themselves with this strengthen¬

ing and this steadiness 1 of Truth\ for they shall
come out and wander 2 and go off for ever to
the hell. For this reason only I grieve for
them, that they have not accepted repentance
or been reconciled with the Right Hand of
Peace and the Grace which I have brought
out from the Father (Keph. 148 : 8-20).
2. Hear my words that I speak to you:
Cling to3 the deeds of Life, endure the per¬
secutions that come on you, strengthen your¬
selves through these commands that I have
given you, so that you may escape from that
second death,4 and avoid, this final fettering
wherein there is no hope of life, and be saved
from the sorry end of the deniers and blas¬
phemers 5 who have seen the Truth with their
eyes and (yet) have turned away from it. They
shall come to this place of punishment where¬
in there is no day of life, for the Light which
illumines shall be hidden from them and they
1 lit', standing up.
2 i.e.f come from the body, only to take rebirth again and again.
3 lit: hold yourselves in to.
4 Doubtless as in Rev. 20: 14; cf. GH 28: 2.
5 Constantly we find these two classed as the greatest of sinners.
Islam also considers the kadhdhabin, who deny God’s revelation and
make Him a liar, as beyond hope after death.
 THE END OF THE WORLD 271

shall not see it again;1 the air and the wind

shall be withdrawn from them, nor shall they
get breath of life in them from this time; the
waters and the dews shall be taken away from
them, nor shall they taste them any more
(Keph. 106 : 5-18). Because they have not
known the Kindly God, they will writhe (?)
and burn in hell2 (TM. 3:6).
Marii tells us how his loving heart has always
yearned for the salvation of every Soul and grieved
over those who tragically turned from his Message and
the Father of the Light. So too has every Prophet
grieved and striven every way (cf. Lk. 19 : 41) if only
to rescue a single Soul for the blessedness of devotion
to Righteousness.

89. None of the Faithful Perish

1. The Messenger of the Light, who comes

at the (right) time and puts on 3 the Church
(and) human flesh, and acts as Leader within
the Righteousness 4 (Keph. 36 : 3-6), chooses
the forms of his whole Church and frees them,
both those of the Elect and those of the

1 Having turned away from it, how can they see it any more ?
2 Life is to know God (cf. Jn. 6: 40 and GH 29:3); the ignorance
of Him is itself a dreadful hell (cf. GH 29:12-13).
8 i.e.. assumes responsibility for, identifies himself with.
4 i.e., the e Imam ' or ‘Arkhegos * of the Religion.
 272 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

Hearers (Keph. 225 : 1-2); he dives down in¬

to the deep oceans of water1 (T. II. D. 93 b)
and pulls them out of the jaws of the deep2
(M 502). As for them, they do not stray again,,
but they are only drawn to the rebirths and
toil,3 afterwards they come to the Angels5
hands; . . . then the Angels make their way
with them to the places wherein they are to
be refined. For no Hearer ever at all goes
on account of his deeds to the hells, because of
the Seal of Faith and Knowledge which is
stamped on his Soul4 (Keph. 225 : 27-29,
10-14).
2. Only when they guide the man into the
Truth, and he accepts the Knowledge and the
Faith and begins to fast and prays and does-
good, at that time these new works which he
has done—the fasts, . . . the prayers . . . the
alms he has given to the Saints—all these things
are a purifier and redeemer of his first works in

1 i.e., the sea of worldliness; Phi. zad-murd; Ch. sheng-sseu-kai.

2 As the Diver recovers the ‘ pearls 5 in GPM 65:4.
3 or: pain (Copt, hise).
1 So too many Catholics once believed that no one validly
baptized would be lost. Rebirth was the worst that could happen
to a Manichean, for the Seal of Gnosis—which could never be
taken away-made impossible the hell which consists in not
knowing or loving God.
 THE END OF THE WORLD 273

every place where they may be found1 (Keph.

225 : 30—226 : 6). Now it is the power of
that Hearer to release all his deeds (from
impurity) by himself alone while he is in his
body. . . . From the first day that he has
forsaken the first error in which he used to
be, and has taken the Right Hand of Peace,2
has been convinced and taken his stand on the
stairway of the true Hearership3—in the hour
he receives this grace 4 and believes this way,
these first fasts which he has kept ascend and
are welcomed into the Light-Ship of the
Night5 . . . out of the heaven and the earth
and the trees and the (creatures of) flesh, . . .
with this first fast and this first prayer, the
beginning of all his (good) deeds (Keph.
226 : 25-27, 7-13, 17, 19-20).
Not even one who turns, be it the dying thief on
the cross, to the Light and tries to follow it, can ever be

1 His later good works purge away the evil out of all he did
before his conversion to the Faith.
2 i.e., has accepted the reconciliation with God and Righteous¬
ness conferred by Manicheism.
3 i.e., has set out to live truly as an ideal ‘ Hearer ’ (cf
G PM 42—44).
4 or: gift.
6 His good deeds go up by the ‘ Moon * to the Light-Kingdom,
and so he becomes a saviour of the Light-Sparks imprisoned in
them.
18
 274 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

lost in the gloomy Darkness. There may be ages

of purgatorial wanderings through births and deaths,
but the Angels whom he has even once invoked will
follow him through all, urge him to noble deeds of
piety, and so bring him at last to the consummation of
all delight in Paradise.

90. The Path of the Redeemed

1. The Souls who come up and discover

the holy Church . . . for the sake of the Hope( ?)
abandon everything; it is Reflection that inspires
them. They raise themselves up to the Column
of Glory which is the Intellect; they lift them¬
selves up to the Insight, which is the First
Man who dwelt in the Ship of the Night;
from the Insight they raise themselves up to
Thought, which is the Envoy dwelling in the
Ship of the Day. And he, the great glorious
Thought, brings (?) them in to the Mind—
which is the Father, the God of Truth, the
Great Mind of all the Aeons of Glory (Keph.
20 : 21-31). (There) the Souls of the Righte¬
ous are garlanded and they ascend gloriously
on high with the Angels (MP. 81 : 23-24), the
Father shall not thenceforth hide from them 1
(Keph. 103 : 28-29).
c
1 Because in the Light-Realm He is always visible to the souls of
Saints, their supreme joy and glory (cf. GPM 80 : 8).
 THE END OF THE WORLD 275

2. So then your Souls must embark on

those Ships of Light, (singing:) “ Rejoice, O
Perfect Man,1 the holy Path leading up on
high, the clear Air, the Landing-place2 of
everyone who trusts in Him! 3 Open to me
Thy secrets, and take me to Thyself from the
affliction! . ’ . . Let me be worthy of my
three Gifts: the Likeness (MP. 83 : 25-31) or
Light-Form which the Elect and the Hearers
assume when they bid farewell to the world
(Keph. 36 : 10-11), Love, (and) the Holy
.Spirit (MP. 83 : 31-32)
Step by step, gradually purifying all the five
aspects of the Soul, the aspirant travels inward, upward,
by the ancient Path towards the great All-Father, the
Divine Mind in whom we all subsist, and there enters
on his infinitely glorious destiny. Joy, joy be with us
as we go aboard the shining Ship that bears us home,
.as we enter the Church established by the Messenger
of God’s Light, and manfully strive to keep the
Precepts that guide us on our way!

1 i.e., the Column of Glory, which we are told is composed of

prayers and adorations and all good deeds, and SO leads the Soul
upward to the Light of the human Saviour, i.e., the ‘ Moon \
8 lit: mooring-harbour.
3 One who trusts in, loves, an Ideal is sure to reach it some day.
 CHAPTER EIGHT

EPILOGUE

The liberated Soul now pays due homage to the-

Divine Liberator for bringing her life to full fruition.
The reader in his turn then prays for the same great
service to be done to him, having thrown himself with
passionate devotion at the Liberator’s feet. Knowing
this Liberator is no other than God Himself, the
infinite King of Light, he then adores that Unutterable
and blesses the holy names of all His Emanations, untiL
his heart dissolves in ecstasy at His infinite loveliness
and greatness. After a final prayer for eternal
liberation from the deserts of exile, he is dismissed with
a closing exhortation so to live that he may be worthy-
to enter on the longed-for Peace and Joy.

91. Thanksgiving to Mani

1. Let us worship our good Father and

honour the mighty Saviour, for he has reveal¬
ed everything, has taught us everything,
has spread them (all) before us; he has
given us the knowledge of the Begin¬
ning, he has taught us the mysteries of the
 EPILOGUE 277

Middle, together with the Final separating

and the destruction of the universes which
were prepared for the bodies and the Spirit.
Our Father, our Messenger has not let us lack
(any) of them; so long as he was in our midst
he gave us a hand, helping us greatly; even
on the very day of his departure he left his
;good for the orphans and the widows 1
(MH. 7 : 9-19). Crowds have witnessed of
him, all the Messengers have spoken of him,
the Prophets have preached about him; his
fame is spread abroad in all the world, his
principle is in all the religions (MH. 8 : 1-4).
2. O Father, true outleading God,2 we
bless thee, the adored of Souls granting vision
and commandment.3 Blessed, blessed art
thou, thou good instructing God! Through
thee we travel together (?) by means of the
blessed vision of words of prayer (T. II. D.
178 : 4). Thou, our Father, art the Root of
all the wisdoms (Keph. 176 :30); through
1 Remember Mani’s counsel to the disciples at Pargalia (Life,
(§18); Manicheans were as devoted to corporal charity as Christians,
~but their few numbers forced them to rationalise a strict limitation
of it to among themselves.

2 i.e., leading Souls out of darkness into Light.

8 i.e.} the Knowledge (Gnosis) and Ethics.

 278 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

the Father’s will, O beloved, thou hast spread

out over us this mighty gift of thy Knowledge
(MP. 31 : 23-24), thou hast preached to all of
us thy Wisdom, thou hast taught us what
used to be, what are, and what shall be;1 thou
hast rescued 2 us from the Darkness (MP. 13 :
6-8). All the mysteries have been fulfilled in_
thee, our Father 3 (MP. 18:3) (and now) all
thy churches are fulfilling thy mystery; we
today give our rose like these fruitful trees,4
that it may become for us a garland and thou
mayest place it upon us (MP. 21 : 7-10).
3. O mighty Power, Wisdom full of Life,,
first-born great Commander! God of our life,
my Lord Mani, our Lord of dear kindness,,
who out of pity didst assume a worldly appear¬
ance manifesting before us the visible Sign, 5
Perfect Living Word, clothe us in the Robe of
Light (T. II. D. 178 : 4)! O glorious Mani,
great God (and) Saviour,6 thou art entire
1 i.e., the Three Moments—past, present and future.
2 lit: made us healthy, i.e.. cured us. It is a disease.
3 Cf. GPM 36 r 3.

4 The flower of the heart is compared to actual roses offered!

liturgically in the church.

5 i.e., showing the Signs of a true Messenger (cf. GPM 31).

6 Copt, pnac nnonte psoter; the deification is now complete.

 EPILOGUE 279

Absolution, the Preaching of Life, the Envoy

of those on high (MP. 8 : 30-32)! The Three
Wheels1 glorify thee, the Wind and the Water
and the Fire, which daily ascend from the
Abyss (MP. 144 : 32—145 : 2). The Love
that died is this Sheep that was chained to
the Tree; the Shepherd searching after it is
the revealing Wisdom (MP. 172 : 24-25);
thou dost not weary, O Wisdom, thou dost
not give in, O Love (MP. 171 : 25)!
4. We bless thy Light-Twin,2 Christ
the author of our good (MP. 42 : 22-23),
(namely), our Lord Mani, the Spirit of Truth
who (is come) out from the Father, . . . the
Advocate whom Jesus has sent3 (MP. 20 :
15-16, 21), the great Conqueror, our Lord,
our Light, who has given his loved ones
the victory (MP. 13 : 25-26)! Thou hast
come in peace, O new Sun of the Souls
i 'They probably stand for the three * chariots prayer, fasting,
and charities—which raise the Soul to the ‘ Column of Glory .

2 i,e Equal in the Light. In his Acts the 4 Twin of Thomas

is Christ: the Twin is often feminine, as in the case of ‘ Sophia ,
wisdom, in MP. 11 : 15. Pistis Sophia also speaks of her Twin,
apparently involved in her descent.
a see Tn. 14 : 16-18, 26. To his disciples Mani certainly was
such a ‘Comforter’, and he certainly explained to them all they
found obscure in the earlier Faiths. His claim was net a he, as
Augustine pretended, being unable to lead this harder path.
 280 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

(MP. 20 : 22-23); we trust in thy mercy, for

thou quickly turnest and showest pity (MP.
71 : 1-2)! Thou shinest, O cheerful Image in
the Sun’s likeness, thou Leader of the Truth
of the same form as the God Zrwan (BuBb
29 : 390-394)!
5. Thou hast spoken out all the mysteries
to us, O Giver of the streams 1 (?) of all
the revelations, and we give thee thanks, our
Father, with great admissions2 that thou
hast spoken to us frankly about everything.
Thou hast given us great outpourings1 (?)
of the Knowledge, so that we may give a
share in them to these who listen to us3
(Keph. 244 : 15-20). This is the only gift
we have to satisfy thee with, that we confirm
ourselves in thy Faith and abide in thy Com¬
mands and agree in thy Word which thou
hast spoken to us 4 (Keph. 102 : 9-12).
We have 'followed Mani’s thought reflected
through his devotees so far that perhaps many of us
will join with fervent sincerity in these words. Even

1 The word is broken; I have conjectured nnhrousis (Gk. rhusis)

from the last three letters.
* i.e.y thanks, acknowledgments.
3 Naturally those who have freely received will freely give—and
that can best be done by a holy life according with the teaching.
*Cf. GPM47:1.
 EPILOGUE 281

those specially attached to other of his great Brethren

■cannot but recognise the greatness we have glimpsed
in them shining equally in this £ Apostle to the East \
He revealed the nature of this universe as divided
between Good and an Evil in revolt, and showed us
how to choose the Good and cleave to it until we are
refashioned in its image, able to share its eternal bliss¬
fulness when once liberated from earth’s last stain.
How can we show our gratitude for this immeasurable
blessing, save in using it—treading the Path thus
opened out before us, helping our brothers too to find
the way, and ourselves walking thereon to the end.

92. Total Surrender

1. My Liberator in (to) the praise of the

lovable God, holy Mani, come among God’s
three Sons1 (M 4)! Thou art the Advocate
whom I have loved since my childhood;2 thy
Light shines out in me like the lamp of light,3
(for) thou hast driven away from me the
forgetfulness of the Error,4 thou hast taught
me to bless God and His Lights (MP. 56 :
17-20)! O gentle God, think of this son of the
Mind (?), the Hearer, the afflicted Soul which
Las answered thee! . . . Come, God, look on
1 adhre Bag-puhran; i.e., Zarathushtra, the Buddha and the Christ.
2 lit: smallness (Copt, mentkoui).
3 or: a lighted lamp.
4 i.e.y the illusion, that is, forgetting our real spiritual nature and
thinking our interests are those of the body which is our foe and
prison.
 282 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

me, thou art my Help in this time of need

(M 4)! O holy Mani, Light-bringer, make
peace in me and rescue my Soul from thi&
worldliness1 (M 38) (by means of) the com¬
plete Seal of my hand and mouth and
thought2 (M 32)!
2. Now forgive me my offences, let my
weeping turn to jubilation, let thy most
glorious Power 3 watch over me until I come
out of my body. ... I am not faithless (?)
towards thee, be not harsh4 towards me! . . .
Thou art the Lord, I am thy servant; put away
from before thee all my sins which I have
committed secretly and in the open (MH. 5 :
16-24)! Let the great Brightness 5 come and
cause the Path to be lit before me, let thy
three Angels bring to me thy Garments, thy~
Crowns and thy Garlands; let my way be
restful,6 let a door open before me into the
Column of Glory by the law of the Judge oL
1 lit: birth-and-death, the Skt. samara.
2 pad muhr ‘ispurig ce man dast rumb ud andesi?n.
i.e.% the Angel-Twin who was always helping and strengthening-
Mani himself through life.
4 lit: in a badness.
6 i.e.y the Light-Form of merit, the f Maiden * who takes the SouT
on to the upward path; cf. GPM 75 : 1.
e i.e.y calm, still, unhinde : t
 EPILOGUE 283

Truth, let me cross over in the Ships of Light

and rest for evermore (MH. 6 : 19-26)!
3. Thou art the Lord, the authority is in
thy hand, . . . thou hast chosen my Image
and set it free, . . . thou art the Root oF
Good1 (MH. 3 : 24-25,27). Thy love is with
me, ... my body whose lord lam!. . . I
have no one greater than thou; thou art more
honoured than my father, I have loved thee-
more than my mother, thy friendship (?) was
in my heart more than my brothers and
relations2 (MH. 2 : 12-13, 15-18).
4. Look, my Soul is given into thy hand;
I have received my whole life from thy grace;,
I have let it drink the milk of thy spirit, thy
scriptures and thy mysteries have brought me
up ;3 since the start of my life thou hast sealed
me with thy Hope and thy Name. . . . See,

1 Identifying Mani with God Himself, the original Source of

Goodness of GPM 13 : 1. How is this blasphemy, if it is
* faith ’ when the Christian speaks of Jesus?

2 An Iranian love-declaration reads (TM. 383 : 20-23) “ Thou

hast come like a Father, our kind Physician, thou hast stood
up like a Mother, thou art helpful as a Brother, thou hast
come into the state of being a Son.” The phrase “ Kind
physician (biziskmon kerboghor)” is explained in die Stellung Jesw
(p. 121): “ a doctor for him who becomes senseless through the
disease of the flesh-body; and he himself beeame an oculist for the
blind and an aurist for the deaf.” His medicines are the teachings
3 i.e., have nourished me.
 284 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

my head is under thy burden;1 see, my neck

lifts up thy fruit; see, my eyes look at thy
■beauty, . . . my ears listen to thy word! . . .
my heart is a throne whereon thou art seated
(MH. 4 : 6-10, 17-20, 27). Look, my feet are
on the Path of thy truth along with thy great
host; let me belong to the van of thy host, let me
not be of its stragglers! Strengthen with thy grace
my body and my spirit, for I rely on thy Name,
do not let me down! 2 . . . The three gates3
of my body shall be opened by the most glorious
Key;4 . . . look, thou hast paid the price of
my spirit; it is thou who art the good Lord of
my spirit unto eternity of eternities (MH. 5 :
5-9, 11-16). From eternity to eternity thou
art my God5 (MH. 1 : 19)!
It is only by a whole yielding of the petty per¬
sonality, a full dedication of the self to the treading of
this Path, to the love of the enlightening Master, the
Light-Messenger, which can avail us for that treading
of the way. The faithful Manichean therefore gives
liimself in full and glad surrender to his Lord, that he

1 ue.y I have accepted thy f yoke V

2 mperia-totek hsoi, in Coptic.
3 Very unusually, the Latin word porta is used here for ‘ gate
4 i.e.y the master-key, Truth.
Copt, ien-anehe sa-aneh? ntak pe panoute—a tremendous
•saying, equal to St. Thomas’ wonderful avowal in Tn. 20 : 28_
My Lord and my God!”
 EPILOGUE 285

may be purified and led tenderly by the hand to his

eternal Home*

93. The Eternal Infinite

1. Let us gather together, my brothers*,
and understand who is God, the Hidden One
who is revealed,1 the Silent One who also
speaks (MP. 171 : 26-28)! Now who, my
brothers, is worthy of all glory? It is the
Father of Greatness who is worthy of all
glory, the King, the God of Truth, the Exalted
One of the Height, He of the bottomless
Abyss, He of the unfailing crowns, He of the
unfading garlands (MP. 133 : 1-7)!
2. O Repose of the 6 All5,2 we give Thee
glory—the Father of Greatness, the Glorious
King, the Sun in His Aeons, the mighty
Crown-wearer, the Father of all our Race, the
God of all the Gods, the Good Tree that has
given no evil fruit, the Father whose sons are
many, the Watcher who guards His tower, the
sleepless Shepherd, the Helmsman who does
1 or: manifested.
2 or: Rest of the Universe. Augustine’s lovely impassioned cry:
« Thou hast made us for Thyself, and our heart is restless till it
rests in Thee!” (Lat. Fecisti nos ad te: el inquietum est cor nostrum
donee requiescat in te). This is the very nature of man, whose
happiness can be found only in the infinite Abyss of God, nothing
less can satisfy his heart.
 286 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI
v

not drink,1 the King and God of Truth, He

•of the unfading crown (MP. 136 : 13-27)!
8. O Lord, Thou art Alif the first, and Ta
the last has come together in Thee,2 and so
Thy beneficent will has been fulfilled. All the
Gods and Rulers, the Light-Deities and the
Righteous give praise with many a c Holy! 5
(M 78). Holy, holy, holy to Thy hymned
Sovereignty! Holy, holy, holy to Thee, Father!
Holy, holy, holy to Thy chosen Name! Holy,
holy, holy to Thee, Father, holy, holy, holy
(M 75)!
4. Thou art, Thou art, Thou art! Thy
years shall not cease!
Holy, holy, holy to Thee, O Amen, King of
the Aeons !3
Amen, pleasant Ships that will land us at our
Haven!
Amen, sweet Dew that gives sweetness to all
the fruits!

1 lit: get drunk. A revealing comment on the habit of drivers—

■even as sometimes in our own days!

2 The Beginning and the End, Source and Goal, are now united,
and the Light has merged again in Light, ‘ Alif * and ‘ Ta 5 are
the first and last letters of the Syrian alphabet; cf. Alpha and
Omega in Greek. Text reads: Aalef naxven d, Khuda'i, ud Ta
*ustomen pad to angad.
8 or: Ages.
 EPILOGUE 287

Amen, this unsetting Sun, the Lord of all the

dawning-places!
Amen, Moon filling the measure which yet
never wanes!
Amen, the Perfect Day wherein there is naught
of night!
Amen, the crowned King who remains in His
Kingdom!
Amen, this holy God who is garlanded by 1
His Aeons!
Amen, this lofty Light who shines forth in His
loved ones!
Amen, this mighty Power who gives strength
to the Elements!
Amen, the true Wisdom who gives teaching
to the Souls!
Amen, this Holy Spirit who also gives life to
the Spirits!
Amen, this beloved Son who has given himself
to death for us!
Amen, the gentle Father who embraces us
with His Love!
Amen, this gracious Mother who gives Her
Milk to us! 2
1 i.e., surrounded by; cf. the Sun in the twelve Zodiacal Signs (?).
2 or: pours on (?) us, (Copt, ardri).
288 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

The Father, Son, (and) Holy Spirit—this is

the Perfect Church!1
Let us answer to the Amen!
When I utter the ‘ Amen ’, doors of the
skies are opened;
O psalmist of the Sky, Amen, to whom they
make music! (MP. 190 : 7-28).
Love, adoring gratitude to the Teacher, yes; but
to God alone be all our worship, for He alone is wholly
deserving of all we can say or give, of all that we can
ever be. The very utterance of His mystic Name
opens the door to His very Presence and fills us with
adoration of His holiness and love, in whatever form.

94. Is Endless Love and Sweetness

1. God, God, God ! Lovely is God, Gody

God! God, my (?) God! God2 (MP. 164:
11-12)! I dived to the depth of the Abyss
wishing to comprehend Thy depth; I swam

1 In Coptic the first three ‘ Amens ’ are spelt with a prefixed ‘ h 9

—I do not know why, but they seem to refer to the reigning
Father, ihe redeeming Son, and the Immortal Spirit pervading all*
Similarly, the hymn ends with the Trinity in reversed order, adding
the Mother of Life; and the central portion also seems to refer by
veiled epithets to the same Three Persons. So it is a sort of Triple
Trisagion. The Church is a sort of incarnation of that Trinity.

2 This ecstatic and untranslatable cry reminds the student of

Guru Arjun’s passionate style; it too seems a kind of Triple
Trisagion. Copt. Noute noute noute, nese noute noute noute, noute fianoute
noute\ Cf. GGS 41 : 3; 18 : 1.
 EPILOGUE 289

in the breadth of the Sea wishing to compre¬

hend Thy breadth! Who can comprehend
Thee, and who is able to understand Thee,
my Lord1 (MP. 120 : 13-17)? What light
shall I find and compare it with Thy fragrance
(MP. 118 : 27-30)? Where is there a gracious
Mother to compare with my Mother, Love?
Where a kind Father to compare with my
•Father, Christ? What honey is so sweet as
this Name, Church 2 (MP. 158 : 25-27)?
2. My Mind has not ceased thinking of
Thy wonders;
My Thought has not swerved from searching
Thy secrets;
My Insight has not moved from aspiring (?)
in Thy mysteries;
Nor has my Counsel swerved from seeking
after Thy marvels;
My Intention have I sent up desiring to com¬
prehend Thee, my Lord3 (MP. 126 : 3-12)

1 Here too we find a likeness to the burning devotion of the Sikhs;

Cf. Acts of Thomas.

* Because ‘ Church * is the Holy Trinity manifested as the ‘ Per¬

fect Man*; it is also the "Column of Glory* by which the Soul
enters into Light. See GPM 93 : 4.
s Thus all five aspects of the Soul (Copt, nous, meeu, sbd, sajne, and
makmek) are absorbed in God, aspiring to His deepest Being.
290 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

I have tasted a sweet taste; I have found no

sweeter than the Word of Truth!
I have tasted a sweet taste; I have found no
sweeter than the Name of God!
I have tasted a sweet taste; I have found no
sweeter than Christ!
Taste and realise that the Lord is sweet1
(MP. 158 : 20-24)!
Who can tell of His infinite power and loveliness '
(cf. GGS 55, etc.)? Who can think of anything so
sweet, so good, so great as He ? The redeeming Christ,
his maternal Love, and the Church fashioned by the
union of the two—here have we another Trinity to
love and adore! Never in all the ages can we come to
an end of God’s infinite wonders, or the richness of His
love, His wisdom and His power. All the faculties of
the Soul will be for ever happily absorbed in penetrat¬
ing them, deeper and deeper, yet never finding
boundary or limit through all eternity!

95. Maui’s Last Message

1. “ O gracious Father, kindly Prince,

•countless myriads of years have now passed
since we were separated from Thee! We yearn
and long to see Thy luminous and living
Face.! Unstained we roam forth in Thy power,
unstained we come (again) to stand before
1 An almost exact quotation of Ps. 34 : 8. • u.;
 EPILOGUE 291

Thee!1 It is true we have not altogether been

able to fulfil Thy will, but now be merciful
to us, O gracious and royal God; we would
forget our sorrows, we would live in the joy
of eternal Love!55 2
Often repeat such prayers; the Great King
will then unveil and show His radiant Face;
then will all things change, and you will live
eternally in Joy and Love (S 174)!
2. And now I bid you, Hearers (M 135),
my beloved ones: Do you walk at least with
a true heart on this Path of Righteousness that
I have shown to you (Keph. 81 : 13-15). Bear,
in mind my Precepts and my Words, that
Straight Path and True Image3 that I have
shown to you, namely the Holy Religion
(M 135). Judge by a true law like a righteous
judge; let brother speak truly with his brother,
so that at the time when you come forth,
and receive the victory . . . you may rest in
•* >
s* ( • _• .• , J * .*

1 Coming and going, we are always, in our real self, immaculate

Light.
2 Among all the prayers from various Faiths and in various/
languages, I do not think I know any more adequate, more
beautiful than this. It contains all we need to ask, all .that we pan
have to say—for having God Himself what else can we lack? He
is all in all. ..
2 or: mould, pattern—i.e., -the perfection of humanity. .
 292 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

these resting-places for evermore (Keph. 81 :

15-20) with Him for whose Sign and Image
you watch (Keph. 144 : 11-12). Strive through
that Image, so that you may join me in the
everlasting Life (M 135).
3. Thereupon all the Hearers became very
joyful and happy because of the divine Words
and priceless Precepts which they had heard
from the Messenger, the holy Lord Mani.
They paid the choicest homage and received
the blessing (?)1 (M 135). Prostrating them¬
selves, they . . . joined their hands, saying:
. . . . “ Now we shall not let ourselves be
negligent; we shall at all times take care to
watch over the precious unsurpassed Trees, so
that they may have all they need. . . . We
shall use this Cord of Light and throw it into
the vast Sea, in order to remove and save
ourselves and set ourselves in the precious
Ships. . . . We have heard of the Gate of the
Wonderful Law; . . . our heart has been
able to open itself and understand; . . .
we have been enabled to walk in the Straight
Path! ”... Thus, when all the members of
the Great Assembly had heard this holy
1 An unknown word 'bznw (abzeno ?).
 EPILOGUE 293

Scripture, they accepted it with faith as the

Law, and cheerfully put it into practice1
(CMT. 94, 96, 98, 100).
So we end our c Gospel9 with a beautiful, almost
Indian, prayer expressing the Soul’s ancient yearning
for freedom from the endless chain of births and deaths,
so that it may at last know the boundless bliss of the
eternal vision of our Father’s love. In return, Mani
pledges that such prayers must certainly be granted;
he bids us walk patiently upon the path of self-purifi¬
cation which alone can lead us to that glorious Goal,
and so with words of faith and blessing he bids us fare¬
well. The sincere Hearers then pledge themselves to
make full use of the Light he has brought for them and
to be faithful to the Faith until the end.

1 We conclude in the auspicious way common to Buddhist

Sutras: cf. also GH 43.
 APPENDICES

APPENDIX I

FRAGMENTS OF THE SCRIPTURES

1. The Coptic Summary of the Myth

1. When the Holy Spirit came, he revealed to us

the path of Truth, he taught us that two Natures exist,
that of the Light and that of the Darkness, separate
from one another since the beginning. While the
Kingdom of the Light exists in five Greatnesses, namely
the Father and His twelve Aeons, and the Aeons of
the Aeons, the Living Air, the Land of Light, with the
great Spirit breathing in them (and) nourishing them
with His Light—the Kingdom of Darkness exists in five
storehouses, namely the Smoke and Fire and Wind
and Water and Darkness,1 their Counsel 2 creeping in
them, moving them, and inciting them to make war on
one another.
2. Now then, as they were warring on each other,
they dared to make a raid on the Land of Light,

1 i.e.\ foul air, burning^ fire, storm-wind, drowning and poisonous

water, and gloomy darkness.
2 Copt, sdjne; the word sometimes means plan, plot.
 296 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

thinking in themselves that they would be able to con¬

quer it. But they do not know that what they have
thought against it they will bring down upon them¬
selves.
3. There was a host of Angels in the Land of Light,
having the power to come out to subdue the Enemy of
the Father,1 who was pleased that He should send
Himself through His Word to subdue Rebels who
■desired to raise themselves over the one higher than
they. Like a shepherd who shall see a lion coming to
destroy his sheepfold: for he plays a trick and takes a
lamb and sets it as a decoy that he may catch it
thereby, for by means of a single lamb he saves his
sheepfold, (and) afterwards he heals the lamb that has
been wounded by the lion.2 The same is the method
of the Father, who has sent His strong Son, and he in
turn produced from himself his Maiden furnished with
live powers 3 so she might give fight against the five
abysses of the Darkness.
4. When the Watcher (?) 4 had stood up in the
boundaries of the Light, he showed them his Maiden
who is his Soul; they moved themselves in their abyss
wishing to lift themselves upon her, they opened
their mouth desiring to swallow her. He controlled

1 But He would not send any of them, preferring to sacrifice a

part of Himself; cf. GPM 3:1.

3 The simile may not much appeal to our minds; it seems cruel.

3 i.e., the five Elements, or Bright Gods*

4 Probably the Great King of Honour (cf. GPM 5 2)*

 APPENDIX I 297

her power,1 he spread her 2 over them like nets over

fishes, he made her2 rain down upon them like
purified 3 clouds of water; she 2 thrust herself into them
like a piercing lightning, she 2 crept within them and
bound them all unawares. When the First Man had
finished his war the Father sent His second Son; he
came and gave a hand to his brother out of the Abyss.
5. He 4 established this whole universe out of the
mixture of the Light and the Darkness that had
occurred. He spread out all the Powers of the Abyss
to ten heavens and eight earths, he enclosed 5 them
in this universe together; 6 he made it both a prison
for all the Powers of the Darkness, while it is also a
place of purifying for the Soul that had plunged ( ?) into
them.7 The Sun and the Moon were established,
were placed on high, so that they might purify the
Soul; the refined part they daily carry up on high,
while they sweep out the dregs . . . mixed (?), they
convey it above and below.8
6. This whole universe standing firm for a while as
a great Building is being built outside this universe.9

1 or: source (?) (Copt, arkhe).

1 i.e.y the Soul, a part of God.
3 better: distilled.
4 i.e., the Living Spirit—but all these Divine Aspects are essenti¬
ally one God.
5 or: included, confined.
6 lit: at one time.
7 Even the foul prison is used eventually to purify the Soul.
8 i.e., part upwards, part downwards.
9 The eternal spiritual world is ‘ outside 5 this ordered Cosmos
of Time and Space.
298 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

In the hour that that Builder shall finish, the universe

shall be all dissolved and set on fire, so that it may
be smelted away. All life, the remnant of the Light
which is in every place, he will gather to himself and
fashion of it a Statue; while as for the Counsel of
Death, the whole Darkness, he shall gather it in and
make it into a picture of its own self,1 it and the slaves
of the Ruler.
7. The Living Spirit comes in a moment; . . . he
will give hand to the Light, but the Counsel of Death
and the Darkness he will confine in the storehouse *
that was established for it, for it shall be bound therein
for ever. There is no means of binding the Enemy
save this means; for he shall not be received to the
Light because he is a stranger to it, nor again can
they leave him in his land of Darkness, lest he should
wage a (new) war greater than the first. A new Aeon
will be built instead of this universe, which shall
dissolve that the Powers of Light may reign within it,
because they have done, have fulfilled, the Father’s
whole will, they have subdued the Hated One, they
have trampled on him for ever.
8. This is Mani’s Knowledge; let us worship him
and bless him. Hail to everyone who shall trust in
him, for he is the one who shall live with all the
Righteous (MP. 9 : 2—11 : 23).

1 Copt, rnfer zograph! mmaf rfimin mma.

* This is the 4 Lump * (bolos) of grossest matter, antithesis of the

‘Last Statue * of radiant spiritual perfection.
 APPENDIX I 299

2. From “ The Fundamental Epistle ”

1. MANI, by the providence of God the Father*

Apostle of Jesus the Christ:
2. These are healthful words from, the perennial
and living Source,1 which he who first hears and
believes them, then guards what they teach,2 shall
never be subject to death but will enjoy eternal and
glorious life. Happy indeed may he be deemed who
has been initiated in this divine Gnosis,3 whereby
he will be liberated and abide in everlasting life!
3. May the peace of the Invisible God and the
Knowledge of the Truth be with the holy jand most
dear brothers who believe in the heavenly Precepts and
at the same time fully keep them! May also the Right
Hand of Light guard and save you from every evil
assault and from the snares of the world! May the pity
of the Holy Spirit open the depth of your heart and
let you see your soul with your (own) eyes! 4
4. Dearest brother Patted,5 on that whereof thou
hast written to me saying that thou desirest to know
how the birth of Adam and Eve took place—whether

1 Lat. haec sunt salubria verba ex perenni ac vivo fonte■—i.e.y from God;
the Source of Life.
2 Lat. deinde quae insinuant custodierit; Jesus promised thus in Jn.
6 :40.
3 Lat. qui hoc divina insiructus cognitione f uerit.
4 Note the Trinitarian form of this beautiful blessing; the * Right
Hand * is the Saviour, i.e., the * Son ’.
5 Probably Mani’s Apostle Fattaq, here clearly different from
Mani’s own father, who bore the same name.
300 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

these were brought about by a word or firstborn from

the body, thou shalt be answered as is fitting. For
it is recorded and reported of these by most in various
scriptures and revelations in different ways: so that the
truth of this matter as it actually was is unknown to
almost all peoples, and even to those who have long and
much discussed it. For if it had come to them to know
clearly about the generation of Adam and Eve, they
would never have been subject to corruption and death.1
5, Necessarily then there are many things to be
Temembered beforehand in order without any ambi¬
guity to attain to that mystery. Whence, if you
please, hear what existed first, before the creation of
the world, and after the conflict was stirred up,
so that you may be able to separate the nature of the
Light and the Darkness.
6. Well, then, in the beginning there were these
two Substances separated from each other. And a
certain God the Father was holding the Empire of the
Light—eternal in one holy Origin, magnificent in
power, true in His very nature, ever rejoicing in His
•own eternity, containing in Himself Wisdom and the
Vital Senses by means of which even He comprehends
the twelve Members of His own Light,2 namely the
abounding Riches of His own Kingdom. Now in each
of His Members are hidden thousands of untold and
immense treasures. This same Father, sovereign in His
1 For they would not have identified themselves with this gross
physical and sensual body.

2 i.e.t the Twelve Aeons, or Maidens, surrounding Him.

 APPENDIX I 301

glory and incomprehensible in vastness, has blessed and

glorious Aeons united with Him, to be estimated
neither in number nor in extent, with whom the same
holy and illustrious Father and Producer lives, nothing
existing either poor or weak in His splendid realms.
His most glorious realms indeed have been so founded
on the bright and blissful Earth that they can neither
be moved nor ever overturned by anyone.
7. Now just adjoining one part and side of that
bright and holy Earth was the Earth of Darkness,-
deep and immense in size, wherein dwell fiery bodies,
namely the poisonous races.1 Here were infinite dark¬
nesses emanating from the same Nature, countless with
their own offspring. Beyond which there were filthy
and muddy waters with their denizens, inside of which
terrible and violent winds (prevailed) with their own
ruler and the fathers. Next the fiery and corruptible
region, with its own leaders and peoples. Finally, at
the centre, a people full of mist and smoke, wherein
was residing the horrible Chief and Leader of all,
having around him countless chieftains, of all of whom
he himself was mind and source.2 Now these were the
five natures of the pestiferous Earth, while these races
inhabiting those five natures were fierce and des¬
tructive .... (AFE. in PL. 42).

8. Indeed, the Father of the most blessed Light

knew the great impurity and ruin which would erupt
* Lat. ignea corpora, genera scilicet pestifera.
2 Mani here reverses the usual order, beginning with the smoke.
 302 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

out of the Darkness to threaten His holy Aeons, unless

He opposed (to them) some extraordinary Divinity,
outstanding and mighty in strength, by which He
could at the same time overcome and destroy the Race
of Darkness, on the extinction of which perpetual
■quietude would be ensured for the inhabitants of the
Light. . . . (NB. 42).

9. The Ruler of Darkness . . . with crooked motives

spoke to those . . . friends of his, the other Rulers of
Darkness . . . who surrounded him: “What does this
greatest Light which rises seem like to you? You see
how it moves the Pole (of heaven) and overturns most
of the Powers!1 For this reason it is right you should
remit to me as much as you have of the Light in your
control to command; thus I shall produce an image
of that Great One which has appeared in glory, by
-which we shall be able to reign, free from the life of
•darkness (known) hitherto!”
10. After hearing this and long discussing it to¬
gether, they thought it most proper to concede what
they were asked. For they did not hope always to
Tetain that Light, so they found it better to offer it to
their Ruler, in no way giving up hope to reign with
him when that was done. ......
11. So then, how they handed over that Light
which they held is (now) to be considered. Now this
is scattered all through all the divine scriptures and
1 i.e., upsets the whole organism of the horoscope. So k is the
liberated man rules his stars and is free from their control.
 APPENDIX I 303

heavenly mysteries: to the wise it is not at all hard to

know how it may be put, for it is clearly and openly
hnown by the one who has truly and faithfully wished
to understand (it).
12. As the bulk of those who had gathered were
of both sexes, namely females and males, he forced
them to pair off together; in this coupling some sowed,
others were made pregnant. But the offspring were
like those who had begotten, being the first (born)
receiving most of the parents’ strength.1
13. Taking these as a royal tribute, their Prince
was satisfied and, as we see done even now, the nature
of Evil shapes the formation of bodies, taking up power
from them, so indeed the aforesaid Prince, accepting
(his) friends’ offspring with the senses of the parents
(and their) prudence, at the same time devoured the
Light and procreated with them in (the act of) genera¬
tion. Then, having gained full power from such a
food, wherein was not only the strength but rathef* the
cunning and depravity of the parents’ savage Race,
lie called to him his own mate,2 issued from that same
Race to which he belonged.
14. Now having paired with her he sowed among
other things the abundance of ills he had swallowed;
and he also added something of his own thought and
strength, so that her sense might form and describe all
those (elements) which he had spread abroad. His

1 or: qualities.
a Their names are elsewhere given as Ashaqlun and Nebroel.
They are the demonic progenitors of the (physical) body of man.
 304 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

partner received these as a soil excellently prepared

usually accepts the seed. For in her were built up and
hatched the images of all the heavenly and earthly
powers, so that she might obtain the likeness of the
whole universe which was being formed (NB 46).

15. In fact, the Enemy, who believed he had cruci¬

fied the Saviour, the Father of the Righteous,1 was
himself crucified, at the time when one thing was done
and another shown. Thus the Ruler of the Darkness
was nailed to the Cross and the same with his friends
wore a thorny crown and had a purple robe; he also
drank the vinegar and the gall, which they imagined
a certain one, the Lord, to have drunk. And all that
he seemed to bear was (really) inflicted oh the leaders
of the Darkness, who were also wounded with rods and
the lance 2 (FE. 28).

16. Those souls who for love of the world have let
themselves wander from their own first bright Nature
and have become foes to the holy Light 3 and openly
armed themselves to ruin the holy Elements, and have
submitted to the Fiery Spirit, and have even by their
cruel persecution imprisoned the holy Church and the
Elect included in it who observe the heavenly Precepts,
will be shut out from the bliss and the glory of the
holy World, and because they have let themselves be

1 So called because they learn from and are converted by him.

* Cf. the hymns in GPM 34 : 6 and in the Acts of John (GG).
a Cf. GPM 48.
 APPENDIX I 305
ruled by Evil,1 they will continue in the same Race
of Evil—that peaceful Earth and the immortal regions
being forbidden them. What then will come to them
when they have thus fettered themselves by wicked
deeds, so that they are estranged from the life and
liberty of the holy Light? They cannot then be received
into those peaceful realms, but will be confined in the
horrid f Lump 5 aforesaid, on which moreover a guard
must be set. Whence also the same souls will cling
to those things they have loved, being left behind in
the same 4 Lump ’ of Darkness, seeking that out for
themselves by their own deserts. For they have neither
cared to know these coming things, nor withdrawn
from the same when time was given (FE. 5).
(Many other fragments are quoted or alluded to throughout
polemic literature, but not referred by name to this Epistle.)

3. Severus on the “ Two Sources 99

%

1. At the beginning were Two Principles, Good and

Evil, Light and Darkness also called Matter. Each of
them was uncreated and beginningless, both the Good
that is Light, and the Evil that is at the same time Dark¬
ness and Matter, and they have nothing in common with
one another. The Good is a Tree of Life; it occupies
the regions of the East, West and North; the Evil is a
Tree of Death (and) it occupies the Southern regions.*
The difference between the Two Principles is as great
1 Cf. GPM 87 : 2.
2 In Iranian thought the evil land was pictured as in the North;
Mani reversed this, for in Babylonia the South was the demons*
world.
20
306 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

as between a King and a pig—the one lives in the

places suited to him, as a royal palace; the other like a
pig wallows in the mire, feeds and delights in decay,
or squats like a serpent in its lair. Like him, this pig and
this serpent are born of themselves.
2. As for the things which exist perpetually and
without beginning, each of them exists of its own
nature. That is how the Tree of Life exists, which is
there adorned with all its beauties and splendours,
which is filled and clad with all its good things, firm
and stable in its nature. His Earth contains three
regions: that of the North which is outside and below,
the East and the West, outside and below—and
beneath it there is nothing which could be plumbed or
taken up by Him in any of these regions, but infinity
is outside and below. There is no body outside, around
or below infinity, nor in any one of these three regions,
but He is of Himself below and outside at the North,
the East and the West, and in these three regions
nothing surrounds Him or encloses Him. But He is
in Himself, of Himself enfolding His fruits in Himself,
and the Royalty is in Him. He is not in the Southern
region, and that because He is hidden in what is its
bosom. God has, in fact, surrounded this place with a
wall1—and this wall is autophyte, that is, self-subsisting.
3. His Light and His beauty are not visible,^ so as
not to give occasions for desire to the Evil Tree that is

1Cf.G PM 11.

t0 lI?e Rulers of the Darkness, until its own disorderly

violence carried it up out of its own realm; cf. GPM 3:1.
 APPENDIX I 307

in the South, and lest it be a cause for its excitement,

torment and exposure to danger. But He is enclosed
in His Glory, and because of His Goodness He gives
jio occasion but He is protected by His Justice. And
He is in this Glory, in being altogether continuously
in the nature of His Greatness in the three regions.
4. Now by its (very) nature the. Tree of Death has
no life, nor has it any fruits of Goodness on any of its
branches. And it is ever in the Southern region, and
it too has its own place, namely that which is above it.
5. The Tree of Death is divided into a great numr
ber (of branches); war and cruelty are among them;
they are strangers to peace, filled with complete
"wickedness, and never have good fruits. It is divided
against its fruits, and the fruits against the Tree; they
are not united with what has borne them, but all
produce corruption because of the corruption of their
state; they are not subject to what has borne them,
but the entire Tree is bad. It never does any good,
but is divided against itself, and each of its parts
corrupts what is near to it.
6. Now these .things refer to Matter, to its fruits
and its members; but the chance of ascending
to the worlds of the Light was given them by their
.Revolt. Indeed, these members of the Tree of Death
4id not know each other and had no idea of each
other, for each of them knew nothing more than its
own voice and they saw (only) what was before their
eyes. When one cried, they heard; they perceived
that, and hurled themselves impulsively towards the
308 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

sound—they knew nothing else. They were so excited

and impelled, one by the other, as to reach the frontiers
of the glorious World of Light.
7. When they saw that admirable and splendid
spectacle, which is far superior to their own, they
joined together and plotted against the Light in order
to mingle with it. Because of their madness they did-
not know that a mighty and strong God dwelt there
thus they tried to rise and to lift themselves because
they had never noticed who God was. But because of
this blessed world they threw a frenzied look, and
they thought it would become their own. ' '
8. Then all the members of the Tree of Darkness,,
with its corrupting Matter, rose up and ascended with
the many Powers whose number cannot be told. Now
these members differed: some indeed had hard bodies
and were of infinite size; others, incorporeal and
intangible, had a subtle tangibility like the demons and
ghostly apparitions.1 After raising itself, all Matter
ascended, with its winds, its tempests, waters, demons,,
phantoms, its Rulers and Powers—all earnestly seeking
how they could enter into th6 Light.
9. Because of the disturbance roused from the-
depths against the World of Light and against the holy-
fruits, it was necessary for a fragment of the Light to
come and mingle with these Wicked Ones, so that by
means of the mixing the foes might be captured and
there might be peace for the Good, and that the
Nature of the Good might be preserved, this blessed
1 Qf- GPM 2 : 3—u demons and phantoms and fire and water ***
 APPENDIX I 309

Nature having been saved from the fire of Matter and

of the destroying corruption; that on the other hand
the Lights be freed from Matter by the Power which had
been mingled therein, so that Matter should be destroy*
od and the Tree of Life be God in all and over all*
10. In the World of Light, indeed, there was no
burning Fire which could be thrown against the Evil,
no sharp Iron existed, there were no drowning Waters
nor any other such evil thing. Indeed, all is Light
and a noble region and one could not injure (in) it.
But there was this problem: that after being dispersed
by the fragment detached from the Light, the enemies
should stop their rush and be taken by means of the
mingling. [From Alfaric’s French.)

4. AnNadim on the Two Realms

1. The source of the universe is Two States,1 one

of them Light and the other Darkness, each of them
separated from the other. Now the Light is the
immeasurable First Good, and that is God, the King
of the Gardens of the Light;2 and He has five mem¬
bers: Dreaming3 and Knowledge and Reason and

1 Ar. koneriy cognate with the Syr. kynyn, source, used in

GPM 1 :1.
2 Ar. mdlik jannani ’nNixr. Qur’an also speaks of Heaven as the
Gardens, an Iranian idea, or possibly from the * Garden of Eden *,
Chaldean.
» Alhalm. Or it may be alhiltn, patience. The idea may however
rather be the imaginative faculty of the mind. Note the variations
here from the usual Greek and Coptic lists. Both Imagination
.and Memory (Ar. alghaib) are relevant.
310 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

Memory arid Understanding; and five others, spiritual*

and these are: Love and Faith and Integrity1 and
Courage and Wisdom. In His purity He is this
Eternal, and with Him derive Two Eternals, one of
them the Air, and the other the Earth. Now the
members of the Air are five: Dreaming and Knowledge
and Reason and Memory and Understanding; while
the members of the Earth are Space,2 and Wind and
Light and Water and Fire.
2. Now the other Principle, well, that is the Dark¬
ness, and its members are (also) five: Fog3 and Con¬
flagration, and Hot Wind and Poison-Liquid and
Gloom.
3. And that Principle (of Light) borders on the
Dark Principle; there is no keeping apart between
them, for the Light touches the Darkness on its border.4
There is no end of the Light above it, on the left hand
or the right,5 nor is there end to the Darkness below it*
nor to. the left hand and right. •
• 4. -And out of this Dark Earth Satan came into-
being: not that there are the .Two Eternals in his sub¬
stance, but in their elements his essences are eternal*
Then these essences gathered together out of its ele¬
ments, so it was formed into Satan—his head like a

1 i.e.} Sincerity.
2 or: Zephyr; it is the still Air, unmoved by any disturbance.
* Copt, haqnosy ‘ Smoke \ ’ ' -
4 “ The state of these two original creations is perpetual ancf
altogether contiguous just like sunshine and shadow, and no demar¬
cation or gap exists between them ” (SGV. 51-52).
5 i.e.t to North (viewed as.up), East and West.
 APPENDIX I 311

lion’s head, and his body like a dragon’s body, and his
wings like a bird’s wings, and his tail like a fish’s tail,
and his four feet like the feet of a beast of burden,1
(329 : 3-13).
5. The Light-Earth has five members: Space and
Wind and Light and Water and Fire; and the Light-
Air has five members: Gentleness and Knowledge and
Intelligence and Penetration and Intuition: all these
ten members which belong to the Air and the Earth
are the ‘ Greatness
6. Now that shining Earth possesses a body, is
bright, beautiful, radiant, and sunrise reddens over it—
the purifying of its purity and the beautifying of its
bodies: form by form and beauty by beauty, generosity
by generosity,2 purity by purity, joy upon joy, light
upon light, strength upon strength,3 aspect upon
aspect, goodness upon goodness, elegance upon ele¬
gance; also gates upon gates, towers on towers, palaces
on palaces, homes on homes, gardens upon gardens,
trees upon trees, and branches upon branches, having
twigs and fruits! The joy of this view and lovely light
is in plentiful colours, some of them better and more
flowerlike than others, and clouds upon clouds and
showers on showers.4

1 Cf. the description of Ahriraen, the Evil Spirit, in GPM 29 : 2.

2 i.elavishly pouring out its gifts.

8 lit: durability.

4 Cf. the account in GPM 80. In the hot dry lands known to
Islam, clouds and showers indicate great joy and freshness.
 312 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

7. And that Light-God in this World is an eternal

God. Now the God in this Earth has twelve Great¬
nesses called the Maidens;1 their bodies are like His
body, all of them wise, intelligent. The Greatnesses
are called the strong Working-Architects, and Space is
the life of the world.2
8. The Earth of Darkness . . . has depths and
abysses and regions and coverts and ruins and thickets
and bushes—an earth broken up, ramifying, rough,
and erupting Smoke from towns on towns and from
rubble on rubble; and it erupts Fire out of towns on
towns, and produces Gloom from towns on towns.
Some of these it has lifted over others, and some parts
are lower. And the Smoke which is produced from it,
well, it is (at) fever-heat; death erupts from the
bottom3 of an abyss, its foundation, out of plenty of
. Dust and the elements of the Fire and the elements
of the Hot-Wind strong and dark, and the elements
of the heavy and dark Water. The Light-Earth is
close above that, while this is below. For one of
them there is no limit in the matter of height,
nor (for) the Darkness in the matter of depth.4
(332 : 10-26).

1 They are the Victories, Virtues, Bright Hours, and Buckets

of GPM.

* i.e.y vitality is drawn in from the surrounding still air.

3 lit: source.

4 What a vivid picture of 4 Hell *! It agrees closely with spirit¬

ualistic accounts. r
 APPENDIX I 313

5. The Soul is Aroused 1

1. He2 was sent and came hurrying and rejoicing

to the First Man to tell him the news; he came and
knocked at the gates and cried: “Open quickly, and I
shall tell thee the news! . . . Rise up, O good shepherd,
fake the lamb from the wolf’s mouth,3 and I shall tell
thee the news! ”
2. “ Who art thou, for my doors are closed? Give
a sign, and I shall open to thee, and thou shalt tell
(me) the news! ”
3. “I am the son of the Father’s Son; it is the
Father’s Son 4 who hast sent me to tell thee the news.
Open, open quickly! Open the closed gates that the
news may be told to thee! ”
4. As the gates were about to open, he was found
{already) inside the door, eager to tell him the news of
the (skies). The First Man found him at his side; he
rejoiced and said to him: “ Tell me the news! What
•does my Father do, the Father of the Lights, who
makes me delay altogether outside Him? . . . What

1 From one of the Psalms of Herakleides I have taken this,

greatly abbreviated, as an example of how Manicheans delighted
to retell in poetic expanded form incidents from the great Myth
■of the Soul; it may be compared with GMP 4 : 3.

2 i.e., the * Call ’ of the living Spirit, an emanation from the

Great Builder.

3 i.e,, rescue the soul from the devouring passions; this must be
-done by the Soul itself, at least in intention, before it is able to
-t open * and ‘ hear the news * of Heaven. Passions deafen the Soul
with their clamorous din.

4 Actually * grandson as shown in Noce 2.

314 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

do the Twelve Aeons do, whom I left surrounding the

Father? . . . What does the Mother of the Living do,,
whom I have left together with her other Brethren ? ”
. . . The First Man is rejoicing as he asks, he says to-
him, “ Tell me the news! ”
5. Now the Call again answered: “ I came forth,
when they were together, ... I came forth when the
Aeons were together, being a garland round the
Father. They sent me when the Father was rejoicing
at being in the bridechamber of the Land of Lights
that I might tell (thee) the news. ... I was sent while
the Mother was watching, her Brethren being together
with her. ... I came when the City1 was calm and
the citizens were rejoicing and glad; ... I came
from the House of Joy; I have brought you the joy
as I came. I came from the House of Plenty; I have
brought Plenty as I came to you. See, this is the
news! I came while the Mother was looking for thee,
her Brethren being also there with her. Let us go l
They await thee, they are at the Border (?), they are
expecting thee!'2 See, the whole of God has come;
call thou, (and) He will answer thee. They are laden
with wreaths and palms to give to thee, the Captain!
See, this is the news!
6. “ The Air is set over the Smoke, . . . the Breeze
guards the king of the Storm, . . . the Light is set
over the king of the Darkness, . .. . see, the Waters

1 i.e., the Land of Light, the Spirit-World.

2 Copt, maran, seahe arak, schentsteta?, sesamet oubek.
3 Copt, eis pnouie teref qfti\ the Soul is only a fragment of Divinity.
 APPENDIX I 315

have confined the king of the fatal Flood, the Maiden*

the living Fire, has become mistress over the Land oF
Darkness!1 Look, we have laid waste the Land of
Darkness, we are waiting with the garland for theel
. . . Receive the news!
7. “ Let us go! They await thee! The Light has^
surrounded the Darkness! Let us go; they await theel
They are on the Border (?), they are expecting theel
. . . See, those who are to help thee are waiting for
thee, their hands are open to embrace thee, they are
laden with wreaths and palms to give thee, the victori¬
ous Captain! Take the news! ”
8. The Envoy heard the good news, he took it ta
the one who had sent him. The Fathers of the Light
came to help their beloved; they helped the First Man,
(and) he cried out before him rejoicing: “ Look at
me ! Look at my wares! ” 2 Great was the joy that
ensued when the First Man was in their midst laden
with garlands and palms! (MP. 197-202).

6. From ‘‘ The Treasure of Life, Bk. VII ”

1. Then that blessed Father, who has the Bright

Ships for residence and habitation or greatnesses, with
His usual kindness brings to His vital substance aid, by

1 i.e.y the five Bright Elements have conquered the five Dark¬
nesses, evil is overcome, the Soul is now free to enter the Realm of
Light (cf. GPM 71 : 1-3).

2 i.e., merits, the profit of spiritual trading with the ‘ talents r

given by God; cf GPM 76 : 2 and Mt. 25 : 15, 27-29,
316 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

which it is withdrawn and freed from impious attach¬

ments and difficulties and torments.1 So by His invisible
signal He transforms those of His Powers2 which
-are held in this most brilliant Ship,3 and makes them
appear to the hostile Powers which have been allotted
to the various regions of the skies. As these consist of
both sexes, males and females, He orders the aforesaid
Powers to appear, some in the form of unclad youths
to the hostile race of females, some in the shape of
dazzling maidens to the opposite tribe of males-—know¬
ing all those hostile Powers would be most easily
captured because of an innate mortal and most unclean
longing for Himself, and be enslaved by the same most
beautiful forms which appear, and in this way be
-dissolved.4
2. Now you must know that this same blessed
lather of ours is indeed the very same as His Powers,5
whom He for an inevitable reason changes into the
inviolate likeness of boys and maidens. But He makes
use of these as it were His own weapons, and by means
•of them fulfils His own will. The Bright Ships 6 are
indeed full of these divine Powers, which are arranged

1 Lat.fert opem qua exuitur et liberatur ab impiis retinaculis et angustiis

Mtque angoribus suae vitalis substantiae.
* or: Virtues, Qualities.
3 i.e.y the Sun.
4 or: destroyed, setting free the imprisoned Light, or Life.

5 God cannot be separated from His Qualities; it is His beauty

which captivates and defeats the sensual powers of Matter.
6 i.e.y the Luminaries, Moon and Sun. *"•»
 APPENDIX I 317
opposite the infernal races as the equivalent of a part¬
ner, and which with alacrity and ease carry out in the
same moment what they have planned. So then, when
reason has required them to appear to the males, the
same holy Powers show their Image in the form of
most beautiful maidens; again, when it has come to
women, putting aside the shapes of maidens, they
show the shape of unclad boys.
3. Now at this alluring sight their ardour and:
desire increases, and in this way the chain of their
worst thought is loosed, and the Living Soul that was
held in the members of the same (demonesses), being-
by this event released, escapes and is mixed with its own
purest air;1 where, being cleansed inwardly, the Souls-
ascend to the Bright Ships which have been made ready
for them to embark and cross over to their own country^
That indeed which up to now 2 carried the stains of the
hostile race descends bit by bit through burning and
heat 3 and is mixed with the trees and other plants and
all the seeds, and is coloured with various hues.
4. And, this done, out of that great and most bril¬
liant ship the figures of boys and maidens appear to*
the opposite Powers that live in the skies and have a
fiery nature ; and, being loosed by that beautiful
sight, the part of Life which is held in their members

1 i.e.y the desires are sublimated to the highest each one can
attain/and so the Soul transcends the realm of passion and rises
to Heaven. Transmuted lust becomes spiritual Love, conquered
sin the road to perfect virtue.
2 or: still, hitherto.
3 passion and vehemence.
 318 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

is led down through the heat on to the earth. In the

•same way also, that most high Power which dwells in
the Ship of Living Waters1 appears to these Powers
whose nature is cold and wet, and which are allotted
to the skies, in the likeness of boys and holy maidens
through his own messengers. He also appears to those
who are females in the form of boys among them: but
to the males (in the form) of maidens. By this chang¬
ing and variation of the divine and most beautiful
persons, then, the Rulers of the wet and cold root,2
male or female, are dissolved, and that which is vital
in them escapes; 3 while what will remain is loosed
and led down on to the earth through the cold and
mixed with all earth’s species 4 (NB. 14).

7. The Work of the Great Builder 5

1. Then the Lord of the Seven Climes8 and the

Mother of the Righteous began to plan how to arrange
1 The Moon is the seat of Jesus as Saviour of men.
• on Race.
3 lit: flees.
4 In its present form this srory is not attractive to our minds
but we must try to understand its deeper meaning: that God wins
even the lower nature of men to Him by a sight of His beauty_
which is all beauty everywhere, and that men tread the path to
Him over the ashes of their own dead selves and vanquished
passions.
6 This account from Soghdian, derived from W. B. Henning’s
article in the BSOAS, 1948, may well be compared with the
Arabic account in GPM 11; both seem to be from the same Syr
original; they describe the Zodiacal circle of 360 degrees (stalls)
in twelve Signs, each of 30 degrees, six on each side (i.esix ‘ male ’
and six * female ’ Signs). , . ’
6 Sogh. avtkyspy xwt'w, i.e.. Lord of the World, the Living Spirit.
 APPENDIX I 319
this world. Then they began to fashion it. First
they made five Carpets;1 there they seated the Holder
of Custody.2 Under that they formed ten firmaments
(and) set up one magic twelve-faced Lens;3 there they
seated a Son of God as Watcher,4 so that the demons
could do no harm in all the ten firmaments. Further¬
more they evoked forty Angels, who hold the ten
firmaments upraised.
2. In each firmament they fashioned twelve Gates;
they constructed four more Gates in the four directions
right where those Angels stand. The thickness of the
ten firmaments is a hundred thousand parasangs; (that
of) their air again is ten thousand parasangs.
3. To each of the twelve Gates that are in each of
the firmaments they constructed six Thresholds, to
each Threshold thirty Bazaars; in each Bazaar (there
are) twelve Rows, (and in each Row two Sides); to
the one Side they made 180 Stalls, (and) 180 to the
other Side. In every Stall they chained and confined
yakshas (and) demons, the males apart from the females.

1 or: mats, beds—which are the Wheels of the Wind, Fire and
Water wrapped up in the five 4 hapiomata * (maskbe) referred to by
bar Khoni. The word fasba here used is cognate with Per .far asp,
tapesiry, says Henning.
2 Presumably the ‘ Holder of Splendour * or * Custody of Splend¬
our ’ is meant by this.
3 Sogh. myj* ; *.<?., the “ Wheel that lies in front of the King
of Honour” (Keph. 36), to which are attached the roots of
all things. In it he can therefore see all that goes on everywhere.
The Wheel is like a great Mirror ” (Keph. 88 : 31); it contains
twelve * types \ This word may be Phi. myewk and Per. mizut
lentil, says Henning.
4 Probably the Great King of Honour.
 320 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

4. Thereupon the All-Maker1 called the Lord of

the Firmaments; 2 they seated him on a throne in the
seventh heaven, and made him the lord and king over
all the firmaments. Then they fashioned below the
ten firmaments a rolling Wheel and Zodiac. Within:
the Zodiac they fettered those that were the most
wicked, vicious and rebellious of the demons of the
Darkness. They made the Twelve Signs and the seven
Planets rulers over the whole Mixed World, and set
them in opposition to each other.3
5. From all the demons that had been imprisoned-
in the Zodiac, they wove to and fro the roots, veins:
and links; 4 5 in the lowest firmament they bored a hole
and suspended the Zodiac from it. Two Sons of God
were set as Watchers by them, so as continually to
control (?) the Upper Wheel (M 178: Henning).

8. The Vivification

1. An agitation 6 was made by the death-giving

demons 7 for the help of their own spirit; 8 and out oF

1 Visparkar, the Demiurge Visvakarman in Skt. books.

2 Called here Smdn-khsedh.
3 Chaldean astrology regarded all planets as malevolent, alt
zodiacal signs benevolent.
* i.e., planetary and zodiacal aspects.
5 Probably the Glorious King and the Light-Adamas.
* Phi. asob; Skc. root, ksubh; cL asob gar eft, making disturbance.
I owe these notes largely to Jackson’s edition.
7 Phi. devan os gar an.
8 Phi. ve$ griv; cf. Skt. griva, bosom; Ch. nik-liu, vital element.
 APPENDIX I 321
the corruption1 of the demons and the pollution of
the fiends he caused this defilement to be made, and
introduced himself into it. Afterwards out of tlie five
Elements,2 the armour of the Lord Ohrmizd,8 he
extracted (?) the good Soul 4 and bound (it) in the
defilement. He made it like one blind and deaf,
senseless 5 and debauched, so that it did not know the
first origin and source 6 of itself; it was he who made
its defilement and bound the silent7 (?) Soul in
prison. Demon, fiend, and every witch tormented that
prisoner:; he immediately bound the Soul and mocked
(it) in the defilement, he made it hateful and wicked,
hostile and malicious.
2. But Ohrmizd the Lord pitied it and all Souls,,
and into the bodies t of men caused it to descend on
earth; 8 he washed it (free) of the wicked Greed 9
and made it a being endowed with sight,10 and showed
1 tins, cf. nine sandy filth.
* Phi. ac pan eh amahrdspandan; the five BrightGods of Syr., perhaps
the same as the Ameshaspentas of Mazdeism; Gh. moholosapen.
3 Av. Ahuramazddh; Turk. Xormuzta; i.e.s the ‘First Man* of
our texts.
4 Phi. giyan.
6 Phi. abeus; cf. Urdu behos, unconscious.
® Phi. naf; first * navel and then £ kindred \
7 on -uncomplaining (Phi. vidrdi; cf. New Pers. daray, conver¬
sation). . .
8 Because like the Cosmos, the Body itself can be used to purify
the Light through resisting its darknesses.
9 Phi. Az ei darudnd. She is called the ‘ mother of all fiends
and in Turkish: shameless and insatiable (totiinesuz). Ch. T’an-mo,
At. Hits; she is the pair of Lust (Avarzog; Copt. Epithumia; Ar.
Sahwah).
10 Phi. us kerd ast casmgdh.
21
322 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

it clearly everything that was and will be; he quickly

made plain to it that Ohrmizd did not make the
defilement of the body, nor did he himself cause the
Soul to be bound.1
: 3. He brought about the wise Soul’s resurrection,2
which is a good mercy; it believed in the Gnosis of
Ohrmizd, the good Lord. All and every advice and
command, and the Seal of Love,3 he made it most
zealously embrace; its defilement, of death was
removed, and it became eternally free and was led up
to Paradise,4 to that Realm of the Glorious Ones
(S 9: Jackson).

9. AnNadim on the Religion

1. Mani said: He who desires 5 to enter the Re¬

ligion 6 must examine himself, and if he sees he can
control Passion and Greed,7 and (if) he leaves off eating
meats and drinking wine and sex-contact, and gives
up offending (?) Water and Fire, and sorcery and
idolatry 8 (?), then he may enter the Religion.

1 Cf. the story in GPM 10:3.

* Phi. ristahez; a spiritual rising from the state of the ‘ bom
4 dead* (zad-murdd) of worldliness, not a physical rising of the
corpse.
3 Three f Seals * are moral and four are doctrinal; cf. the Bud¬
dhist * Seals * of body, voice and mind {haya vak-citta).
* Phi. ud til ahraft 5 Vahist.
5 or: intends.
* *>•> become of the Elect, the 4 Religious ’ of Manicheism.
7 Az and Avarzog, against whom he has so long successfully
fought. 7
8 At. arRiya'a.
 APPENDIX I 323

2. But if he has no control over all that, then he

•does not enter the Religion. Now if he loves the
Religion and (yet) cannot control Passion and Greed,1
then he must take opportunity to protect the Religion
■and the Elect, and before his' vile acts he will have
reasons wherein he detaches activity 2 and (acquires)
kindness and night prayers and pleadings and askings.
And if that makes him happy in his eagerness and his
death, then his form becomes the 4 Second Image ’ in
the Column 3 (of Glory). . . .
3. Marti enjoined on his followers ten Rules on the
Hearers, and they are obeyed: . . . Now the Ten
Rules (are): giving up the worship of idols, lying,
possessiveness, killing, adultery, theft, the teaching of
heresy, sorcery and persistent worry (that is, doubt of
the Religion and looking for the Hope) and sloth in the
ivork (that is, forgetting the prayer).4 (332:28—333: 12)

10. AnNadim on the Three Kinds of Death 6

1. When death comes to the Righteous,6 the First

Man sends him a Bright God in the form of the Sage,

1 i.e.} Az and Avarzog, against whom he has so long successfully

•fought.
2 i.e.y intervals when he is able to check himself.
3 He forms the lovely ‘ Maiden * of virtue, who guides him on
the road to Paradise.
4 St. Benedict calls worship “ God’s work ” (opus Dei).
8 This, from Arabic, may usefully be compared with our Coptic
and Turkish versions used in GPM 67-76.
• i.*., the Elect.
324 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

the Guide, and three Gods 1 (come) with him carrying

the Flask and the Fillet and the Crown and the
Garland—(all of) the Light; and with them comes the
Maiden, the Image of the soul of that Righteous One*
Then the demon of Greed appears to him, together
with Lust2 and the (other) demons, and when the
Righteous sees them he appeals to the deity who is in
the Sage’s3 form, and to the three Gods,1 for help,.
Then they draw near to him, and when the demons
see them they turn away in flight. They then take
that Righteous One and clothe him in the Crown and
Garland and Robe, and they give him the Flask in hi&
hand. They go up with him in the Column of Glory
to the spheres of the Moon, and to the First Man, and
to the Radiant One, 4 Mother of the Living, to his
first possession in the Gardens of the Light. Then his
flesh remains lying there, while the Sun and the Moon,
and the Bright Gods draw the Power out of it—namely
the Water and the Fire and the Air. So he is raised
to the Sun and becomes God,5 while the dregs of his-
flesh are thrown out to a hell which is wholly darkness.*'

1 i.e.s Angels.
2 The two great demons, whom he has resisted so long.
3 This is the * Twin *, the ‘ Sophia * or Wisdom, the Messenger,.
Jesus. -
4 As Jackson shows, this word must read alBahiyya, not Nahnaha.

5 Another uncompromising assertion of the real nature of the

liberated Soul; Ar. fa-yirtafaiu ila *$$amsi wa yasiru ilahdn.

• Having been robbed of the Light-Spark once in it, the body is

now a mere corpse.
 APPENDIX I 325

2. Now as for the man striving for and well disposed

to the Religion and Innocence, who guards both these
and the Righteous Ones,1 well, when his death takes
place, these Gods whom I have mentioned are present,
and the demons are (also) there. Then he calls for
help and relies on what he used to do for Innocence r

and guarding the Religion and the Righteous Ones; so

they save him from the demons. But (as) in the world
the likeness of the man who in his dream sees phantoms
and does not cease, plunging into mud and mire, so too
he does not cease in that way, until his Light and his
Spirit are freed, and after the long time of his wander¬
ing about2 he soars up into the Assembly of the
Righteous Ones and puts on their Robe. - .
3. As for the wicked man, over whom Greed and
Lust have prevailed, well, when his death draws near
the demons are present with him; then they seize him,
harass him and make him see horrors. Then these
Gods come and that Robe with them, so the wicked
man fancies they have come to save him; but they are
there only to revile him, and to remind him of his
deeds, and to compel the realisation that he has lost
the help of the Righteous Ones. Then he does not
cease to roam about miserably in the world until the
time of the End, when he is thrown into hell.
4. Mani said : Well, these three paths in which
human souls are grouped: one of them (leads) to the
Gardens, and they are the Righteous ; and the second
1 Cf. GPM 70 : 2. ' °
* In various rebirths into physical bodies.
 326 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

to the world and the phantoms, and they are the-

guardians of the Righteous l; and the third to hell, and
that is the (road) of the wicked man. (335 : 10-29)

APPENDIX II

KHUASTUANIFT, THE HEARERS* CONFESSION:

1. When we had come to know the True God and

the Pure Law,(we knew the Two Roots and the Law
of the Three Times; we knew the Bright Root to be
God’s Garden, we knew the Dark Root to be the
Realm of Hell, we knew what existed before the Earth-
god was, we knew why God and the Demon fought
with each other, and how Light and Darkness were
thereby mixed. We knew who created heaven and
earth, and how the Ruler, Earth-god, will be eli¬
minated again and Light and Darkness thus separated;
we knew what would happen thereafter. Believing
and trusting in the God Zrwan, the Sun-Moon-god,*
the Mighty3 God, the Messengers, we became Hearers-
2. Ohrmizd the God and the Five-god4 came down
with the purity of all the Gods to fight with the
Demon.5 He fought with the malicious hosts oF
1 L?., the Hearers.
* Turk: kiin-ai tangrika; the two Luminaries are regarded as one
-—as Jesus is fused in the Christ.
8 Le., the Living Spirit; Turk, kuclug tangrika.
' Turk. bi$-tangrii i.e., the Soul, composed of five aspects or
Here, rather as the Elements that made up the * armour *
of First Man.
5 Turk. Ydkka, cognate with Skt. yaks a.
 APPENDIX II 327

Darkness,1 and then God and the Demon, Light and

Darkness, were mingled. Ohrmizd the Youth-god—-
the Five-god and our Soul—began to fight with. Sin
and Demonry and became snared and entangled. All
the demon-rulers came with the greedy shameless
Envy-Demon2 and with fourteen million demons
united in (evil) knowledge but without understanding
and sense. He himself, born and created, forgot the
eternal Heaven and became separated from the Gods
of Light.
3. Therefore, my God, if intending evil deeds
Shumnu has led our understandings and our thoughts 5
astray to wickedness, and so we have become unwise,
without understanding, and have sinned against the
Root of all the Lights, against the pure Light-God
Zrwan, (and so) Light and Darkness, God and Demon
(became mixed; if we have said of any creature that
the Demon) is (its) foundation and root; i^ we have
said: “It fives (when) God gives fife; it dies (as) God
kills” ; if we have said: “ Good and bad, all is God’s
creation ” ; if we have said : “ It is He who creates the
eternal Gods”; if we have said: “Ohrmizd and
Shumnu are twin brothers”—if we have sinfully,
unawares becoming false to God, uttered such
tremendous words of blasphemy, and have thus sinned
this unpardonable sin—My God, I Raimast-farzind4
1 Turk. Smnw, vocalised perhaps as Shumnu; equivalent t6
Ahrimen.
2 Turk. Soq-yak.
3 Turk, ogumiizni saqincimiznL
4 The name of the owner of the manuscript.
328 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

now repent; cleansing myself from the sin, I pray: My

sin remit!1
4. Second. When for the sakfe of 2 the Sun-Moon-
god, the Qods enthroned in the two Light-Palaces,
Foundation and Root of the Light of all the Messengers
(and) of the Earth and (Water) they are to go to the
Heaven meant for them to gather in—then their main
Gate is the Sun-Moon-god; to rescue the Five-god
and to separate Light and Darkness, he rolls along
fully from the depth, and shines on the four corners
(of the sky).
My God, if by sin we have somehow sinned
unawares against. the Sun-Moon-god, the Gods en¬
throned in the two Light-Palaces; if we have called
him the true, powerful and mighty God and yet have
not believed in him; if in any way we have spoken
many wicked words of blasphemy; if we have said:
“The Sun-Moon-god dies!”; if we have said: “His
rising and setting show weakness; had he strength,
then he would not rise (and set) ”; if we ourselves have
said: “Our own bodies were created before him”—
then we pray to be freed from this second unwitting
sin: Remit my sin!
5. Third. Because in defending the Five-god, the
divine Youth Ohrmizd, (i) the divine Air, (ii) the
divine Wind, (Hi) the divine Light, (iv) the divine
Water, (v) the divine Fire3—having fought with

1 This recurrent phrase reads: Manastar hirza.

8 or: by means of (?).
8 Turk: tintura,yU.yaruq, suv, oot, the five elements.
 APPENDIX II 329

Sin and Demonry have been snared and mingled

~with the Darkness, they could not go to God’s
Heaven and are still on the earth:1 the tenfold
lieavens above, and the eightfold earths below, exist
only for the sake of the Five-god; of all on the earth
the Majesty, the Brightness, the Image, the Body,
Soul, Strength, Foundation and Root is the Five-god.
My God, if we have sinfully in any way unconsci¬
ously hurt or caused displeasure 2 to the Five-god by
;a bad and wicked mind; if we have let the fourteen
kinds (of members) dominate us; if, taking living
bodies as our food and drink with ten snake-headed
fingertips and thirty-two teeth, we have in any way
.angered and vexed God; if we have in any way sinned
against the Dry Earth and the Wet, against the five
kinds of living beings and the five kinds of plants and
trees 3—now, my God, cleansing ourselves (from sin),
we pray: My sin remit!
6. Fourth. My God, if in any way we have un¬
knowing sinned against the divine Yalavaci-Messengers
of the Masses, against the meritorious righteous pure 4
Elect; 5 if though calling them divine Yalavaci-Messen-
tgers or pious and pure Elect we have yet disbelieved in

1 Because the world arises from the mingling.

* Turk. birtimiZi from bir-> murmur; so, twist, torment.
8 Augustine writes; “ ifisam partem naturae Dei ubique permixlam
* , , in omnibus corporibus siccis cl humidis.. . . in omnibus scminibus
irbonun kerb arum.

4 Turk, buy and; cf. Skt. puny a.

fi Turk, dintailarqa.
330 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

them; if we have spoken God’s word and yet have

foolishly broken it; (if we have said: “The Law is-
burdensome to keep (?) ”); if we have hindered the
Law by not spreading it; My God, now we repent,,
cleansing ourselves, we pray: Remit my sinl
7. Fifth. Offending the five kinds of moving things r
first, against two-legged mankind, second fourfooted
animals, third flying creatures, fourth beings in the
water, fifth living beings creeping on their bellies on
the earth 1—in a sinful state, my God, up to the large
ones and down to the small ones; if in any way we
may have frightened or alarmed them,2 if in any way
we may have beaten or struck them, if in any way we
may have killed (them)—thus becoming tormentors-
of such living and moving beings—Now, my God, we
repent, cleansing ourselves we pray: My sin remit!
8. Sixth. If in sinfulness we have committed the
ten kinds of sin by thoughts, words (or) deeds;3 if in
any way we have invented lies; if in any way we have
fabricated perjuries; if we have in any way become a
liar’s witness; if in any way we have afflicted the
innocent; if in any way, carrying words here and there,,
we have made people enemies, corrupting hearts and
minds; if in any way we have practised sorcery;
if in any way we have killed many living moving

1 Augustine calls these: bipedia, quadrupedia, volantia, natantia^

and serpentia. . . .

2 The extraordinarily high level of * harmlessness * here may be -

noted. I have not yet seen anything to equal it elsewhere*

3 Turk, saqincin soziin qilincin.

 APPENDIX II 331

beings; if in any way we have been fraudulent and

deceitful; if we have in any way ruined (?) the indu¬
strious (?); if in any way we have done things dis¬
pleasing to the Sun-Moon-god; again, if in our first
self or in this self, now that we have become Mani-
chean youths,1 we have sinned or erred in any way
and thus brought injury and ruin on so many living-
beings—My God, now cleansing ourselves from these
ten kinds of sin we pray: Remit my sin!
9. Seventh. If in sinfulness one should say: “ Who-
is he that comes (?) to the entrance of the two poison¬
ous roads and to the road leading astray to the gate
of hell ?”, the first is the one adhering to false Faiths,
the second worships with prostrations calling the
Demon by the name of God. My God, sinfully
misunderstanding and not comprehending the True
God and the Pure Faith,2 disbelieving the Messengers
and the preaching of the pure Elect, trusting those
who lie: “I am a man of God, I am a Preacher!”,
and accepting their words, we have in some way kept
fasts mistakenly and wrongly given alms in any way;
or if saying, “We shall gain merit ”, we have in any
way done evil deeds by mistake; or if calling a Demon
or a ghost 3 God, we have killed living and moving
beings and prostrated (i.e.f offered animal sacrifices); or
if we have submitted to a false Law, (evidently referring
to the “ Law of the Jews ”) calling (it the) Messenger,

1 i.e., converts.
2 Turk, kirtii tangrig arigh nomtigh.
3 Turk, ickakkan, the Skt. preta.
332 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

and worshipped it with a blessing, thus offending

God and worshipping the Demon—My God, we
now repent, cleansing ourselves from sin we pray: My
sin remit!
10. Eighth. . . . {repeats para. 1) Four Light-Seals
have we sealed in our heart: the first is Love, the Seal
of God Zrwan; the second is Faith, the Seal of the
Sun-Moon-god; the third is Reverence,1 the Seal of
the Five-god; the fourth is the wise Wisdom, the Seal
of the Messengers.—My God, if we have (in any way)
let our mind and heart drift away from these Four
Gods; if we have deposed (them) from (their) places;
if we have violated God’s Seals—Now, my God, clean¬
sing ourselves from sin we pray: Remit my sin!
11. Ninth. In our keeping of the Ten Command¬
ments 2 it was ordained to keep perfectly three with
the Mouth, three with the Heart, three with the Hand,
and one with the entire Self.—My God, if knowingly
or unawares, walking in the love of the physical body
or following the words and accepting the plans of bad
-companions and chance acquaintances, friends and
colleagues; or if to gain cattle and property, or swayed
by stupid attachment to the world, we have broken
these Ten Commandments, or been in any way found
"wanting or of no avail: Now, my God, cleansing from
sin we pray: My sin remit!
12. Tenth. It was ordained to invoke daily with
one mind and pure heart four Blessings: on God
1 or: fear of God, piety (Turk. qojqmaq)i mark of the Soul.
2 Turk, on caxsapat.
 APPENDIX II 333

Zrwan, the Sun-Moon-god, the Mighty God, and the

Messengers. If for want of reverence or for laziness
we have not uttered these Blessings well and properly;
or if we have not held our hearts and thoughts on God
while uttering them; if our blessings and prayers have
not reached God purely; if they have been hindered
and stopped: Now, my God, cleansing from sin we
pray: Remit my sin!
13. Eleventh. It was ordained thus to offer sever*
kinds of Alms 1 to the Pure Faith, and it was ordained
(that) the Angels 2 gathering the Light of the Five-god,,
the divine Gall and Reply should bring us (that part
of) the Light of the Five-god which was going to God
for purifying—that then, much adorning ourselves, we
should dress ourselves ceremonially according to the
Ritual: 3 if through foolishness or because of stinting
the gift of alms, we could not give the seven kinds of
Alms perfectly according to the Law,3 or if we have
confined4 in house and household the Light of Five-
god that was to go to the Gods for purifying; or if
we have given to those fond of evil deeds,5 to wicked
living and moving creatures, if we have thus spilled it,
if we have thrown it away, sending the divine Light to

1 Turk, pusi, a Chinese word for food-offerings —the miyazdd.

* Turk.faristilar, derived from the Iranian peri, our word 4 fairy \
3 The same word, nomqa, is used for Law, and Ritual.

4 badimiz; to store food was to hold its Light captive, a sin.

6 Augustine makes much of this prohibition to give alms to ther
wicked, which Mani probably inherited from Mazdean thought,
rationalising it in his own way.
 334 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

an evil place—My God, now cleansing ourselves from

sin we pray: My sin remit!
14. Twelfth. It was ordained to keep every year
like the pure Elect a fifty days vosanti; thus it was a
rule to fast with pure fasts1 to God. If because we
possess house and household, and have gained cattle
and property, or are overcome by foolish attachments,
or because of the greedy shameless Envy-Demon, or
because of irreverent hearts, we may have broken the
Fast, being fearful and indifferent,2 weak, strength¬
less; if we have not fasted according to the Law and
Ritual though sitting down to fast—My God, now
cleansing ourselves from sin we pray: Remit my sin!
15. Thirteenth. Every day of the Moon-god it was
a rule to pray to God, to the Law,3 the pure Elect, to
cleanse ourselves of sins and trespasses. If, strongly or
powerlessly, indifferent, lax, keeping contacts with
affairs, we have not gone to clean ourselves from sin—
My God, now cleansing ourselves from sin we pray:
My sin remit!
16. Fourteenth. It was ordained to sit down every
year to seven yimqif and it was a rule to observe one
month’s chakhshapat; further it was the rule that, sitting
in the Prayer Hall to observe thcyimqi, we should pray

1 i.e.9 by preserving chastity and scrupulous cleanliness in what¬

ever food was taken on the fifty Sundays; cf. GPM 42 : 1.
* or: weary, lax.
8 or: Faith, Religion. Cf. the Buddhist Buddha-Dharma-Sangha
as the triple Refuge.
4 The word yimqi is unknown; it was probably the public con¬
fession before the Bema-tribunal, or the reading of Scriptures.
 APPENDIX II 335

"with one mind from the depth (?) of our heart to the
<iivine Messenger to nullify our sins.—My God, if we
•could not sit down to the seven yimqi perfectly; if we
•could not keep the month’s chakhshapat1 in a good, pure
and perfect way; if, sitting in the Prayer Hall2 to
•observe the yimqi well according to the Law and the
Ritual, we could not pray from our heart with one
intent to shake off the sins of one year; if in any way
there was a defect and ineffectiveness in our conduct—
My God, now cleansing ourselves from sin we pray:
Remit my sin!
17. Fifteenth. Every day how many evil thoughts
we think! How many miserable words we speak that
should not be uttered! How many deeds we do that
ought not to be done! Through our evil deeds and
wretchedness we .ourselves torment our own bodies!
Because body and soul we have ourselves walked in the
love of the greedy shameless Envy-demon, the Light
of the Five-God that we have daily absorbed in our
food goes to the evil place. Because of this, my God,
because of the Divine Prognostic Faith,3 cleansing
ourselves from sin we pray: My sin remit!
18. My God, we are imperfect and sinful, tormen¬
tors and malcontents! For the sake of the greedy
insatiable Envy-demon—by thoughts, words and deeds
—seeing with eyes, hearing with ears, speaking with

1 Evidently the month of special observances terminating with

the Feast of the Bema.
* Turk, caidan, often called church 9 (ekklesia) in the Coptic.
8 Turk, tdngrii dinmurwa uciin; murwa means ‘ omen \
336 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MAN I

tongues, touching with hand, walking with legs—we

long and ceaselessly torment the Light of the Five-god,,
the Dry and Wet Earths, the five kinds of living beings,
the five kinds of plants and trees. Yes, we are imper¬
fect and sinful! Because of the Ten Commandments,
the Seven Alms, the Three Seals we bear the name of
e Hearers *—(yet) we cannot act their deeds.
19. If in any way we have sinned or erred against
the Light-Gods, the Pure Law, the Man of God, the
Preachers (or) the Pure Elect; if in any way we have
not walked by the letter and spirit1 of God’s speech
if we have displeased the heart of the Gods; if we could
not keep theyimqi, fasts, blessings, and commandments
according to the Law and Ritual; ifinanywaywe
have been found wanting and ineffective—every day,
.every month, we indeed commit sins!
To the Light-Gods, the Majesty of the Law,2 the-
pure Elect, we pray cleansing ourselves from sin;
Remit my sin!

APPENDIX III

ANATHEMA AGAINST MANICHEISM

([Commonitorium, PL, 42 : 1154-1155).

1- Let him who believes there are Two Natures
existing in different origins: one good, which is God,

1 or: sound and meaning.

* Turk, nomqutinga, spoken of as Judge at the hour of death.
 APPENDIX III 337

the other evil, which God has not created, having its
own Rulers and evils which God has not created—be
accursed.
2. Let him be accursed who believes that the Two-
Natures waged war one on another, and in that war a
part of God’s Nature was thoroughly mixed with the
Rulers of Darkness - and all the races belonging to the
Evil Nature, and by them was held fast, smothered^
defiled—which also make (it) believed that God’s
Nature is changeable and can be polluted.
3. Let him be accursed who believes a part of God
is held bound and polluted in demons and in all living
things and in varieties of shrubs, and is freed and
purified through the food of the Manichean Elect, so-
as to believe a part of God is held defiled in cucumbers
and melons and radishes and leaks, and in every
meanest herb, and that escapes when such things are
eaten by the Elect of the Manicheans.
4. Let him be accursed who believes the first man
who was called Adam was not made by God but begot¬
ten by the Rulers of the Darkness, so that the part of
God held captive in their members might be more
firmly and fully held in the earth; and was in this way
created: When the male and female Rulers of the Dark¬
ness had had intercourse and given their embryos to the
Chief Ruler of the Darkness, and he had eaten all and
lain with his own Spouse, he so generated Adam
from her, binding in him a large part of God that
had been bound in all the embryos of the Rulers of the
Darkness which they had given him to devour.
22
338 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

5. Let him be accursed who believes the Rulers of

the Darkness were bound in the sky, having confined
in themselves in pains and misery the Life-Substance—
that is, the part of God—and in this way it was
liberated from their members: When the blessed
Father,- who has Light-Ships and various little dwell¬
ings, namely the Sun and the Moon, changes His
Powers into beautiful women whom He sets before the
male Rulers of the Darkness to lust after, and into
handsome men whom He sets before the female Rulers
of the Darkness to lust after, so that by this same lust
the Life-Substance—-which is the part of God—might
be freed and purified out of their members.
6. Let him be accursed who believes the part of
God which could not be freed and purified from the
mixing with the Race of Darkness is to be condemned
and for ever fixed to a horrible ‘ Sphere * where the
Race of Darkness is confined.
7. Let him be accursed who believes the Law given
through Moses was not given by the Good and True
God, nor did the Prophets who have been in the people
of Israel and are kept in the Canon of divine Scriptures
in the Catholic Church speak by the Spirit of the Good
and True God.
8. Let him be accursed who believes the Son of
God, the Lord Jesus Christ, had no true flesh, nor did
he undergo a real death and rise again from the dead,
hut was only a spirit without flesh, so also willed to
appear that what he was not should be considered
flesh—and in this way contradicts the Gospel where it
 APPENDIX III 339

is said, the Lord himself speaking, . . . (Lk. 24:39),

who thus so declares Christ a God as to deny the true
and natural Man also.
9. Let him be accursed who believes Mani or
Manicheus, who preached and taught all the above
things which deserve a curse and condemnation, had the
Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, when not the Spirit of Truth
but the Spirit of Falsity could have taught them all.
10. And especially may the same Mani or Mani¬
cheus be accursed, who has taught and written down,
and has persuaded miserable folk to believe, all the
above-written impieties, with other sacrilegious and
damnable fables, tending to seducing spirits and the
doctrines of lying demons.
Prospers Refutation, PL. 65 :23-30).
12.1 Let him be accursed who believes human souls
are transferred again in other bodies or living creatures.
13. Let him be accursed, whoever says the Sun and
Moon are heavenly Ships for carrying over Souls, or
the Substance of God, and ascribes honour to them or
something of divinity to that visible light, and not as a
created thing left behind for the service of mankind
and made by the Lord of heaven and earth.
14. Let him be accursed who believes all flesh—of
quadrupeds, serpents, flying and swimming things, or
all that are in the world—is created by not the True
God but the Rulers of Darkness.
15. Let him be accursed who believes the Creed or
Prayers of the Manicheans, not detesting or abhorring,
1 Paragraphs 1 to 11 are much like Paragraphs 1 to 10 above.
 340 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

or has wished to remember or utter (them) with the

mouth.
16. Let him be accursed who believes human souls
are of the Substance of God, and human bodies
either made by or derived from the Ruler of the
Darkness.
17. Let him be accursed who believes the DeviLis
not a good angel made by God and having fallen
through pride by his own will became a devil, and
declares that the same one was not created by God
along with the rest of the Angels, but was always
coetemal with God.

APPENDIX IV

FADING FOOTSTEPS OF MANICHEISM

1. The Bogomile Book of John

(From a 14th c. Vienna ms. with Latin comments, printed

in Benoisfs c Histoire des Albigeois\ Paris, 1691: “ This
is the secret {book) of the heretics of Concoreze, brought front
Bulgaria by their Bishop jSfazarius j full of errors *■*+
Perhaps dating from 6th or 7th century, latinized by 12th c.)1
1. I John, your brother and sharer in tribulation*
who shall share also in the Kingdom of Heaven_
when I lay on the breast of our Lord Jesus Christ and
asked him: cc Lord, who is it shall betray thee? ” he
answered and said: sc He who dips his hand with me
1 M. R. James in t( New Testament Apocrypha :
 APPENDIX IV 341

in the dish, then Satan entered him and he sought how

to betray me.”
2. And I said: “ Lord, before Satan fell in what
glory did he dwell with thy Father?35 And he said to
me: “ In such glory was he that he commanded the
heavens; while I sat with my Father he ordered all the
Father’s followers and went down from heaven to the
deep and ascended up out of the deep to the throne
of the invisible Father. So he saw the glory of Him
who moves the heavens, and tried to place his seat above
the clouds of heaven, wishing to be like the Most High.
3. “ And when he had gone down into the Air, he
said to the Angel of the Air, ‘ Open the gates of the
Air to me5; and he opened them to him. And he
tried to go down further, and found the Angel who
held the Waters, and said to him c Open the gates of
the Waters to me ’; and he opened for him. Then he
passed through, and he found all the face of the earth
covered with waters. And he passed through beneath
the Earth, and found two fishes lying upon the Waters,
and they were as oxen yoked for ploughing, holding
the whole Earth by the commandment of the invisible
Father, from the west even to the rising of the Sun.
Now when he had gone down he found clouds hanging
which held the Waters of the sea; and he went down
yet further and found Hell, that is, the Gehenna of
Fire; thereafter he could not go down further because
of the flame of the raging Fire.
4. “ So Satan returned back and passed over the
paths, and entered in to the Angel of the Air and to
342 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

the one who was over the Waters, and said to them:
* All these things are mine. If you will listen to me
I will set my seat in the clouds and be like the Most
High; and I will take the Waters from this upper
firmament and gather together the other parts of the
sea. And after that there shall be no water on the
face of the whole Earth, and I will reign with you for
ever and ever.’
5. “And when he had spoken thus to the Angels
he went up to the other Angels, even to the fifth
heaven, and spoke thus to each of them: e How much
do you owe your Lord ? * One said: cA hundred
measures of wheat.’ And he said to him, ‘ Take pen
and ink, and write sixty.’ Then he said to others:
‘ And you, how much do you owe your Lord ? 5 They
said: c A hundred jars of oil.* So he said, 4 Sit down
and write fifty.’ And as he went up through all the
heavens he spoke thus, even to the fifth heaven, seduc¬
ing the Angels of the invisible Father.
6. “ And a Voice came out of the Father’s throne,
saying: 4 What are you doing, O denier of the Father,
seducing the Angels? Doer of iniquity, do quickly
what you have planned.’ Then the Father commanded
His Angels, saying: 4 Take away their garments.* And
the Angels took away their robes and their thrones and
their crowns from all the Angels who listened to him.”
7. Then I asked of the Lord: “ When Satan fell, in
what place did he dwell?** And he answered me:
44 My Father changed his appearance because of his
pride, and the light was taken from him, so his face
 APPENDIX IV 343

became like heated iron and his face became altogether

like a man’s. And with his tail he drew the third
part of God’s Angels, and he was thrown out from
God’s seat and from the stewardship of the heavens.
So Satan came down into this firmament, and he could
find no rest for himself, nor for those who were with
him. Then he implored the Father: ‘ Have patience
with me, and I will pay Thee all! ’ So the Father had
pity on him and gave him rest and those who were
with him, as much as they wanted, even to seven days.
8. “ And so he sat in the firmament and com¬
manded the Angel who was over the Air and him who
was over the Waters, and they raised up the Earth and
it appeared dry. Then he took the crown of the Angel
who was over the Waters, and of the half of it he made
the moonlight and of the (other) half the starlight;
and of the gems he made all the hosts of the stars.
9. “ And after that he made the Angels his servants
according to the form of the order of the Most High,
and by the command of the invisible Father (he made)
thunder, rain, hail and snow; he sent forth Angels to
be servants over them. And he commanded the Earth
to bring forth every beast for food, and every creeping
thing, and trees and plants; and he bade the sea bring
forth fishes and the birds of the skies.
10. “ And furthermore he planned and made man
in his (own) likeness, and commanded an Angel of
the third heaven to enter into the body of clay. And
he took of it and made another body in a woman’s
shape, and commanded an Angel of the second heaven
 344 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

to enter the body of the woman. But the Angels

lamented when they saw a mortal form upon them and
that they were unlike in shape. So he commanded
them to do the deed of the flesh in the bodies of clay,
but they knew not how to commit sin.
11. “ Then did the contriver of evil plan in his
mind to make a Garden, and into it he brought the
Man and the Woman. He commanded a reed to be
brought, and this the devil planted in the centre of the
Garden, and the devil so hid his plan that they did not
know his deceit. Then he came in and spoke to them,
.saying: c Eat of every fruit that is in the Garden, but
do not eat of the fruit of the Knowledge of Good and
Evil.’ Again the devil entered into a wicked serpent
and seduced the Angel who was in the woman’s form,
and (persuaded her) and worked his desire with her
even in the form of the serpent. And therefore are they
called devil’s sons and serpent’s sons even to the end
of this world who work the lust of the devil their
father. Again, also, the devil poured out the poison
of his lust upon the Angel who was in Adam, and it
begets serpent’s sons and devil’s sons even to the end
of this world.”
12. And after that I John asked of the Lord,
saying: “ How do men say that Adam and Eve were
created by God and set in the Garden to keep the
Father’s commandments, and were handed over to
Heath?” And the Lord said to me: “ Listen, John,
my Father’s beloved; foolish men speak thus in their
deceitfulness that my Father made bodies of clay: but
 APPENDIX IV 345

by the Holy Spirit He made all the Powers of the

heavens, and holy ones were found with bodies of clay
because of their transgression, and therefore were they
surrendered to Death.’5
13. And again I John asked the Lord: ee How does
a man in a fleshly body begin to be in the spirit?55
And the Lord said to me: “ (Some) of the Angels that
fell enter the bodies of women and receive flesh from
the lust of the flesh; and so is a spirit born of spirit
and flesh of flesh, and so is Satan’s kingdom accom¬
plished in this world and among all nations.”
14. (And again I asked the Lord: “ How long shall
Satan’s reign be on the Earth?”) and he'said, to
me: et My Father has allowed him to reign seven days,
which are seven ages.”
15. And I asked the Lord and said: “What shall
happen in that time?” and he said to me: “ From the
time when the devil fell from the Father’s glory he sat
upon the clouds and sent his servants, even Angels
flaming with fire, to men, from Adam even to Enoch
his servant. And he lifted up Enoch upon the firma¬
ment and showed him his godhead, and commanded
pen and ink to be given him: and he sat down and
wrote sixty-seven books. Then he bade him take
them to the Earth and hand them to his sons. So
Enoch let his books down upon the Earth and handed
them to his sons, and began to teach them to carry
out the rite of sacrifices and unrighteous mysteries,
and so he hid the Kingdom of Heaven from men. He
said to them: f Behold, I am your God and there is no
346 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

other God besides me.’ And so my Father sent me

into the world that I might make it known to men, so-
that they might know the devil’s evil device.
16. “ And then when he perceived that I had come
down out of Heaven into the world, he sent an Angel
and took of three kinds of wood, and gave them to-
Moses that I might be crucified, and now they are-
reserved for me. Then did (Satan) proclaim to him
(Moses) and to his people his own godhead, and com¬
manded a Law to be given the children of Israel, and
brought them out through the midst of the dried-
up sea.
17. “When My Father thought to send me into-
the world, He sent before me His Angel, named Mary,,
to receive me. And when I came down I entered
in by the ear and came out by the ear. Then Satan,
the Ruler of this world, perceived that I had come to^
seek and save those who were lost, and he sent his
Angel, even Elijah the Prophet, baptizing with water,
who is called John the Baptist. And Elijah asked the-
Ruler of this world: ‘ How can I know him?’Then
his lord said: c On whomsoever you shall see the Spirit
descending like a dove and resting on him, he it is who*
baptizes with the Holy Spirit to forgiveness of sins;
him you will be able to destroy and to save (our
kingdom?).* ”
18. Then again I asked the Lord, I John: “ Can
a man be saved by the baptism of John without thy
baptism?” And the Lord answered: “ Unless I have-
baptized to the forgiveness of sins, no man can see ther
 APPENDIX IV 347

Kingdom of Heaven by the baptism of water. For I

am the Bread of Life that came down from the seventh
heaven, and those who eat my flesh and drink my
blood, they shall be called the sons of God.”
19. And I asked the Lord and said: “ What does
it mean—e to eat my flesh and drink my blood * ?” . . .
20. (And I asked the Lord again): ,e . . .”
And the Lord said to me: “ Before the devil fell with
all his host from the Father’s glory, they glorified the
Father in their prayers thus, saying: * Our Father who
art in heaven . . and so all their songs came up
before the Father’s throne. But when they had fallen,
they were no longer able to glorify God with that
prayer.”
21. And I asked the Lord: “ Why do all men
receive John’s baptism, but thine not at all? ” And the
Lord answered: “ Because their deeds are evil and
they do not come to the Light. John’s disciples marry
and are given in marriage, but my disciples neither
marry nor are given in marriage, but are like the
Angels in heaven.” But I said: “ If it be sin then to
have dealings with a woman, it is not good to marry.”
And the Lord said to me: “ Not everyone can receive
tfiis saying. . . .”
22. I asked the Lord about the Judgment Day:
<{ What shall be the sign of thy coming?” Then he
answered and said to me: ‘‘When the number of the
Righteous shall be complete, that is the number of the
Righteous who are crowned (out of those) who have
fallen, then shall Satan be loosed out of his prison.
348 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

having great wrath, and he shall make war with the

Righteous, and they shall cry with a loud voice to the
Lord. And immediately the Lord shall command an
Angel to blow with the trumpet, and the Archangel’s
voice in the trumpet shall be heard from heaven even
to hell. . . .
23. ‘‘Then shall the Son of God send the evil spirits
to bring all nations before him, and shall say to them:
‘ Gome, you who said: We have eaten and drunk
and received the gain of this world! 5 And after that
they shall be brought again and all shall stand before
the Judgment Seat, even all nations, in fear. And the
Books of Life shall be opened, and all nations shall
show forth their ungodliness. And he shall glorify the
Righteous for their patience, and glory and honour
and immortality (shall reward) their good works. But
as for those who kept the precepts of the Angels and
unrighteously obeyed, indignation and trouble and
anguish shall take hold of them. . . .
24. “ And the rest (of the Angels), beholding the
last cutting off, shall throw the sinners into hell by the
command of the invisible Father. Then shall the
•spirits of those who believe not go forth out of the
prisons, and then shall my voice be heard, and there
shall be one fold and one shepherd: and the darkness
and obscurity shall come forth out of the deep of the
Earth—-that is to say, the darkness of the Gehenna of
Fire-—and shall burn all things from below even to the
air of the firmament. And the distance (?) from (?)
the firmament even to the depths of the earth shall be
 APPENDIX IV 349

as if a man of thirty years old should take a stone and

throw it down, it would in three years barely reach the
bottom, so great is the depth of the pit and of
the fire wherein the sinners shall dwell. . . . And
the Son of God shall walk above the firmament
with His Elect, and shall shut up the devil, binding;
him with strong chains that cannot be loosed. . . ' .
25. “ And then shall the Son of God sit on His
_ _ I

Father’s right hand, and the Father shall command

His Angels, and they shall serve them and set them
among the choirs of the Angels, to clothe them with
immortal robes; and (they) shall give them unfading
crowns and seats immovable. And God shall be in the
midst of them; and no more shall they hunger or
thirst, neither shall the sun or any heat light on them.
But God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes.
And He shall reign with His holy Father, and of His
Kingdom there shall be no end for ever and ever.’5

2. Extracts from a Catharist Gospel

(Derived from the admissions of Bavilus, a pupil of the

Elect Belibasta, and used by the ‘ Manichean heretics9 of
South France in 12th-13th centuries, together with the ‘ Ascen¬
sion of Isaiah \ It may depend on the lost £ Gospel of the
Twelve ’, and is said by F. C. Conybeare to resemble the
known traces of the < Gospel of the Egyptians ’ of 2nd

century).
2. . . . Thereupon the Father began to write a
book, which He composed in the space of forty years.
350 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

In this book were written in detail the sufferings, losses,

sorrows, poverty, infirmity, shame, injuries, envy,
hatred, malice and generally speaking all the penalties
which can befall men in this life. And therein it was
stated that he who was willing to endure all the
aforesaid penalties and to teach them also should be a
Son of the heavenly Father. And when the holy Father
began the book, Isaiah the Prophet began to prophesy
that a Branch or Bough was to come who should
redeem human souls. And when the holy Father had
composed that book, He placed it in the midst of the
heavenly spirits who had remained with Him in heaven
and said: “He who shall fulfil the things which are
written in this book shall be My Son.”
3. And many of the heavenly spirits, wishing to be
Sons of the holy Father and to be honoured above the
rest, went up to that book and opened it; but when
they read therein the penalties which he must needs
suffer who should desire to come among men and
uplift the human race, after reading a litde in that
book, they fell fainting in a swoon. None of them was
willing to forfeit the glory he possessed and subject
himself to the penalties of this life, in order to become
the Son of God.
4. Then, seeing this, the holy Father said: “ So then
there is not one of you desires to be My Son? ” Then
one of the spirits standing by, who was called Jesus,
rose up and said: “I myself am willing to be Son of
the Father and to complete all things which are written
in that book.” Then he went up to the book and
 APPENDIX IV 351

opened it, and read therein four or five pages; and he

fell in a swoon beside the book, and so remained for
three days and nights. Then having awakened from
his swoon he grieved much and mourned; but because
he had promised that he would fulfil these things which
were contained in that book, and because it was right
for him not to lie, he told the Father that he himself
desired to be His Son and to fulfil all things which
were written in that book, however grievous they might
be. Then he descended from heaven and appeared as
a newly-born Boy in Bethlehem. . . .
6. After baptism by the great demon John, the
devil carried Jesus hanging on his neck. . . .
8. And he was in Samaria with the blessed Peter,
and there they ate bread and fishes,' that is to say,
God Himself and the blessed Peter did so, and from
the table were taken up twelve baskets (of what
remained).
10. The Son of God said that a man should in no
wise swear, neither by Heaven, for a man could not
make one star in it small or great, nor by his own head,
because a man could not make one hair of his head
white or black. . .
12. A certain woman came to the Son of God and
said that her daughter was frenzied; and the Son of
God placed his hand on her daughter’s head and
healed her—which healing was nothing else than this:
that the soul of the daughter went out of her body, and
that he healed the soul. For the Son of God did not
free them from bodily infirmities but only from sins.
 352 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

which are the infirmities of the soul. And this is why

the Son of God was a good healer, because he drew
souls to salvation.
13. (And he called the Jews) Pharisees, hypocrites,
who stand in the gate of the Kingdom, but neither
entered the Kingdom nor let those enter who desired
to go in. . . .
15. He said to them that he was going to his Father
and that he would return to them on a certain day
which he fixed for them, between the third hour and
noon, and that he would find them in the house of
Simon bar Yona. And when he had said this the
Pharisees appeared on the scene, together with children
of the devil who were working with them, and arrested
him. And all the injuries and the insults which they
could inflict on him, the said Pharisees and their
servants did inflict upon the Son of God, so much so
that a certain leper spat in his face, but. he forbore
from all resentment. And when he was thus spat upon
by that leper, and derided and abused, he said:
uFather, I only know that I am Thy Son because
Thou didst promise me this when Thou didst send me,
to the end that I should be abhorred by all men, that
is, that I should be a reproach to abjects among
men.”
16. Then after they had mocked at him and
threatened him, they set him on a cross and wounded
him, and inflicted many wounds upon him. And when
this had been done, he himself—without death inter¬
vening, for the Son of God could not die—ascended to
 APPENDIX IV 353
the holy Father, kneeled before Him and said: “ Holy
Father, in obedience to Thy will I have completed
all things which were written in the book Thou didst
write.” And the holy Father replied to him: “ Whereas
thou hast done all things which I wrote in the book,
thou shalt be My Son.” To whom the Son answered:
“ Father, and what wilt Thou give, that I may give
myself to my friends and to those who believe in me ? ”
And the Father Himself replied that He was desirous
that the same Power which He had given to him, he
himself should be able to give in turn to his friends,
and they to others, in such a way that the said Power
should pass from hand to hand among the good
men; and also that what he gave to them should
be this: that whatever they themselves did upoft
earth should be done by the Father Himself in
heaven.
17. These words having been uttered, he quitted
the Father’s presence and came down, so that on the
appointed day he might appear to his friends.
18. Now although it seemed to the Jews that the
Son of God was dead and that after death they had
placed him in a sepulchre, nevertheless he was not
truly dead, nor was he buried, though he seemed to be
so. No sooner had those who buried him retired from
the tomb than he appeared to a certain woman who
was mourning for him. And he told her to approach
him, because it was he himself whose lying in the said
tomb she was deploring; he told her also that he
had never been dead, nor sustained any suffering or
23
 354 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

affliction, although Satan and the Jews had put it in

his power for them to kill him and ill-treat him.
19. (Then) ^n that (appointed) day, when Mary
Magdalene and another woman were walking together,
they saw an old and decrepit man coming along,
walking quickly in their direction. Then they feared
exceedingly, and hid themselves in two bushes which
were beside the highway. And when that old man had
passed by, Mary Magdalene put her head out of the
bush and called the old man, who seemed to be a
stranger. Now when the old man told her that he
could not wait because he had much to do, and when
she pressed him to return and speak with her, he then
returned to her. She asked him if he had any news of
the Prophet. Then he answered : “ Yes, because on the
day designated to his friends he himself will be with
them in the house of Simon bar Yona, between the
third hour and noon.” And when she asked him if
this were certain, he replied: “Why, yes.” Then
departing from her he immediately disappeared. And
thereupon Mary Magdalene knew that the old man
was the Prophet.
20. And she herself, and the Prophet with her,
gathered together the Prophet’s friends in the house
of Simon bar Yona, the apostle Thomas only excepted..
Now when they were all gathered together in the said
house, and already the chosen hour seemed to be
passing by, Peter said to the others, who thought they
had been deceived: “Either we are sinners, or we
make a mistake about the day, for the Prophet is
 APPENDIX IV 355

no liar.” And when they answered him that they

had made no mistake about the day, Peter replied:
<£ Then it is we who are sinners, and it is because
of our sins that the Prophet comes not.” And
then he said to the rest: “ Seeing that we are sinners,
let us try to see in what way any one of you believes
in him.” Thereupon they composed the Symbol or
Creed of the Apostles. . . .
21. And when the Apostles stood waiting for the
Prophet throughout one evening, that Prophet did
come in the form of Fire. And by that Fire they were
all illumined, and those who were ignorant of letters
became so cognisant of them that none could excel
them in knowledge. It was also given them that they
should talk in the tongues of all races.
22. And Thomas, who did not believe that the
Prophet could come, entered and when he had come
he said that as for himself he would not believe that
the Prophet could come to them unless he should put
his own hand in the wound. And thereupon the
Prophet said to Thomas that he should put his hand
in the wound. And when Thomas had done so,
he said to the Son of God that he must excuse
him, because he now believed that he existed, and
would believe for the future. To whom the Son of
God replied: “ Let indulgence be shown to thee, and
for the future thou shalt not be unbelieving.” Thomas
replied to him that he would not be.
23. Then the Son of God said to all of them:
•“ Preach my words throughout the whole world, and
 356 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

guard yourselves from false prophets who will thrust

themselves among you; for as a false prophet entered
my Father’s Kingdom and threw it into confusion, so
also will false prophets who make their way among
you throw you into confusion. ... Yet for this they
shall be heavily punished, because the holy Father
said: £ He that shall deceive Me, it shall be pardoned
him, and he that shall deceive the Son, it shall be
pardoned him; but he who deceives the Holy Spirit
shall have no peace or end.’ ” (Then) the Son of God
said to his Apostles that they should ask of him, and
he would give to them. . . .
24. And this said, he divided their preachings
marking out the country wherein each one of them
was to go and preach. Now to Peter he committed the
Church, but Peter’s authority came to an end with
Peter, because the Roman pontiffs who have succeeded
him lack that authority which he had, for they do not
preserve and hold to the faith and the ways of the Son
of God. . . . (Then) Christ distributed among the
disciples fishes and a honeycomb. . . . And then he
ascended into heaven, and thereafter the Aposties
preached throughout the world.
25. The Son of God said when he had returned
to heaven, “ My little ones, be not sad on this account,,
because you who stand in truth and justice and not as
other men shall return otherwise to my Father’s
Kingdom. There are three kinds of flesh; one is of
men, and another of beasts, and a third kind is of
fishes, which is born in the water. You, my litde ones*
 APPENDIX IV 357

shall not eat of that flesh save what is born in water,

because such flesh is created without corruption; but
other kinds of flesh are produced with corruption and
cause the flesh to be over-proud.55
.26. And having said the above, the Son of God
said to bar Yona: “Let no one put his hand to my
plough unless he wishes to grasp it firmly. For he who
shall give a cup of water to my little ones shall be
blessed, because he shall receive a hundredfold and
more. See, therefore, if the holy Father promises us
much, yet he who shall have deceived my little ones
in the matter of a single obol, his soul shall not be
worth another obol. . . . Where there is one who is my
little one, I myself shall be with him, and where there
are two, likewise, and where there are three, in the
same way.55
27. (Now) the twelve Apostles who descended from
heaven with Christ were spiritual beings, and after¬
wards in the State of Samaria there were twelve baskets
of fragments left over from five loaves and (a few)
fishes. Those Apostles gave the said twelve baskets
to twelve men, and so were created the carnal Apostles,
who had the same power as the spiritual; and when¬
ever one of the spiritual Apostles died a carnal one
succeeded him.

3. Extracts from the Yezidi Books

(Long kept secret by this little-known sect of‘ devil-wor¬

shippers' in the Lebanon Mountains , these books still show
358 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

traces of Manichean ancestry . These fragments dating from

about 1162 and 1342 respectively, are derived from 6 Quest \
vol. V; they probably go back -in essence to at least the 8th
or 9th century .)
He who existed before all creatures is the Angel
Ta’us. It is He who sent the Servant of Ta’us into
this world, to separate His chosen people and to make
it wise and free it from ignorance and error—and that
first by oral teaching, but afterwards by means of this
Book called REVELATION, a book which no stranger
to the Faith may read.
I was, I am, and I shall be, until the end of the
aeons, ruling as Sovereign over the creators, and
looking after the interests and the doings of all who
are subject to My rule. I am ready to help all who
trust in Me and invoke Me in their need. I occupy
all Space. I am concerned with all the happenings
which by the unbelievers are called evils; but they
call them so only because they do not answer to
their desires.
Every age has its Ruler; but he rules according to
My counsel. In every century the Leader of this
world changes, and one after the other accomplishes
his task. With perfect justice I let Nature carry out
everything which is in conformity with her : he who
struggles against Me will earn only regret and pain.
However great they be, the other Gods do not meddle
with My affairs, and cannot hinder the execution of
My decrees.
 APPENDIX IV 359

The books in the hands of those who are strangers to

My teaching possess no sanction, and Prophets have
not writtenthem. These unfortunates have led
themselves into error, leaving the Way of Truth and
beating out their own path; thus every one of their
prophets abolishes what his predecessor has esta¬
blished. Moreover the true and the false may
be distinguished by experience. My retribution
threatens those who speak of My covenant (to the
uninitiated).
I reserve to Myself certain things; certain things
I forbid. Everything is in its time and in its place.
I teach and direct in the right way all who follow
My doctrine, and they find true delight in submitting
to My precepts.
I requite and reward every man according to My
knowledge. In My hand is everything above, on, and
underneath the earth; I allow no collision of the
different worlds. I do not work against their own
good, especially if their good luck is for the benefit of
those who blindly follow Me. I reveal Myself in one
way or another to those true to Me. . . .
It is I who give, I who take back, who make
rich and poor, who make man’s happiness and
allow his misfortune; but everything happens accord¬
ing to time and circumstance. None has a right to
interfere with my doings or to resist Me. I send
sickness and infirmity to those who refuse to obey Me,
but he who tries to satisfy Me does not die like other
men. I do not let anyone live longer than I have
360 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

determined; but if I will I can send him back to this

earth twice or thrice in rebirth.
I teach without a book. ... I punish in the other
world those who resist My laws; the children of this
Adam are ignorant of what is reserved for them
beyond the grave. . . . The rule of the worlds, the
revolutions of the ages, and the overthrow of their
Rulers have been preordained from all eternity. I do
not resign My rights over any of the other Gods.
The four Elements, the four Seasons, and the four
Corners of the world are established for the needs of the
creatures. The Books of the unbelievers are received
for that in them which tallies with My Law; as for
the rest, it is a product of their own imagination. . . .
Those who patiently suffer the pains and mishaps of
this world, I shall not fail to reward in one of My
worlds. I desire that all believers in Me congregate
into one Covenant to confront the outsiders, . . .
forbearing to pronounce My Name or to mention My
qualities to anyone.
Bestow all possible veneration upon My Statue and
upon My Image* for it will recall My memory to you—
a thing you have for years left undone. Obey My
ministers, for it is they who teach you of the Invisible
and of all that relates to Me.

From the Black Book:

Before the earth and the sky existed, God abode on
the oceans. He had made for Himself a Vessel, and
in it He drifted in the midst of the seas. In the
 APPENDIX IV 361

beginning God created for Himself a white Pearl, to

which He gave orders for forty years. He then
created a Bird, and . . . (this) sat on it for forty
thousand years.
Nura’U created man, the animals, the birds and the. ’
wild beasts. After that he put them into the pockets
of his robe, and issued thus out of the Pearl, accom¬
panied by hosts of Angels. Then he uttered a mighty
cry against the Pearl, and instantly it broke into
four parts. Out of its womb sprang the Water,
which became the ocean. The noise became the
mountains, and the dust became the hills, and the
smoke the skies. At that time the Earth was round
and without any cleft.
God created Gabri’el in the shape of a Bird, and
He put the four Corners of the world into his hands.
Then He created a Ship, wherein He remained for
thirty thousand years. Then He came to inhabit
Lalish: He cried against the Earth, and it became
solid; having become hard, it began to quake. Then
He took one piece of the Pearl and put it under the
Earth to strengthen it, and another piece He put on
the door of the Sky to adorn it. It is in this portion
of the Pearl the Sun and Moon are set. Then around
these two Luminaries He scattered the powdered pieces
that had been left over from the breaking of the Pearl,
and they became the Stars in the firmament, the whole
being suspended from the Sky.
Thereafter God ascended into the skies, condensed
them, and fixed them without pillars. He made the
362 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

fruit trees and plants of the earth come forth from the
soil; it is also He who made the mountains rise, to
make the surface of the Earth more pleasant. He
locked up with a key the Earth and the abysses; He
established then the heavenly Throne and placed it on
the Carpet of Glory. And then He took His pen in
hand and wrote down the events of creation.
Then He begat six Gods from His own Essence and
from His Light, creating them in the same way as a
man lights one lamp at another. The First God said
to the Second: “ I have drawn from the non-existing
the Sky alone; ascend thou into it, and create some¬
thing else.” He ascended and became the Sun. Then
He said the same thing to the Third, and he became
the Moon. The Fourth constituted himself the Sphere
of the heavenly bodies; the Fifth proclaimed himself
as the Morning Star; and the Sixth changed himself
into the Atmosphere. . . .

There are about 70000 Yazidis in Assyria, they say, but only a
few hundreds in Persia; their numbers are fast decreasing. The
word is derived from Per. yazd, and means 4 worshippers of God
they speak Kurdish and are noted for cleanliness; most are tillers
or cowherds. Their religion is said to be, like Manias, a synthesis
of neighbouring cults.

The Angel Ta’us is the Preserving Angel, Active God, and

receives their main prayers. They recognise no evil deity or hell,
but carry seven ‘ peacock-angels * (sanjak) yearly round their
village shrines and make an annual pilgrimage to the tomb of
their Sheikh ‘Adi. Theirs is a pure worship of Light, and their
era dates, strikingly, to A.D. 292; they maintain a rigid caste
system with a priestly caste, and seclude their womenfolk. One
of their sayings is notable: “ Know that (even) sincere pretensions
extinguish the flame of knowledge.’*
 INDEX 1

1. Aspects of Deity
Aeons, 7, 13, 15, 18, 25, 28, 38; 53, (63), 65, (69), 70, 77, 83,
90, 93; Angels, 12, 16, 18-21, 23, 36, 45, 57, 70, 73, 75, 77-78, 81,
86, 89-90, 92; Column of Glory, 7, 12, 26, 28, 72, 90, 92;
Diamond (Adamas) of Light, 4, 8, 21, 85; Divine (Light) Power,
3, (5), 7, 9, 12, (13, 38), 56, 74, 91-93; Father of Greatness, 1, 3-4,
6, (12), 13, 15, (24, 27), 34, (36), 39, 41, (50, 70), 93; Fathers (of
Light), 4, 10, 17, 38, 48, 65,68; Father of Truth, 45; First and
Last, the, 37, 93; First Man, 3-4, 6, 10, 13, 18, 22, 31, 38, 49, 90;
Five Glories, 1-3, 64; Four Days, 13; Friend ofLights, 4, 16, 35,
of the Righteous, 50; the Gods, 10, 18-19, 21, 23, 35-36,
38, 41, 45, 47-48, 50, 65-66, 73, 75-78, 80, 85-86, 93; God ofTruthr
14, 24, (30), 41, 59, 90, 93; Great Builder, 4, 8, 12, 17; Great King
of Honour, 4-5, 20, 85; Holder of Splendour, 4-5, 19, 85; Holy
Spirit, 14-15, 34, 38, 45, 66, 90, 93; Immortals, 68, 79-81, 86;
Judge, 20, 35, 38, 50, 62, 76-78, 84, 87, 92, 95; King of Bliss, 49;
King of Glory, 4, 8, 22, 85; Living Spirit, 4-6, 8, 10, 12, 18, 31,
35, 83; Maiden, the, 70, 75, 79, 81, of Light, 8, 10, 12, 14,27,
(31), 38, 75-76; Majesty of Law, 52-53; Mother, 28, 93-94, of
Life, 3-6, 10, 12, 15, 18, of Lights, 28, 73; Perfect Man, 7, 12, 26,.
28, 38, 90; Sons of First Man, 3-4; Supporter (Atlas), 4-5, 8, 12,
22-23, 85; Supreme Merchant, 65; Three Eternals, 64, (92);.
Three Servants, 8; Tree of Life, 10, 14, 28, 34, (35), 37, 52-53, 63,
70, of Knowledge, 38, of Rest, 70; Venerable (Adorable) of Light,.
32, 35, 80, 82.

2. The Soul
Bright Gods, five, 5, 8, 18, 49, 64; Divinity, (38), 39, 41, 49
heart, 8, 10, 20, 24, 27, 29, 38, 41, 44-45, 49-50, 53, 56, 62, 65-66,
70-71, 74-75, 86,jl95; Light-Cross, 40, (57, 59), 60, 71; Light

1 It is [obvious that fully to index a book of this sort is to-

prepare a Concordance, which is impossible; a suggestive selection
of words and topics has been made here. Readers may find under a
synonym any word not found m its alphabetical order. Grouping
has been made in the light of the general doctrinal significance,
but many words might appear with equal propriety in other
Groups. The numbers refer to Text-Sections.
 364 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

Image, Form, 42, 75, 81, 85, 90; Living Soul, 25, 29, 36, 42;
Soul (s), 3, 10, 24, 45, 49-50, 52-53, 56-57, 63, 65-66, 68, 70-72,
75-76, 78-79, 83, 87-92; its five Limbs or Trees, 3, 8, 28, 63, 71,
(83), 90, 94-95; Sons, Race, of Light, 4, (12), 20, 22-23, 32, 35,
(38, 48), 65, 82, 93; Twelve Virtues, Buckets, etc., 6-7, 12-13
24, 31.

3. Powers of Evil
Abortions, 9, 21, 24; Abyss, 20, 22, 24-25, 71, 75, 87, 91, 93-94;
•dark bodies, five, I, 49, 63; dark earth, 4, 4-5, 29, 41, 49, (77);
dark powers, 2-3, 17, 24, 27, 29, 34, (35), 47-48, 54, 73, (78);
demoness, Fury, 8, 67, 70; demons, 2, 7, 10, 20-21, 29, 49, 53, 67,
70. 74-75, 82, 85-86; dragon, 21, 29, 33, 45; Enemv, foes, adversary,
1, 3, 17, 29, 32, 35, 45-46, 48, 55-56,62,68,71,77-78,80,82,
•86-88; evil trees, 21, 24, 32, 34, (63); giants, 8, 18, 20-21; Great
;Spirit, 10; ignorance of Evil, 2, 29; King of Darkness, 1-3, (5),
8-9, 29, (35), 54; Matter, 1-2, 7, 9, 12, 21, 28-29, 63; Pride, 2-3,
9, 24; Rebels, 10, (18), 20, 36, 47, (48); revolt against God, 2-3,
70, 87; Rulers crucified in Sky, 5, 8, 18, (63); Sea-Monscer, 49;
Sin, 8, 19, 21, 24, 29, 34,38,41,47,49,53-54,56,60,63,(65),
76, 84, 87, 92; Sons of Darkness, 3, 5, 8; Tree of Death, 52, 63;
Venomous Beast, 87; vices, 1; Watchers, the, 20, 93.

4. The Universe
Air, 11-12, 21. 35, 38; 50, 78-80, 84, 88, 90; astrological aspects,
56; Building, the, 17-18, 34, 36; cloud, 29, 67, 77, 80; cold, 7;
creation, 5, (10, 23), 24, 28, 70; day(s), 13, 28, 34, 38, 40, 43, 50,
■65, 76, 80, 83-85, 88, 90-91, 93; dew(drops), 28, 38, 78; dry, 8,
27; dust, 15, 80; earth, 2, 8-10, 12, 15, 20-21, 23, 29, 34, 36, 38,
41, 47, 50, 60, 66, 68, 76, 81-82, (85), 86, 88-89; earthquake,
22-23; eight earths, 5, (8, 11, 28); elements, five, 3, (5), 34, 83, 93;
Fire, 1-2, 5, 8, 12-13, 22, 24, 29, 34, 43, 52, 57, 74, 76, 83, 86-87,
91; Five Vaults, 23; Four Supports, 23; ground, 60; heat, 7, 43;
macrocosm, 5, 12; microcosm, 5; mountains, 20-21, 35, 53, 80; New
Aeon, Earth, 8, 12, 17, 38, 65; night 38, 51,58,67,89-90,93;
river(s), 34, 37, 80; sand, 15, 80; sea, 18, 21, 26, 32, 34, 36, 38, 43,
49, 53, 61, 66, 80, 94-95; sky, heaven(s), firmameni(s), 5, 8, 10-11,
20-21, 28, 34, 43, 66, 68, 70, 73, 80-82, 85, 86,89, 93; smoke, 1, 67;
■soil, 34-35, 63, 80; Sphere, 5-6, 21, 38, 87; stars, 5, 35, 51, 85, wheel
of, (18), 84; storm(y), 49, 53, 56, 66, 81; seventh heaven, 20; Seven
Columns, 21; streams, fountains, 22, 28, 35-36, 53, 80, 91; summer,
43; ten heavens, 5, (19); Three Columns, 23; three earths, realms,
22, (23), 35, 61, 77; three heavens, 19; Three Wheels, 8, 18,22,
■91; ,Three Times, (13), 37, 64, 80,91; Water, 1-2,8, 12-13,22,
28, 34, 37, 53, 58, 63, 66, 70, 72, 76, 80, 88-89, 91; wave(s), 38,
49, 53, 56, 81; wet, 8, 27; Wind, 1, 8, 12, 22, 43, 51, 78, 80, 88,
 INDEX 365
91, of Life, 37; winter, 38, 43; year(s), 15, 20, 38,42, 80, 85, 93y
95; Zone, the, 18, 24.

5. Animals
Bird, 49, 78; cattle, 5; dog(s), 3, 10; Dove, White, 66, 69; eagler
29, 70, 78; elephants, 10; fish, 29, 42; flesh (and blood), 21, 24,
28, 34, 38, 40, 42, 44-45, 49-51, 63, 65-66, 71, 73-74, 78, 89;
goats, 86; honey, 94; jackals, 53; lamb, 32, 53; leopards, 10; lion,.
10, 29, 57; milk, 43, 92-93; sheep, 28, 34, 38, 50, 71, 86, 91;
snakes, etc., 3, 32, 42, 57, 67, 71; tigers, 32; venom, 8, 32, 67, 87;
wild, beasts, 4, 32, 49, 53; wolves, 32, 53, 71; worm, 38, 60, 80.

6. Plants
Branch, 28, 43, 45, 53; flower(s), blossom, 28, 31, 38, 43, 45, 53,
71, 75, 80; fragrance 35, 53, 62, 70, 73, 80, 94; fruit(s), 1-2, 13,.
21, 28, 34-37, 43, 45, 53, 57, 63, 65, 71-72, 80, 92-93; fruitful trees,
13, 28, 31, 37, 43, (45), 53, 71, 80, 91; garden(s), 10, (35), 54, 70,
73,80; garland(s), 13, 16, 34, 36,38, 45,48,50, 58, 60, 65, 69, 71-73,
75-79, 81, 90-93; incense, 34; juniper, 43; leaves, 38, 43; lilies, 45;
plants, 5, 8, 28, 32, 34-35, 60, (63, 65), 76; pomegranate, 62;
Roots, Natures, Sources, Two, 1, 5,9, 12-13,21,30,32, 41,52;
rose(s), 28, 45, 58, 79, 91; sap, 28; seed, 34, 43, 55; ‘ sweet dew
immortality, 13, 35, 53, 63, (68), 78, 80, 88, 93; trees, 1, 8-9, 21,
28, 31-32, 37-38, 43, 60, 63, 65, 71-72, 76, 80, 89, 91, 95; Two
Trees, 1, 13, 29, 93; Vine, 28, 45; wine, 28, 40, 45, 62.

7, Fall of the Soul

Accuser, 50; body of darkness, 3, 49, of death, 49, 70, 78, Soul
fettered in, 3, 6, 24, 49-50, 63; care, anxiety, 44, 49-50, 65, 78, 80;
death, departure, 10, 17-18, 29, 35, (37, 41-42), 49-51, (53), 55, 67,
69-71, 73, (75), 76, 78, 80, 85-86, 88, 90-92, 95; desire, lust, 3, 8,
21, 24, 27, 29, 35, 45, 49, 53, 60, 73, 80, 85-87; dregs, 12, 24, 56;
eating and drinking, 56-57, 69, 71, 86; Error, 29, 35, 38, 48, 53-54,
70, 89, 92; fire of digestion, 22, 57, 71; food, 42, 45, 56-57, 71, 80, 86;
forgetting, 3, 36, 38, 48-50, 77, 80, 92; Four Afflictions, 65; intoxi¬
cation, 40, 45, 49-50; killing, 5, 21, 29, 34, 38, 57, 60, 73; madness,
cup of, 48, water of, 38; Matter contaminates Soul, 3-5, 9, 12;
pain, sorrow, etc., 4, 6, 12, 24, 28, 32, 34, 36, 38, 42, 46-47, 49-50,
53, 55, 58-59, 61, 65, 73-74, 76, 78, 80-81, 84-86, 88-90; passion(s),
2, 78; penalty, 49, 61-62; rebirth, 44, 49, 73, 76, 80, 88-89; rela¬
tions, family, 9, 10, (20), 27, 31, 41-44, 47-48, 50-51, 56, 60, 77-
78, 92,95; robber(s), 34, 49, 70; slave(ry), 42, 49, 74, 77, 88; sleep,
spiritual, 10, 25, 36, (49), 50, 52, 54, 63, 65, 80; sorcery, magic,
etc., 29, 32, 49-50, 53-54; wife, 42, 44; womb, 28, 34, 85; World,
366 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

the, 21, 24, 26, 28-32, 34-35, 40-42, 44-47, 50-51, 53, 57, 63, 66,
68-69, 71, 80, 86, 88; worldliness, birth-and-death, 52-53, 65,
80, 92.

8. Artefacts of Man
Armour, 3, 22, 28, 31, 36, 71; Axe, 32, 34, 63; balance, 38, 76;
Bema, 34, 38; boat, 43, 49; book(s), Scripture, 30, 34, 36-37, 43,
92, 95; buckler, 46; chambers, 15, 17-18; chariot, litter, 24-25, 70,
75; Cross, 34, 36, 70, 71, (91); crown(s), diadems, 3, 6, 34-36, 38,
43, 48, 50, 69-70, 72-73, 75, 77, 80, 92-93; Customs-House, 76;
door(s), 24, 28, 36, 48, 53, 59, 73, 92-93; drums, 35; flutes, 35;
gate(s), gateway, 11, 24, 32, 38, 49, 54, 61, 74, 77, 81, 92, of Law,
95, of Life, 45, 70; gold and silver, 13, 44, 58, 69; harbour, port,
etc. (38), 45, 49-50, 56, 66, 77-79, 90; harp, 13, 35, 50; house(s),.
35, 44-45, 47, 49-50, 56, 78, 86; iron, 2, 29; ladder, 28, 38; lamp(s),
38, 43, 53; 63, 71-73, 92; lutes, 13; medicine(s) 28, 35, 38, 49, 63;
mirror, 35, 76, 80; moat, 11, 35; oil, 38, 72-73; palace, 32, 35-36,
47, 49, 64, 80; parapet, 56; prison, 17, 20, 49, 82, 86; Robe, gar¬
ments), etc., 6, 28, 30, 34, (42), 43, 48, 50, 53, 65-66, 68, 70-71, 75,
80-81, 91-92; schools, 47; shield, 8, 46; spear, 8, 46; stairway, 28,
38, 89; temple(s), 42, 47, 80; tomb, 30, 34, 62; treasure(s), 28, 32,
42, 44, 49, 51, 73, 86; treasuries, 28, 63; trumpet, 68; wall(s),
11-12,28,31, 35, 74.

9. Agents of Salvation
Advocate, 14, 38, 49, 91-92; Answerer, Reply, 4, (34), 83;
Apostles, 34, 36; awakening, 10, 22, 28, 36, 50, 52, 63; baptism,
26, 38; beauty, 9, 24-25, 27-28, 31, 37,45, 50-52, 71, 73, 79,92;
Call, Shout, 4, 18, 34, 36-37. (50, 52, 65, 73, 77), 83, 85, (86);
Church(es), 13, 21, 26, 28, 30, 34, 36, 38-39, 42-45, 59, 63, 69, 72,
88-91, 93-94; dive, 89, 94, Light-Diver, 65; Envoy’s Image, 12,
18-19, (21), 22, 24, (70, 95); Envoy, Third, 6, 8-9, 12-13, 18, 24,
85, 90; Faith, 6, 14, 25,28, 31, 35, 38, 40, 43, 63, 70, 73, 89, 91,
95; Ferry, 7, 32, 50, 77; Flock(s), 12, 32, 34-35, 53; forms, male
and female, 8-9, 35; Grace(s), 26, 33-34, 38, 40,42,44-45,70-73, 78,
81, 88-89, 92; Hope, the, 28, 30, 34, 38, 54, 70-72, 86, 88, 90, 92;
Kindly Light, 28, 64; King(s), 1, 13, 24, 28, 30-31, 34-35, 43, 45,
47-48, 50, 52-53,63, 71, 73, 77, 80,93,95; Law, Religion, 29,32, 34-
35, 38,43, 46, 52-54, 64, 71, 80, 86, 92, 95; memory, water of, 50;
Messenger(s) (of the Light), 13, 19, 21-23, 28. 30, 32, 35, 37-39, 46,
55, 63-64, 75, 80, 86, 88-89, 91, 95; Mind, Light-Mind, (3), 13-14,
26, 28, 31, 33, 35, 37-39, 41, 45, 48, 63, 65, 69, 71, 77-78, 88, 90,
Moon, 5, 7, 10, 12, (13), 25, 31, 42, 64, 77, (79), 85, (89-90), 93;
Name, the, 34-36, (40, 47), 53, 59, 70-71, 73, 92-94; pearl(s), 13,
34, 43, 65; Physician, 28, 49-50, 53, 63, 71; preaching, 34, 45, 49,
60, 64, 91; Prince, noble, 36, 48, 50, 95; Prophets 31, 91; psalms
 INDEX 367
and hymns, 7, (35), 47, 56, 58, 80, 93; Redeemer, 10, 28, 89;
resurrection, 28, 34, (37), 38, (69); revelation, 2, 4-5, 8, 18, 22, 24
30-32, 34, 45, 60, 91, 95; Right Hand, 4, 18, (49), 70, 74-75, 77,
-88-89; sacrificing love, 36, 39, 48, 65, 71, 88, 93; Saints, 13, 28, 35,
41-42, 44-45, 59, 61, 68, 70-73, 78-81, 89; Saviour, 28, 35, 52, 65,
70-75, 81, 91; Seal, 25, 38, 50, 78, 89, 92; Sects, religions, 29-30,
34, (91); Shepherd, 28, 32, (34), 35, 38, 50, 71, 91, 93; Ships (of
Light), 7-8, 12, 18, 24-25, 28, 32, 34, (38), 45, 49^1, 56, 76-79,
81, 84, 89-90, 92-93, 95; signs, characteristics, (6), 14,25, 29, 31
34-35, 38, 44, 51, 54-55, 58, 85, 91, 95; Sun, 5, 7, 10, 12-13, (19)’
-24-25, 28, 31, 35, 37, 42, 51, 55, (58), 64, 71-72, 77, 85, 91, 93;
Twin, Comrade, 28, 35, (41), 91; Word(s), the, 18, 33, 35-36, 38,
45, 53, (56), 57, 60, 69, 71, 74, 83, 91, 94-95.

10. Spiritual Life

Almsgiving, 38, 41-42, 44-45, 54, 57, 59, 70-71, 89; beloved, 16,
28, 36, 38, 45, 55, 65, 73, 91, 93; Commandments, Precepts, 14,
34-35, 38, 43, 47, 54, 63, 70-71, 77-78, 86, 88, 91, 95; disciples, 30,
34, 55; Elect, the, 14, 31, 34, (40), 41, 43-44, (45), 47, 57, 60, (66),
75, 86, 89-90; c< Faith and Morals”, (10, 14, 30, 91); fasting, 14, 38,
42, 44, 54, 56-57, 70-71, 73, 89; forgiveness, absolution, 38, 63,
(65), 76, 84, 91; good deeds, 7, 30-31, 42-43, 45, 54, 65, 73, 76,
-84, (88), 89; Hearers, the, 14, 42-45, 47, 86, 89-90, 92, 95; Illumi¬
nates, 31, 80, 82; joy, happiness, 13, 17, 25, 28, 31-32, 35-38, 45-
46, 54-56, 58, 65, 69, 71, 73, 77-78, 80, 82, 85-86, 88, 95; mer¬
chandise, wares, etc., 4, 7, 28, 50, (76), 78-79; New Man, 38. 53,
63; Old Man, 38, 41, 64; orphans and widows, 73, 91; path(s),
22, 25, 28, 53, 60, 68, 76-78, 81, 90, 92, 95, Straight Path, 34, 36,
38, 61, 95; peace, rest, repose, 3-4, 25, 28, 32, 36-38, 40,42-43,
45-49, 54-55, 59-63, 69, 73, 78, 80-81, 87-89, 91-93, 95; pity, com¬
passion, 4, 10, 19, 28, 37-38, 45, 61, 64-65, 70, 73, 88, 91; poverty,
38, 51, 59; prayer, 6, 14, 32, 38, 42, 44, 47-48, 53, 56, 58, 70-71,
73, 89, 91, seven prayers, 4; repentance, 34, 45, 84, 88; righteous¬
ness, 10, 34-35, 39-40, 42, 46-47, 53, 63, (75), 84, 89, 95; road,
44, 49, 60, 65; silence, 15, 28, 55, 64, 83, 93; sincerity, 6, 31, 61,
64; stranger, alien, (32-34), 35, 44, 50, 70-71, 83, 86; study, 47, 54,
64; Three Seals, 14, Victory, 3, 6, 13-14, 16, 25, 31, 34-35, 38-39,
.45, 48-49, 65, 70-71, 73, 75, 77-78, (81), 85-86, 88, 91, 95; virginity,
purity, 6, 14, 33, 38, 40, 42,44,54,56,70-72, 78-79,86; voice,
4, 10, 29, 47, 50, 53, 70-71, 73-74, 76-77; war, fight, etc., 1-3, 8,
12, 17-18, 28, 33, 45, 48, 77-78, 83; way, 53-54, 60, 65, 70, 75,
65, 89, 92.

11. Final States

Bride, 69, 77; bridechambers, 53, 55, 68, 72, 77, 79, 81; Bride¬
groom, Spouse, 28, 38, 47, 55, 69, 72, 79, 81; City, the, 7, 38, 48,
 368 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

66, 77-81; end of the world, 12, 21, 85, (87, 91); Fatherland, 68;
Garden of the Light, 76; Grave, the, 12, 87; hell(s), 10,49,67,
86-89; Kingdom, 28, 35, 38, (45), 47-48, 69-70, 76, 78, 81, 85, 87,
93; Kingdom of Light, 1-2, 34, 36, 38, 41, 50-52, 54-55, (59),
65-66, (70), 73, 76-77, 80, 82, 86; Knowledge of God, Gnosis, 10,
28, 33, 36, 45, 56, 77, 85, 89, 91; Last Statue, 12, 18,83,87;
Love, 14, 28, 38-40, 42, 44-45, 47-48, 51, 54, 59, 62-63, 65, 68-69,
71-73, 75, 79-80, 86-87, 90-95; ‘ Lump ’, the, 12, 87; Native Land,
32, 35; perfect(ion), 28, 38, 40, 54, 63, 65, 91; return, 7, 32, 50,
78-79, 81-82, 95; separation of Light and Dark, 5, 7, 8, 11-12, 24,
26, 32, 38, 63, 75-76, 80, 82, (83), 87, 91; Wisdom, 6, 13, 22, 27-
28, 30-38, 40-41, 45, 54, 56, 59, 63-64, 71, 85, 91, 93.

12. Proper Names

Adam, 9-10, 21, 24; Ambition, 12; Amen, 34, 93; Ashaqlun, 9;
Aurentes, 30; Babylonia, 30, 36; Buddha, the, 30; Christ, 14,28,
30, 36, 38, 66, 71-73, 78-79, 81, 91, 94, descends, 10, 34; Eve, 9-
10, 21-22, 24; Gushtasp, 30; Hindus, 30; India, 30; Ioel, 10;
Jesus, 22, 28, 30, 34-36, 38, 40, 45-46, 49, 53, 55, 65-66, 69-73,
79, 81, 91, the Child, 28, 34, 83, Immanent, 10, 28, 34, 37; in the
Moon, 12, 28, the Radiant, 10, 13, 28, 38, 70, 72, Son of God, 34-
35, 70; Jews, 34; Judas the Iscariot, 34; Judea, 34; Manbed, 23;
Mani, 14, 30-31, 35-37, 51, 55, 62, 91-92, 95; Mazdean, 30;
Mithra, 24; Nahashbet, 3, the First Aeon, 48; Nebroel, 9; Noah,
78; Paradise, 35, 80, 86; Persia, 30; Satan, 34, 53; Shitil, 30;
Visbed, 21; Zarathushtra, 30; Zrwan, 30, 35, 46, 91.

13. Special Doctrines

Alms purified by Saints, 43, 59; docetism, 10, 34, 91; God is
wholly Good, Matter, Evil, 1-2; intercession by Saints, 78; karma
38, 65, 73, 76-77, 81, 84, 87; sharing of merits, 41-42, 45, 55, 57;
universalism, 12.

14. Similes
Bitten man, 3, 8; borrowed utensils, 44; branch of fruitless
tree, 43; farmer, 37, 43; inn, 44, 51; iron in fire, 29; hair in
dough, 8; lightning, 4; man and vomit, 8; nail, 67; night, 5;
pearl in King’s crown, 43; poison in cake, 3; raging lion, 10; rain
before sun, 51; raincloud, 67; river, 37; saint with demons, 10;
shadows before sun, 55; sharp sword, 4; sick man, 43; snow in
sunlight, 51; sun, 37; swift bird, 78; thunder in clouds, 29: two
Kings, I.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

A. Chief Source-Books
C. W. Alberry, A Manichean Psalmbook, Pt. 2, 1938;:
Prosper Alfaric, Les Ecritures manicheennes, I-II, 1918/9;
Gustav Fliigel, Kitab al-Fihrist, 1872; A. E. W. Jackson,,
Researches in Manichaeism, 1931; Migne’s Patrologies:
P. G. vols. 1, 10, 18, 39, 42, 83, 94, 103; P. L..
vols. 32, 42, 65; F. W. K. Muller, Handschriften-
Reste in Estrangelo Schrift aus Turfan, I-II, 1904,;
Soghdische Texten, I-II; S. D. F. Salmond, The Acts
of Archelaus, 1882;. Addai Scher, Corpus Scriptorum.
christianorum orientalium curantibiis, LXVI, 1912;
R. Stothert, St. Augustine On the Manichaean Heresy,
1872; Schmidt-Polotsky-Bohlig, die Kephalaia, I, 1940.
Andreas—Henning, Mitteliranische Manichaica aus
.
Chinesisch-Turkestan, 1932/4; A von le Coqi Tiirkische
Manichaica I-III, aus Chotscho, 1912; W. Henning,.
Ein manichaisches Bet-und Beichtbuch, 1937; C. W. S.
Mitchell, S. Ephraim’s Prose Refutations of Mani^
Marcion and Bardaisan, 1912; C. Salemann, Manich-
aische Studien I, 1911.

B. Doctrine
iS’zV Thos. W. Arnold, Survivals of Sassanian and,
Manichaean Art in Persian Painting, 1925; F. C. Burkittr
24
‘370 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

The Religion of the Manichees, 1925; Arthur Lloyd,

‘The Greed of Half Japan, 1911; E. B. Pussy, St.
Augustine’s Confessions, 1946; R. Reitzenstein, das
iranische Erlosungsmysterium, 1921, das mandaische
Buch des Herrn der Grosse, 1919; Torgny Save-
soderbergh, Studies in the Coptic Manichean Psalmbook,
1949; Georg Widengren, The Great Vohu Manah and
tfhe Apostle of God, 1945, Mesopotamian Elements in
Manichaeism, 1946.
W. Bousset, Hauptprobleme der Gnosis 1907; Franz
■Gumont, La Cosmogonie manicheennc; Recherches
sur le Manicheisme, 1908; G. Fliigel, Mani, seine Lehre
und seine Schriften, 1862; K. Kessler, Mani: For-
schungen iiber die manichaische Religion, I, 1889;
H. Pognon, Inscriptions mandaites des Coupes de
Khouabir, 1898/9; H. J. Polotsky, Abriss der mani-
►chaischen Systems; Schmidt-Polotsky-Ibscher, Ein Mani-
Fund in Agypten, 1933; Waldschmidt-Lenz, die Steilung
Jesu in Manichaismus, 1926; 0. G. Wesendonk, die Lehre
des Mani, 1922.

•C. Related Studies

J. H. Bernard, The Odes of Solomon, 1912;
A. A. Be van, The Hymn of the Soul, 1897; E. A. Wallis
-Budge, The Paradise of the Holy Fathers I-II, 1907;
R. H. Charles, The Book of Enoch, 1912; Mark
Lidzbarski, Ginza, der Schatz, 1925; das Johannesbuch
der Mandaer I-II, 1905/15; G. R. S. Mead, Fragments
•of a Faith Forgotten, 1906, The Gnostic Crucifixion,
c. 1907, The Hymn of Jesus, c. 1906, The Hymn of
 BIBLIOGRAPHY 371 .

the Soul, 1909, Pistis Sophia, 1921; Matthew Norbergr

Codex Nasaraeus; A. Resch, Agrapha, 1906; C.E. Sachau,.
Albiruni’s Chronologies of Ancient Nations, 1879,.
India, 1879; Carl Schmidt, Koptisch-gnostische Schriften
I, 1905.

D. Articles by the following scholars

W. Bang, A. A. Bevan, Chavannes-Pelliot, A. von lc*
Coq, Robert Gauthiot, W. C. Henning, A. E. W. Jack-
Son, K. Kessler, F. Legge, G. R. S. Mead, V. Minorsky,.
H. J. Polotsky, S. H. Taqizadeh,
in the following Journals
Bulletin of the School of Oriental and Africani
Studies, 1935, 1942-1943,1945, 1948; Journal Asiatique,.
1911, 1913; Journal of the American Oriental Society,.
1910 ff.; Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1909,.
1913; Le Museon, vols. 36, 38, 44, 46; The Quest,,
vols. 1-7; Z.D.M.G. vols. 82, 90, etc.
and Articles in these Encyclopedias:
Catholic Encyclopedia, Encyclopaedia Britannica,
Encyclopaedia of Islam, Hastings Encyclopaedia oF
Religion and Ethics (by A. A. Bevan), and the New
Schaff-Herzog Encyclopaedia (by A*. Kessler).
 '

'

■ '

F r .a&xjDtaftt® j tt(M0

'

'
 THE WORLD GOSPEL SERIES

(Uniform with this Volume)

Each Volume of this Series contains a Text made up

of selected passages from the recognised Scriptures of
the Religion under study, carefully arranged in logical
order into topical Sections. Most of these passages
have been newly translated in simple words from the
original languages for this Series, after carefully con¬
sulting the work of earlier scholars. Each Section is
followed by an illuminating Commentary, special points
in the Text being further elucidated by short Footnotes.
To each Volume is prefixed a scholarly Introduction
—describing the life and times of the Founder of the
Religion, giving a brief Outline of its historical back¬
ground and development through the centuries, together
with important studies on special doctrines of the
Religion and on the various literary sources drawn
upon for the Text. Valuable features in each Volume
are a Synopsis that gives the central thought of the
various Sections of the Text, and a Catechism wherein,
to aid comparative studies, the questions are, as far as
possible common to all the Religions. In a few pages
the essential drift of the whole Volume is printed at the
374 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

beginning, and its central keynote appears in scriptural

words on the title page. The usual Index, Bibliography,,
etc. are supplied, and in several Volumes special Ap¬
pendices facilitate historical or doctrinal study.
In every case, orthodox opinion of the adherents of
the faith is made the basis of rendering and understand¬
ing the Texts, and an attempt is honestly made to view
the Religion as from within its own fold, factually and
without criticism or comparison.
i

Vol.
1. The Gospel of Islam, based on a new trans¬
lation of the Holy Qur'an, expounding the simple-
world faith of the Prophet of Arabia.

2. The Gospel of China, based on translations of

the Four great Classics of Confucius and Mencius—
a noble ethic reared on contemplative philosophy.
•ip ■

3. The Gospel of Hermes, based on the Hermetic

Literature of the few centuries before and after
Christ—an important system of Western Yoga,
and Theosophy—with an Appendix of parallel
texts from all over the world.

4. The Gospel of Jesus, based on a new trans¬

lation from the Synoptic Gospels and Agrapha
of Synoptic type, critically judged as giving the
most reliable portrait of the Man Jesus—Jewish,
ethicist and parabolist.
 THE WORLD GOSPEL SERIES 375

VoL
5. The Gospel of Zarathushtra, based on the
Avesta and Pehlevi Scriptures, with a new trans¬
lation of the Gathas—the noble Religion of the
Holy Prophet of Iran.

6. The Gospel of the Mystic Christ, based on

a new translatton of the Gospel of St. John and
several Apocrypha—the spiritual life of the
Divine Man, the c Christ in You and the
Mystic Path toiHim.

7. The Gospel of Narad a, based on a new trans¬

lation of the Narada Pdncaratrai and Narada
Bhakti Sutras—typical of the Vaishnava Faith
of pure Devotion, with an account of Sri Rama¬
nuja chary a5 s philosophy in India,

8. The Gospel of the Guru-Granth Sahib,

derived from the Sikh Scriptures newly trans¬
lated from Gurmukhi, with a new rendering of the
Japji—the manly Religion of Active Devotion.

■9. The Gospel of the Pyramids, newly trans¬

lated from the Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs of
the Pyramid Texts, oldest surviving scriptural
texts in the world—proclaiming immortality and
the glory of the Divine Initiate King. With an
Appendix of newly translated Texts of the same
date, and a history of Egypt from the start to
the Pyramid Age.
376 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

Vol.
10. The Gospel of Advaita, newly translated from
Toga Vasishta, Ashtavakra Gita, Sri Sankaracharyais
works and other standard books, to illustrate
the Manduky op anis ad—direct realisation of uni¬
versal oneness. With an Appendix to show
the same vision in modern saints of India and
in the West.

11. The Gospel of Israel, newly translated from:

the Hebrew of the Old Testament of the Jews,
and the Greek, Coptic etc., of certain non-
canonical books added as an Appendix—the
Religion of ethical union between God and His
faithful People.

12. The Gospel of the Prophet Mani, the

forgotten Religion: newly translated from many
languages, here for the first time brought together
from many lands between China and Provence
—with a life of the martyred Prophet of the
first great eclectic Theosophy and its later
history, and several important Appendices.

13. The Gospel of the Gnostics, based on

surviving books like the Pistis Sophia, the two
Books of leu, and hymns, etc., preserved by the
hostile Christian Fathers, here first brought
together—showing the value of such mystical
revelations even in our own day.
 THE WORLD GOSPEL SERIES 377

Vol.
14. The Gospel of Mahayana, derived from
Sanskrit, Japanese and Tibetan works, giving
the essence of the inner teachings of the great
Lord Buddha as preserved in the Northern
School.

15. The Gospel of the Light, proclaimed by the

Mandeans of ancient Chaldea.

16. The Gospel of the Desert, the mysterious devo¬

tional ‘ Odes of Solomon \ full of beauty and
joyous thrill.

17. The Gospel of the Spirits, revealed in our own

days through a few of the higher mediums.

18. The Gospel of the West, based on great Mystics

like St. Teresa, St. John of the Cross, and
Dionysius.
c
\
19. The Gospel of Egypt, as taught in the days of
her Imperial greatness.

20. The Gospel of the Sufis, passionate devotees of

Muslim lands.

21. The Gospel of the Rshis, enshrined in timeless

Vedas and Upanishads.
378 THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

Vol.
22. - The Gospel of the Buddha, found in Ceylon’s
great Hinayana Scriptures.

23. The Gospel of the Stoics, pagan teachers of

humanitarianism and pure altruism.

24. The Gospel of the Tirthankaras, the preaching

of the Jain ascetics.

25. The Gospel of the Behais', universal brotherhood

taught by Iran in our own days.

26.. The Gospel of Sri Krishna, as revealed in the

Sri mad Bhagavatam and the Bhagavad Gita.

It is also proposed to sum up the entire Series with

an Abstract Volume, containing the essential
teachings of all these in brief, entitled

27. The World Gospel.

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tical thought at around the time of Christ. It retells much of the Old
Testament story, but includes additional material not mentioned in
the Bible. It also relics heavily on The Book of Enoch, which was,
like this book, translated from the Ethiopic text. It covers Adam and
Eve, the Fall of Man, Cain and Abel, the fall of the angels and their
punishment, the deluge foretold, the ark and the flood, the tower of
Babel and confusion of tongues, evil spirits, corruption of the human
race, God’s covenant, the Messianic Kingdom, Jacob’s visions,
prophetic dreams, and Moses, among other interesting topics. 224
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THE BOOK OF JAS HER: A Suppressed Book thatl
was Removed from the Bible, Referred to in Joshua and\
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According to some sources, this book was once the original]
start of the Bible. We know that it was once part of the Bible j
being referred to in Joshua and Second Samuel. The Book of\
Jasher survived the burning of the Alexandria Library ini
about 389 AD due to a fast acting custodian. Albinus Alcuin||
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 ♦ *- ’ ' ■ ' ' " '• " V fgseSlBSs! m m • ' ' ' i«"*’r W Ss#

THE GOSPEL OF THE PROPHET MANI

By Duncan Greenlees
For many centuries Manicheism was a powerful and far-reaching reli¬
gion, rivaled only by Christianity in its scope, but today it is virtually
unheard of. It was more dualistic, Gnostic and spiritual so became the
arch rival of Christianity and was ultimately stamped out. Every effort
has been made to remove it from the memory of humankind and, for
the most part, these efforts were a success. Today, however, there is a
resurgence of interest in Gnostic thought and teachings. This book will
contribute a wealth of new information that would otherwise be lost to
history. There is without question no better book on the subject. The
author has assembled every known lost fragment of the faith that could
possibly be found in order to accurately reassemble its doctrines and
teachings. The information is presented factually, without a bias in
either direction, to document this movement and its history accurate¬
ly. He lets the teachings speak for themselves, which allows the reader
to make an independent assessment regarding its veracity.
From an historical point of view the book is valuable because it both
broadens and clarifies our view of religious history, showing what
Christianity was truly up against and why Manicheism remained so
popular for so long. There is no doubt that the prophet Mani was a
great spiritual teacher - he had to be for the religion to flourish for so
long. It lasted for over one thousand years in one form or another.
Many of the holy books written by Mani have been lost or destroyed,
only fragments remain, while his followers were killed and persecuted
for centuries. What has been recovered has been painstakingly pieced
together in this important work for the benefit of scholars, religious
researchers and those interested in alternative spiritual paths.
„s:, * I.;

T7fl-l-Sfl5[H-5D2-5
5 599 5
The Book Tree
v PO Box 16476
San Diego, CA 92176
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RELIGION / Gnosticism
RELIGION / Spirituality
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