various authors
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NOTE |
Until the twentieth century and the rediscovery of some of the original Manichaean texts, there were two primary traditions used to understand Manichaeism: the writings of the Greek and Latin Church Fathers, who inveighed against there heresies of Mani, and the Near Eastern writings in Syriac, Farsi, and Arabic from the Eastern Christian and Islamic traditions. The latter tradition is best represent by the Manichaean account of al-Nadim in his Fihrist, which, due to its length, I have published on its own separate page. In 1889, the German academic Konrad Kessler collected Near Eastern sources on Manichaeism in the fourth section of his book Mani, and I have here provided in English translations of nearly all of them, excepting the Fihrist, the Abjuration Formula (which has its own page), and the massive text of St. Ephrem. I have also located and translated the texts Kessler discussed but did not provide in full. Translations are my own except where otherwise indicated.
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Aphrahat, The Demonstrations, Third Homily (On Fasting) (mid-fourth century CE)
translated from the text in Konrad Kessler, Mani (Berlin: 1889), 304.
For even the false teachers, the vessels of the devil, fast and confess their sins, but they have no rewarder. For who would reward Marcion, who does not recognize our Creator as good? And who would reward Valentinus for his fasting, him who teaches that our creators are many and has said that the perfect God did not speak through one (i.e., a prophet’s) mouth, nor has reason searched him out? And truly, who would reward the sons of darkness, the teaching of the wicked Mānī, who dwell in darkness, like serpents, and practice Chaldeanism, the teaching of Babylon? Behold, they all fast, but their fasting is not accepted (by God).
Al-Jahiz, Book of Animals, p. 10 (before 859 CE)
translated from Kessler, Mani, 365-369; bracketed notes are Kessler’s.
Ibrahim al-Sindi once said to me: “I wish the Zandīks [i.e. Manichaeans] were not so eager to spend so much money on clean white paper and on the use of shining black ink, and that they did not attach such great importance to calligraphy, and that they did not encourage calligraphers to be so diligent; for truly, no paper I have ever seen can be compared to the paper of their books, and no calligraphy to that used in them.”
[Now al-Jahiz himself continues:]
Then I replied to Ibrahim: “If the Manichaeans make an effort to decorate their holy scriptures, it is the same as if Christians do it for the churches.” [And then follows an original and accurate characterization of the content of the Manichaean books, which, due to the one-sidedness and peculiarity of their content, do not deserve such splendor:] “If only the writings of the Manichaeans were writings on wisdom, philosophy, or legal statutes, or those through which people were taught various kinds of arts or the means and ways of earning and trading, or those from which people could learn insight and refined manners, the Manichaeans could still be considered people who uphold knowledge and strive to spread it. But as it is, they only concern themselves with religious dogmas and the glorification of their faith…”
[After a digression, the author later in the same speech returns to shed more light on what he has just said and says:]
“The proof of my assertion lies in the fact that their books contain nothing like the others: no appealing narrative, no art of composition, no striking wisdom teachings, no philosophy, no subject for speculation, no instruction in a trade or a house of worship. In general, the Manichaeans did not indulge in any luxury in their meeting places, since their entire worship service essentially consisted of prayers; their ecclesiastical treasures were not altars, ciboriums, and holy images, but solely their holy books.
“The use of a tool, no instruction on agriculture, no instructions on warfare, but only the use of light and darkness, the mating of Satans and the intermingling of demons, and the ‘Mighty One’ are mentioned, (Sindîd), and where the readers are frightened with the ‘Pillar of the Dawn’ and with the stories of the ‘Evil Enemy’ and of the Hummāmah and ...... and so on, only chatter, fraud and lies, without any beautiful admonition, without any pleasant narrative, without guidance for livelihood, neither instruction for the masses, nor instruction for the educated...”
[Now al-Jahiz himself continues:]
Then I replied to Ibrahim: “If the Manichaeans make an effort to decorate their holy scriptures, it is the same as if Christians do it for the churches.” [And then follows an original and accurate characterization of the content of the Manichaean books, which, due to the one-sidedness and peculiarity of their content, do not deserve such splendor:] “If only the writings of the Manichaeans were writings on wisdom, philosophy, or legal statutes, or those through which people were taught various kinds of arts or the means and ways of earning and trading, or those from which people could learn insight and refined manners, the Manichaeans could still be considered people who uphold knowledge and strive to spread it. But as it is, they only concern themselves with religious dogmas and the glorification of their faith…”
[After a digression, the author later in the same speech returns to shed more light on what he has just said and says:]
“The proof of my assertion lies in the fact that their books contain nothing like the others: no appealing narrative, no art of composition, no striking wisdom teachings, no philosophy, no subject for speculation, no instruction in a trade or a house of worship. In general, the Manichaeans did not indulge in any luxury in their meeting places, since their entire worship service essentially consisted of prayers; their ecclesiastical treasures were not altars, ciboriums, and holy images, but solely their holy books.
“The use of a tool, no instruction on agriculture, no instructions on warfare, but only the use of light and darkness, the mating of Satans and the intermingling of demons, and the ‘Mighty One’ are mentioned, (Sindîd), and where the readers are frightened with the ‘Pillar of the Dawn’ and with the stories of the ‘Evil Enemy’ and of the Hummāmah and ...... and so on, only chatter, fraud and lies, without any beautiful admonition, without any pleasant narrative, without guidance for livelihood, neither instruction for the masses, nor instruction for the educated...”
Al-Ya’qubi, Tārīkh Ibn Wāḍiḥ, section on Persian Kings (before 897 CE)
translated from Kessler, Mani, 323-331; the parenthetical notes are those of Kessler.
At the time of Shapur, the son of Ardashir, Mānī, the son of Hammad, the heretic, arose, sought to convert Shapur to dualism, and rebuked his religion; and indeed, Shapur was persuaded by him.
Mānī claimed that the rulers of the world were two, and that these were two eternal substances, light and darkness, and there were two creators, namely the creator of good and the creator of evil. Darkness and light were each to themselves a name (collective term) for five concepts: color, taste, smell, touch, and sound, and both were endowed with hearing, sight, and reason. Whatever is good and useful comes from the light, and whatever is harmful and painful comes from darkness. They were both unmixed, but then they mingled, the proof being that after this initial origin there was no fixed form, but one then came into being. It was darkness that, in turn, began the mixing with the light, and that both touched each other in the manner of a shadow and the sun, the proof being the impossibility (absurdity) of a thing originating from a non-thing. And specifically (in detail), the proof that darkness began with the mixing of light lies in the fact that now (for clarity, I replace the pronouns with the nouns they denote, light and darkness), after the mixing of the parts of darkness with the light has taken place, the former corrupted the light; it would indeed be unthinkable (absurd) that the light should have begun it, because light is, by its very nature, good. Furthermore, the proof that there are two eternals, good and evil, lies in the fact that [if this were not so], after they had entered into one matter, two different actions would not otherwise proceed from it, just as, for example, no cooling effect emanates from the hot, incendiary fire, and no ignition emanates from that from which cooling comes. In this way, evil does not come from that from which good comes, and good does not come from that from which evil comes. Further proof that they are both living and active lies in the fact that good continues its action uninterruptedly, and evil continues its action uninterruptedly.
Shapur agreed with him in this explanation; through it, he (Mānī) won over the king’s subjects, and this made a great impression on them. The learned among his subjects gathered to dissuade him, but he did not yield. Mānī composed works in which he established dualism. Among his writings is his book, which he entitled The Treasure of Life, in which he describes what in the soul comes from luminous purity and what from dark corruption, and where evil deeds are attributed to darkness. Further, there is a book which he calls the Šābuhragān, in which he describes the pure soul and the soul mixed with devils, as well as illnesses. Here he considers the firmament as a flat surface and says that the world rests on a downward-sloping mountain, above which the upper vault of heaven revolves. Further, there is the book which he calls the Book of Guidance and Direction, as well as the Twelve [read: twenty-two] Gospels, each of which he names after one of the letters of the alphabet, and in which he expounds prayer and what must be done to liberate the spirit. Further, there is the Book of Mysteries, in which he blasphemes the miracles of the prophets, as well as the Book of Giants. Numerous writings and epistles originate from him.
Shapur thus followed this doctrine for about ten years. Then the high priest (of the Zoroastrians) came to him and said: “Surely, this man has ruined your faith; so arrange a meeting between me and him so that I can debate with him.” He then brought the two together, and the high priest defeated him [Mānī] in argument. Therefore, Shapur turned away from dualism and returned to the religion of the Magi and sought to kill Mānī. Therefore, Mānī fled and went to the land of India, where he remained until Shapur’s death. After Shapur, Hormizd, Shapur’s son, reigned. He was a man of war. He was the one who built the city of Ramhormoz. However, his lifespan was not long; his reign lasted only one year.
Then Bahram, the son of Hormizd, came to power. He was devoted to dalliances with slaves and music to the point of madness. Then the followers of Mānī wrote to Mānī: “A king has now come to power, young in years, much occupied with diversions.” Therefore, he hurried to the land of Persia; his actions caused a stir. His whereabouts became known, and Bahram sent for him to inquire about his affairs. Mānī then explained his circumstances to him, and Bahram arranged a meeting between Mānī and the high priest, and they debated. Then the high priest said: “Let someone melt lead for you and me, so that it may be poured onto our abdomens (or stomachs), and whichever of us is not harmed by it shall be right.” Mānī replied: “That would be a deed of darkness.” Now Bahram gave orders against him, and he was arrested. Then he said to him, “When the next morning has broken, I will summon you and execute on you a death sentence that has never been executed on anyone before you.” Then Mānī’s skin was flayed continuously throughout the night until he gave up the ghost. In the morning, Bahram sent for him, but he was found already dead. He then ordered his head to be cut off and had his body [or rather, its flayed skin] stuffed with straw. He pursued his companions and killed a large number of them.
The reign of Bahram, son of Hormizd, lasted three years.
Mānī claimed that the rulers of the world were two, and that these were two eternal substances, light and darkness, and there were two creators, namely the creator of good and the creator of evil. Darkness and light were each to themselves a name (collective term) for five concepts: color, taste, smell, touch, and sound, and both were endowed with hearing, sight, and reason. Whatever is good and useful comes from the light, and whatever is harmful and painful comes from darkness. They were both unmixed, but then they mingled, the proof being that after this initial origin there was no fixed form, but one then came into being. It was darkness that, in turn, began the mixing with the light, and that both touched each other in the manner of a shadow and the sun, the proof being the impossibility (absurdity) of a thing originating from a non-thing. And specifically (in detail), the proof that darkness began with the mixing of light lies in the fact that now (for clarity, I replace the pronouns with the nouns they denote, light and darkness), after the mixing of the parts of darkness with the light has taken place, the former corrupted the light; it would indeed be unthinkable (absurd) that the light should have begun it, because light is, by its very nature, good. Furthermore, the proof that there are two eternals, good and evil, lies in the fact that [if this were not so], after they had entered into one matter, two different actions would not otherwise proceed from it, just as, for example, no cooling effect emanates from the hot, incendiary fire, and no ignition emanates from that from which cooling comes. In this way, evil does not come from that from which good comes, and good does not come from that from which evil comes. Further proof that they are both living and active lies in the fact that good continues its action uninterruptedly, and evil continues its action uninterruptedly.
Shapur agreed with him in this explanation; through it, he (Mānī) won over the king’s subjects, and this made a great impression on them. The learned among his subjects gathered to dissuade him, but he did not yield. Mānī composed works in which he established dualism. Among his writings is his book, which he entitled The Treasure of Life, in which he describes what in the soul comes from luminous purity and what from dark corruption, and where evil deeds are attributed to darkness. Further, there is a book which he calls the Šābuhragān, in which he describes the pure soul and the soul mixed with devils, as well as illnesses. Here he considers the firmament as a flat surface and says that the world rests on a downward-sloping mountain, above which the upper vault of heaven revolves. Further, there is the book which he calls the Book of Guidance and Direction, as well as the Twelve [read: twenty-two] Gospels, each of which he names after one of the letters of the alphabet, and in which he expounds prayer and what must be done to liberate the spirit. Further, there is the Book of Mysteries, in which he blasphemes the miracles of the prophets, as well as the Book of Giants. Numerous writings and epistles originate from him.
Shapur thus followed this doctrine for about ten years. Then the high priest (of the Zoroastrians) came to him and said: “Surely, this man has ruined your faith; so arrange a meeting between me and him so that I can debate with him.” He then brought the two together, and the high priest defeated him [Mānī] in argument. Therefore, Shapur turned away from dualism and returned to the religion of the Magi and sought to kill Mānī. Therefore, Mānī fled and went to the land of India, where he remained until Shapur’s death. After Shapur, Hormizd, Shapur’s son, reigned. He was a man of war. He was the one who built the city of Ramhormoz. However, his lifespan was not long; his reign lasted only one year.
Then Bahram, the son of Hormizd, came to power. He was devoted to dalliances with slaves and music to the point of madness. Then the followers of Mānī wrote to Mānī: “A king has now come to power, young in years, much occupied with diversions.” Therefore, he hurried to the land of Persia; his actions caused a stir. His whereabouts became known, and Bahram sent for him to inquire about his affairs. Mānī then explained his circumstances to him, and Bahram arranged a meeting between Mānī and the high priest, and they debated. Then the high priest said: “Let someone melt lead for you and me, so that it may be poured onto our abdomens (or stomachs), and whichever of us is not harmed by it shall be right.” Mānī replied: “That would be a deed of darkness.” Now Bahram gave orders against him, and he was arrested. Then he said to him, “When the next morning has broken, I will summon you and execute on you a death sentence that has never been executed on anyone before you.” Then Mānī’s skin was flayed continuously throughout the night until he gave up the ghost. In the morning, Bahram sent for him, but he was found already dead. He then ordered his head to be cut off and had his body [or rather, its flayed skin] stuffed with straw. He pursued his companions and killed a large number of them.
The reign of Bahram, son of Hormizd, lasted three years.
Abu Rayhan al-Biruni, Remaining Traces of Centuries Past, pp. 207-209 (c. 1000 CE)
translated by Eduard Sachau in C. Edward Sachau (trans. and ed.), The Chronology of Ancient Nations (London: William H. Allen and Co., 1879), 189-192.
Mani. — After Bardaisan and Marcion, Mânî the pupil of Fâdarûn came forward. On having acquainted himself with the doctrines of the Magians, Christians, and Dualists, he proclaimed himself to be a prophet. In the beginning of his book called Shâbûrkân, which he composed for Shâpûr b. Ardashir, he says: “Wisdom and deeds have always from time to time been brought to mankind by the messengers of God. So in one age they have been brought by the messenger, called Buddha, to India, in another by Zarâdusht to Persia, in another by Jesus to the West. Thereupon this revelation has come down, this prophecy in this last age through me, Mani, the messenger of the God of truth to Babylonia.” In his gospel, which he arranged according to the twenty-two letters of the alphabet, he says that he is the Paraclete announced by Messiah, and that he is the seal of the prophets (i.e. the last of them).
His doctrines regarding the existence and the form of the world are contradicted by the results of scientific arguments and proofs. He preached of the empire of the worlds of light, of the Πρῶτος Ἄνθρωπος (first man), and of the spirit of life. He taught that light and darkness are without beginning and end. He absolutely forbade his followers to slaughter animals and to hurt them, to hurt the fire, water, and plants. He established laws which are obligatory only for the Ṣiddiḳs, i.e. for the saints and ascetics among the Manichæans, viz. to prefer poverty to riches, to suppress cupidity and lust, to abandon the world, to be abstinent in it, continually to fast, and to give alms as much as possible. He forbade them to acquire any property except food for one day and dress for one year; he further forbade sexual intercourse, and ordered them continually to wander about in the world, preaching his doctrines and guiding people into the right path.
Other laws he imposed upon the Sammâ‘ (laymen), i.e. their followers and adherents who have to do with worldly affairs, viz. to give as alms the tithe of their property, to fast during the seventh part of life- time, to live in monogamy, to befriend the Ṣiddiḳs (saints), and to remove everything that troubles and pains them.
Some people maintain that he allowed pederasty, if a man felt inclined, and as proof of this they relate that every Manichaean used to be accompanied by a young, beardless and hairless servant. I, however, have not found in what I have read of his books a word indicating anything of this kind. Nay, even his life proves the contrary of this assertion.
Mânî was born in a village called Mardînû on the upper canal of Kûthâ, according to his own statement in his book Shâbûrḳan, in the chapter on the coming of the prophet, in the year 527 of the era of the Babylonian astronomers, i.e. the Æra Alexandri, in the 4th year of the king Adharbân. He received the first divine revelation in his 13th year, Anno Astronomorum Babyloniæ 539, in the 2nd year of Ardashîr, the King of Kings. This part of chronology we have already tried to correct in the chapter preceding that of the duration of the rule of the Ashkânians and the Mulûk altawâ’if.
According to Yaḥyâ b. Alnu‘mân, the Christian, in his book on the Magians, Mânî was called by the Christians Corbicius the son of Patecius.
When he came forward, many people believed in him and followed him. He composed many books, his gospel, the Shâbûrkân, Kanz-al’iḥyâ (Thesaurus Revivicationis), the Book of the Giants, the Book of Books, and many treatises. He maintained that he had explained in extenso what had only been hinted at by the Messiah.
Manichaeism increased by degrees under Ardashîr, his son Shâpûr and Hurmuz b. Shâpûr, until the time when Bahrâm b. Hurmuz ascended the throne. He gave orders to search for Mânî, and when he had found him, he said: “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 should be realized.”
It is well known that he killed Mânî, stripped off his skin, filled it with grass, and hung it up at the gate of Gundîsâpûr, which is even still known as the “Mânî-gate.” Hurmuz also killed a number of the Manichæans.
Jibrâ’îl b. Nûḥ, the Christian, says in his reply to Yazdânbakht’s refutation of the Christians, that one of Mânî’s pupils composed a book, in which he relates the fate of Mânî, that he was put in prison on account of a relative of the king who believed that he was possessed by the devil; Mânî had promised to cure him, but when he could not effect it, he was chained hand and foot, and died in prison. His head was exposed before the entrance of the royal tent, and his body was thrown into the street, that he should be a warning example to others.
Of his adherents, some remnants that are considered as Manichæan are still extant: they are scattered throughout the world and do not live together in any particular place of Muhammadan countries, except the community in Samarkand, known by the name of Ṣâbians. As regards non-Muhammadan countries, we have to state that most of the eastern Turks, of the people of China and Thibet and some of the Hindus, adhere still to his law and doctrine.
Regarding their prophet Mânî they hold two different opinions, one party maintaining that he never worked a miracle, and relating that he only informed people of the signs and wonders indicative of the coming of the Messiah and his companions, whilst the other party maintains that he in fact worked signs and miracles, and that the king Shâpûr came to believe in him when he had ascended with him towards heaven, and they had been standing in the air between heaven and earth. Mânî, thereby, made him witness a miracle. Besides, they relate that he sometimes used to rise to heaven from among his companions, to stay there for some days, and then to redescend to them.
I have heard the Ispahbadh Marzubân ben Rustam say that Shapur banished him out of his empire, faithful to the law of Zarâdusht which demands the expulsion of pseudo-prophets from the country. He imposed upon him the obligation never to return. So Mânî went off to India, China, and Thibet, and preached there his gospel. Afterwards he returned, was seized by Bahrâm and killed for having broken the stipulation, as he had thereby forfeited his life.
His doctrines regarding the existence and the form of the world are contradicted by the results of scientific arguments and proofs. He preached of the empire of the worlds of light, of the Πρῶτος Ἄνθρωπος (first man), and of the spirit of life. He taught that light and darkness are without beginning and end. He absolutely forbade his followers to slaughter animals and to hurt them, to hurt the fire, water, and plants. He established laws which are obligatory only for the Ṣiddiḳs, i.e. for the saints and ascetics among the Manichæans, viz. to prefer poverty to riches, to suppress cupidity and lust, to abandon the world, to be abstinent in it, continually to fast, and to give alms as much as possible. He forbade them to acquire any property except food for one day and dress for one year; he further forbade sexual intercourse, and ordered them continually to wander about in the world, preaching his doctrines and guiding people into the right path.
Other laws he imposed upon the Sammâ‘ (laymen), i.e. their followers and adherents who have to do with worldly affairs, viz. to give as alms the tithe of their property, to fast during the seventh part of life- time, to live in monogamy, to befriend the Ṣiddiḳs (saints), and to remove everything that troubles and pains them.
Some people maintain that he allowed pederasty, if a man felt inclined, and as proof of this they relate that every Manichaean used to be accompanied by a young, beardless and hairless servant. I, however, have not found in what I have read of his books a word indicating anything of this kind. Nay, even his life proves the contrary of this assertion.
Mânî was born in a village called Mardînû on the upper canal of Kûthâ, according to his own statement in his book Shâbûrḳan, in the chapter on the coming of the prophet, in the year 527 of the era of the Babylonian astronomers, i.e. the Æra Alexandri, in the 4th year of the king Adharbân. He received the first divine revelation in his 13th year, Anno Astronomorum Babyloniæ 539, in the 2nd year of Ardashîr, the King of Kings. This part of chronology we have already tried to correct in the chapter preceding that of the duration of the rule of the Ashkânians and the Mulûk altawâ’if.
According to Yaḥyâ b. Alnu‘mân, the Christian, in his book on the Magians, Mânî was called by the Christians Corbicius the son of Patecius.
When he came forward, many people believed in him and followed him. He composed many books, his gospel, the Shâbûrkân, Kanz-al’iḥyâ (Thesaurus Revivicationis), the Book of the Giants, the Book of Books, and many treatises. He maintained that he had explained in extenso what had only been hinted at by the Messiah.
Manichaeism increased by degrees under Ardashîr, his son Shâpûr and Hurmuz b. Shâpûr, until the time when Bahrâm b. Hurmuz ascended the throne. He gave orders to search for Mânî, and when he had found him, he said: “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 should be realized.”
It is well known that he killed Mânî, stripped off his skin, filled it with grass, and hung it up at the gate of Gundîsâpûr, which is even still known as the “Mânî-gate.” Hurmuz also killed a number of the Manichæans.
Jibrâ’îl b. Nûḥ, the Christian, says in his reply to Yazdânbakht’s refutation of the Christians, that one of Mânî’s pupils composed a book, in which he relates the fate of Mânî, that he was put in prison on account of a relative of the king who believed that he was possessed by the devil; Mânî had promised to cure him, but when he could not effect it, he was chained hand and foot, and died in prison. His head was exposed before the entrance of the royal tent, and his body was thrown into the street, that he should be a warning example to others.
Of his adherents, some remnants that are considered as Manichæan are still extant: they are scattered throughout the world and do not live together in any particular place of Muhammadan countries, except the community in Samarkand, known by the name of Ṣâbians. As regards non-Muhammadan countries, we have to state that most of the eastern Turks, of the people of China and Thibet and some of the Hindus, adhere still to his law and doctrine.
Regarding their prophet Mânî they hold two different opinions, one party maintaining that he never worked a miracle, and relating that he only informed people of the signs and wonders indicative of the coming of the Messiah and his companions, whilst the other party maintains that he in fact worked signs and miracles, and that the king Shâpûr came to believe in him when he had ascended with him towards heaven, and they had been standing in the air between heaven and earth. Mânî, thereby, made him witness a miracle. Besides, they relate that he sometimes used to rise to heaven from among his companions, to stay there for some days, and then to redescend to them.
I have heard the Ispahbadh Marzubân ben Rustam say that Shapur banished him out of his empire, faithful to the law of Zarâdusht which demands the expulsion of pseudo-prophets from the country. He imposed upon him the obligation never to return. So Mânî went off to India, China, and Thibet, and preached there his gospel. Afterwards he returned, was seized by Bahrâm and killed for having broken the stipulation, as he had thereby forfeited his life.
Ferdowsi, The Shahnameh (Book of Kings), Sasanian Dynasty, “Shapur, Son of Urmuzd,” sec. 11 (1010 CE)
translated in Arthur George Warner and Edmond Warner (trans.), The Sháhnáma of Firdausi, vol. 6 (London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., 1912), 358-359.
§ 11
How Mání, the Painter, came to Shápúr with Pretence of being a Prophet, and was slain
There came from Chín a man of eloquence,
Whose peer in painting earth will not behold,
By which accomplishment he gained his ends.
He was a man of might by name Mání.
He said: “I prove my mission by my painting,
And am the greatest of evangelists.”
He came from Chín, asked audience of Shápúr,
Soliciting his help in that evangel,
And speaking with such unction that the Sháh,
Filled with misgivings and keen interest,
Convoked the archmages and held talk at large
About Mání: “This suasive man of Chín
Hath plunged me into doubts about his Faith:
Hold converse with him; ye may be converted.”
They said: “This man — a worshipper of pictures
Is not the equal of our own high priest;
Hear what Mání saith and then call for him:
Mání will be dumfoundered in his presence.”
The Sháh bade that Mání should come who spake
At large, discoursing with the archimages,
In presence of the Sháh, of Light and Darkness
Until Mání was checked in full career
By what the high priest said to him concerning
The ancient Faith: “Thou worshipper of pictures!
Why layest thou thy daring hand on God --
The Being that created Heaven above,
Created space and time, with light and darkness,
Therein, and is supreme of principles?
The nights and days of high, revolving heaven
Are both thy source of safety and mishap.
How canst thou take a picture for a proof,
And disregard the counsel of the Faithful,
Who say that holy God is One, and thou
Hast no alternative to serving Him?
If thou wilt give these pictures motion, then
Thou mayst appeal thereto. Thy proof, thou knowest
Is naught, and no one will esteem it valid.
Were Ahriman God’s equal, darksome night
Would be like shining day, and both would be
Of equal length throughout the year, and neither
Would in their revolutions wax or wane.
The Maker of the world is compassed not
By thought, for He is higher than thought and space.
Thy words are those of lunatics. Enough!
No one will side with thee.”
He spake much else,
For he was one of knowledge and of courage.
Mání was all confounded by the words,
His favour changed, the king was wroth with him,
So that his days were straitened, bidding some
To drag him from the court disgraced, and said:--
“This worshipper of pictures is unfit
To live, so since he causeth turmoil here
Flay him from head to foot, and let his skin
Be stuffed with hay, and then, that no one else
May make pretences to like dignity,
Hang up the skin upon the city-gate,
Or on the wall outside the hospital.”
So did they.
All the people blessed the Sháh,
And cast dust on the body of the slain.
The fortune of Shapúr was such that men
Saw in his garth no thorn upon the rose.
He was so just, so wise, and politic,
Brave, bounteous, active, that not anywhere
Was left a foe, or evil e’en a lair.
How Mání, the Painter, came to Shápúr with Pretence of being a Prophet, and was slain
There came from Chín a man of eloquence,
Whose peer in painting earth will not behold,
By which accomplishment he gained his ends.
He was a man of might by name Mání.
He said: “I prove my mission by my painting,
And am the greatest of evangelists.”
He came from Chín, asked audience of Shápúr,
Soliciting his help in that evangel,
And speaking with such unction that the Sháh,
Filled with misgivings and keen interest,
Convoked the archmages and held talk at large
About Mání: “This suasive man of Chín
Hath plunged me into doubts about his Faith:
Hold converse with him; ye may be converted.”
They said: “This man — a worshipper of pictures
Is not the equal of our own high priest;
Hear what Mání saith and then call for him:
Mání will be dumfoundered in his presence.”
The Sháh bade that Mání should come who spake
At large, discoursing with the archimages,
In presence of the Sháh, of Light and Darkness
Until Mání was checked in full career
By what the high priest said to him concerning
The ancient Faith: “Thou worshipper of pictures!
Why layest thou thy daring hand on God --
The Being that created Heaven above,
Created space and time, with light and darkness,
Therein, and is supreme of principles?
The nights and days of high, revolving heaven
Are both thy source of safety and mishap.
How canst thou take a picture for a proof,
And disregard the counsel of the Faithful,
Who say that holy God is One, and thou
Hast no alternative to serving Him?
If thou wilt give these pictures motion, then
Thou mayst appeal thereto. Thy proof, thou knowest
Is naught, and no one will esteem it valid.
Were Ahriman God’s equal, darksome night
Would be like shining day, and both would be
Of equal length throughout the year, and neither
Would in their revolutions wax or wane.
The Maker of the world is compassed not
By thought, for He is higher than thought and space.
Thy words are those of lunatics. Enough!
No one will side with thee.”
He spake much else,
For he was one of knowledge and of courage.
Mání was all confounded by the words,
His favour changed, the king was wroth with him,
So that his days were straitened, bidding some
To drag him from the court disgraced, and said:--
“This worshipper of pictures is unfit
To live, so since he causeth turmoil here
Flay him from head to foot, and let his skin
Be stuffed with hay, and then, that no one else
May make pretences to like dignity,
Hang up the skin upon the city-gate,
Or on the wall outside the hospital.”
So did they.
All the people blessed the Sháh,
And cast dust on the body of the slain.
The fortune of Shapúr was such that men
Saw in his garth no thorn upon the rose.
He was so just, so wise, and politic,
Brave, bounteous, active, that not anywhere
Was left a foe, or evil e’en a lair.
Abu'l-Maʿālī Muḥammad ibn ʿUbayd Allāh, Exposition of Religions, p. 145 (1092 CE)
translated from Kessler, Mani, 371-372; bracketed notes are those of Kessler.
“Teachings” of Mānī. This man was a master in the art of painting. He appeared among the Magi during the time of Shapur, the son of Ardashîr, and claimed the title of prophet. His means of legitimation was his skill in writing and painting. It is said that he drew a script on a piece of white silk in such a way [i.e., so finely] that the silk could be pulled out thread by thread without the script becoming visible. He compiled a book with all kinds of paintings, called the Arzhang of Mānī, which is in his princely treasury in Ghazna.
His denomination was entirely that of Zarathustra; he was devoted to the doctrine of the Dualists, as we mentioned earlier.
[The following is a supplement to this and is the actual doctrine of Mani.]
Doctrine of the Dualists. They say the same thing as Zarathustra said, namely, that there are two Creators: one is Light, the Creator of Good, the other is Darkness, the Creator of Evil. Everything in the world that is pleasant, bright, orderly, and good goes back to the Creator of Good, and everything that is evil, corruption, sickness, and darkness goes back to the Creator of Evil. However, they call both Creators eternal. They consider it obligatory to give a tithe of their possessions. They keep a garment for each year and acquire the necessary food for each day; they consider it unlawful to possess more. They celebrate the seventh part of their lives as a festival and offer four prayers daily. They believe in the divine messengership of Adam (Hail him!) and that of Seth; then the prophecy of Nuh; then that of a man in India called the Buddha. Furthermore, Zarathustra was a prophet in Persia, and they call Mani the Seal of the Prophets. They attribute a great miraculous gift to the Buddha.
The Sabians had the same teaching.
His denomination was entirely that of Zarathustra; he was devoted to the doctrine of the Dualists, as we mentioned earlier.
[The following is a supplement to this and is the actual doctrine of Mani.]
Doctrine of the Dualists. They say the same thing as Zarathustra said, namely, that there are two Creators: one is Light, the Creator of Good, the other is Darkness, the Creator of Evil. Everything in the world that is pleasant, bright, orderly, and good goes back to the Creator of Good, and everything that is evil, corruption, sickness, and darkness goes back to the Creator of Evil. However, they call both Creators eternal. They consider it obligatory to give a tithe of their possessions. They keep a garment for each year and acquire the necessary food for each day; they consider it unlawful to possess more. They celebrate the seventh part of their lives as a festival and offer four prayers daily. They believe in the divine messengership of Adam (Hail him!) and that of Seth; then the prophecy of Nuh; then that of a man in India called the Buddha. Furthermore, Zarathustra was a prophet in Persia, and they call Mani the Seal of the Prophets. They attribute a great miraculous gift to the Buddha.
The Sabians had the same teaching.
Muhammad al-Shahrastānī, The Book of Sects and Creeds, 1.2.2, pp. 188-192 (1128 CE)
translated from Abu’l-Fath‘ Muhammad asch-Schahrastani, Religionspartheien und Philosophen-Schulen, trans. and ed. Theodor Haarbrücker, vol. 1 (Halle: C. A. Schwetschke und Sohn, 1850), 285-291.
The Mānawīya (Manichaeans)
They are the followers of Mānī ibn Fatik, the sage who arose in the days of Shapur ibn Ardashir, and whom Bahram ibn Hormizd ibn Shapur killed. This took place after Isa [Jesus]. He had adopted a faith between magic and Christianity, and affirmed the prophethood of the Messiah, but not that of Musa. Muhammad ibn Harun, known by the name Abu Isa al-Warraq, who was originally a magician and familiar with the teachings of the people, reports that the wise Mani believed that the world was formed, composed of two eternal elements, light and darkness, both beginningless and endless; and that he denied the existence of anything that was not composed of an eternal element. He also believed that both were sense-endowed powers without beginning, which hear and see, but that both were nevertheless directly opposed to each other in terms of soul, form, action, and arrangement, but that in terms of space they formed a pair, like a person and his shadow. The essential properties and actions of both are made clear by the following table.
They are the followers of Mānī ibn Fatik, the sage who arose in the days of Shapur ibn Ardashir, and whom Bahram ibn Hormizd ibn Shapur killed. This took place after Isa [Jesus]. He had adopted a faith between magic and Christianity, and affirmed the prophethood of the Messiah, but not that of Musa. Muhammad ibn Harun, known by the name Abu Isa al-Warraq, who was originally a magician and familiar with the teachings of the people, reports that the wise Mani believed that the world was formed, composed of two eternal elements, light and darkness, both beginningless and endless; and that he denied the existence of anything that was not composed of an eternal element. He also believed that both were sense-endowed powers without beginning, which hear and see, but that both were nevertheless directly opposed to each other in terms of soul, form, action, and arrangement, but that in terms of space they formed a pair, like a person and his shadow. The essential properties and actions of both are made clear by the following table.
The Light. |
The Darkness. |
The Substance. Its substance is beautiful, excellent, noble, pure, clear, good in fragrance, pleasing in appearance. |
The Substance. Its substance is ugly, imperfect, lowly, impure, filthy, stinking in odor, ugly in appearance. |
The Soul. Its soul is good, noble, wise, beneficial, knowledgeable. |
The Soul. Its soul is evil, lowly, foolish, harmful, ignorant. |
The Deed. Its deed is goodness, salvation, benefit, joy, order, coherence, harmony. |
The Deed. Its deed is evil, destruction, harm, affliction, confusion, interruption, division. |
The Space. Its side is upward; and the majority are of the opinion that it is raised upward from the north side; some believe that it is located on the side of darkness. |
The Space. Its side is downward; and the majority are of the opinion that it was cast down from the south side; some believe that it is located on the side of light. |
The Genera. Five; four of them are bodies and the fifth is their spirit. The bodies are: fire, light, wind, and water; its spirit is the gentle breath of air, and it moves within these bodies. |
The Genera. Five; four of them are bodies and the fifth is their spirit. The bodies are: burning, darkness, the hot wind (Samūm), and the fog; their spirit is the vapor which brings weakness, and it moves within these bodies. |
The Properties. Chaste, pure, good, spotless. Some of them assert that light has a being quite similar to this world, that it has an earth and a surrounding atmosphere, and that the earth of light is infinitely fine, not of the form of this earth, but of the form of the body of the sun, and its rays like the rays of the sun, and its fragrance good, the best fragrance, and its colors the colors of the rainbow. Others say: there is nothing apart from the body, and the bodies are of three kinds, the earth of light; but there are five; therefore, there is still another body finer than that one, and that is the atmosphere, and that is the soul of light; and another body finer than this, that is the gentle breath, and that is the spirit of light. They further say that light does not cease to beget angels and gods and saints, not by way of sexual intercourse, but as wisdom is produced from the wise and reason from the rational. And it is a spirit, and its world contains what is praiseworthy and light within itself. |
The Properties. Filthy, evil, impure, stained. Some of them assert that darkness has a being quite similar to this world, that it has an earth and a surrounding atmosphere, and that the earth of darkness is infinitely dense, not of the form of this earth, but denser and harder, and its odor is vile, the most hideous stench, and its colors are like the color black. Others say: there is nothing apart from the body, but the bodies are of three kinds, the earth of darkness, and something else darker than it, namely the Samūm. They further say that darkness does not cease to beget demons and devils, not by way of sexual intercourse, but as vermin from rotting carrion. The ruler of that world is its spirit, whose world contains evil, the blameworthy, and darkness. |
Then, however, the followers of Mani have different opinions about the mixing and its cause, and about liberation and its cause. Some claim that light and darkness were mixed together by error and chance, but not by a definite intention or free choice. The majority of them say that the reason for the mixing was that the bodies of darkness once separated themselves from their spirit and looked towards the spirit; then he saw the light and sent the bodies to mix with the light, and they were obedient because of their inclination to evil. But when the Lord of Light saw this, he sent one of his angels with five parts of his five sexes against them, and thus the five beings of light mingled with the five beings of darkness; the smoke mingled with the gentle breath of air, and life and spirit in this world thus come from the gentle breath of air, and destruction and ruin from the smoke. Burning has mingled with fire, light with darkness, Samūm with breath, mist with water, so that whatever is useful, good, and blessed in the world comes from the light generations, and whatever is harmful, bad, and destructive comes from the darkness generations.
When the Lord of Light saw this mixture, he commanded one of his angels to create this world in this form in order to free the races of light from the races of darkness. The sun, the moon, and the other stars were created only to purify the parts of light from the parts of darkness. The sun purifies the light that is mixed with the satans of heat, and the moon purifies the light that is mixed with the satans of cold. The fine breath of air that is on earth always rises upwards because it is its nature to ascend into its world, and likewise, all parts of light rise and rise upwards, and the parts of darkness always descend and sink into the depths, until one part is freed from the other, and the mixture is destroyed, and the compounds are dissolved, and each has reached its whole and its world, and that is the resurrection and return. They further claim that among those things which are especially helpful in the liberation, separation, and elevation of the light parts are prayer, sanctification, good speech, and pure actions. For by these means, the light parts are lifted into the celestial orbit of the moon at the rising radiance of dawn, and the moon does not cease to receive them from the first of the month until the middle of it, so that it is filled and becomes a full moon. Then it carries them to the sun until the end of the month, and the sun lifts them to the light above it, and they continue in this world until they reach the highest, pure light. But this activity will not cease until nothing of the light parts remains in this world, except a small, bound part which the sun and moon cannot purify. At this time, however, the angel who supports the earth is lifted up, and the angel who expands the heavens rests, so that the highest falls upon the lowest. Then a fire is ignited until the highest and lowest parts are ablaze; and it does not cease to burn until what is still contained within it of the light is freed. The duration of the burning is 1468 years. The wise Mānī states in the first chapter of his book al-Jibilla and at the beginning of the Shābūhragan that nothing is hidden from the Lord of the Kingdom of Light in all his earth, that he is both external and internal, and that he only has an end where his earth ends in the earth of his enemy. He also says that the Lord of the Kingdom of Light is in the navel of his earth, and states that the eternal mixture is the mixture of heat and cold, of wetness and dryness, and that the resulting mixture is that of good and evil. Mani, however, commanded his followers to pay a tithing of goods, pray four times a day and night, and exhort them to truth and refrain from lying, murder, theft, adultery, covetousness, sorcery, and idol worship, even if something befell a living person that they did not wish to be befallen. His belief regarding the laws and the prophets was that the first God sent with knowledge and wisdom was Adam, the father of the human race. After him came Seth, then Noah, then Abraham. Then he sent the Buddhas to the land of India and Zarathustra to the land of the Persians, and the Messiah, the Word of God, and his spirit to the land of the Greeks and the West. Paul, after the Messiah, to them. Then came the seal of the prophets in the land of the Arabs. But Abu Said, the Manichaean, the chief among them, believed that what had passed from the time of the mixture until the time in which he lived—271 of the Hijra (884 A.D.)—was 11,700 years, and that what remained until the time of liberation was 300 years. According to his teaching, the period of mixture lasts 12,000 years; thus, counting from our time, namely 521 A.H. (1127 A.D.), there would still be 50 years left, so that we are living at the end of the mixture and the beginning of liberation, and there are still 50 years until the complete liberation and dissolution of the compounds. God knows best!
When the Lord of Light saw this mixture, he commanded one of his angels to create this world in this form in order to free the races of light from the races of darkness. The sun, the moon, and the other stars were created only to purify the parts of light from the parts of darkness. The sun purifies the light that is mixed with the satans of heat, and the moon purifies the light that is mixed with the satans of cold. The fine breath of air that is on earth always rises upwards because it is its nature to ascend into its world, and likewise, all parts of light rise and rise upwards, and the parts of darkness always descend and sink into the depths, until one part is freed from the other, and the mixture is destroyed, and the compounds are dissolved, and each has reached its whole and its world, and that is the resurrection and return. They further claim that among those things which are especially helpful in the liberation, separation, and elevation of the light parts are prayer, sanctification, good speech, and pure actions. For by these means, the light parts are lifted into the celestial orbit of the moon at the rising radiance of dawn, and the moon does not cease to receive them from the first of the month until the middle of it, so that it is filled and becomes a full moon. Then it carries them to the sun until the end of the month, and the sun lifts them to the light above it, and they continue in this world until they reach the highest, pure light. But this activity will not cease until nothing of the light parts remains in this world, except a small, bound part which the sun and moon cannot purify. At this time, however, the angel who supports the earth is lifted up, and the angel who expands the heavens rests, so that the highest falls upon the lowest. Then a fire is ignited until the highest and lowest parts are ablaze; and it does not cease to burn until what is still contained within it of the light is freed. The duration of the burning is 1468 years. The wise Mānī states in the first chapter of his book al-Jibilla and at the beginning of the Shābūhragan that nothing is hidden from the Lord of the Kingdom of Light in all his earth, that he is both external and internal, and that he only has an end where his earth ends in the earth of his enemy. He also says that the Lord of the Kingdom of Light is in the navel of his earth, and states that the eternal mixture is the mixture of heat and cold, of wetness and dryness, and that the resulting mixture is that of good and evil. Mani, however, commanded his followers to pay a tithing of goods, pray four times a day and night, and exhort them to truth and refrain from lying, murder, theft, adultery, covetousness, sorcery, and idol worship, even if something befell a living person that they did not wish to be befallen. His belief regarding the laws and the prophets was that the first God sent with knowledge and wisdom was Adam, the father of the human race. After him came Seth, then Noah, then Abraham. Then he sent the Buddhas to the land of India and Zarathustra to the land of the Persians, and the Messiah, the Word of God, and his spirit to the land of the Greeks and the West. Paul, after the Messiah, to them. Then came the seal of the prophets in the land of the Arabs. But Abu Said, the Manichaean, the chief among them, believed that what had passed from the time of the mixture until the time in which he lived—271 of the Hijra (884 A.D.)—was 11,700 years, and that what remained until the time of liberation was 300 years. According to his teaching, the period of mixture lasts 12,000 years; thus, counting from our time, namely 521 A.H. (1127 A.D.), there would still be 50 years left, so that we are living at the end of the mixture and the beginning of liberation, and there are still 50 years until the complete liberation and dissolution of the compounds. God knows best!
Abu al-Walīd Ibn al-Shihna, Garden of the Spectacles of History (c. 1400)
translated from Kessler, Mani, 369-370.
The Zandik Mānī emerged, claimed the prophetic status for himself, and found many followers who were called “Manichaeans.” The Greek [i.e., Eastern Roman] kings favored him, with the exception of Diocletian. He wrote on philosophy and implanted it into Persian religion. He invented the musical instrument called the lute.
Aḥmad ibn Yaḥyā Ibn al-Murtaḍā, Kitāb al-Baḥr al-zahhār 1, pp. 56-58 (c. 1400)
translated from Kessler, Mani, 349-355.
The dualists are divided into nine schools of thought. First, the Manichaeans. They trace their origins back to a man named Mānī, the son of Wānī (read Fatak), the Syrian philosopher, who appeared during the time of Sabur, the son of Ardashir, and claimed the title of prophet. The Magi then confronted him and advised Sabur to kill him; Bahram, the son of Hormizd, the son of Shapur, actually killed him in the time after Jesus the Blessed. His sect of faith survived among his followers.
His writings include the Gospel and the book of Shābūhragan.
This school acknowledges the divine nature of light and the divine nature of darkness, as well as their respective life and power, the creation of the world through the intermingling of both, and the opposition of their respective forms and natures. The fundamental substance of light is therefore beautiful, pure, fragrant, beautiful to look at; its soul is good, noble, life-giving, beneficial, and contains no evil. The fundamental substance of darkness is of a nature directly opposite to this.
They teach: The two were originally separated from each other, but then they mingled. These two do not reach each other from any side except on the side where they border each other.
Furthermore, they (the Manichaeans) disagree about the location of the two. It is said that light is above darkness, but it is also said that each of the two elements lie to the other’s side. It is said that the light is increased toward the north, and the darkness is reduced toward the south.
Furthermore, they disagree about the manner in which they come together, and some say it occurs by contact, just as a shadow meets the sun; others say there is a gap between the two. They maintain that each of the two elements consists of five kinds, four of which are bodies, the fifth the spirit. The corporeal components of light are fire, air, wind, and water, and its spirit is the gentle breeze, and this spirit moves incessantly back and forth in these four bodies. The corporeal components of darkness are fire, blackness, the scorching wind, and the smothering mist; its spirit is smoke, which they call al-Hummāmah. They call the bodies of light angels, and the bodies of darkness devils and satans. They further teach that the spirit of light continually benefits its bodies, and that these benefit both the spirit and each other; but the spirit of darkness acts in the opposite way. Some of them say that the spirits and the sexes are alive and endowed with sentience; others say that only the two (main) spirits, and nothing else; the (other) spirits of light are endowed with life only externally, but have neither feeling nor discrimination; the bodies of darkness are dead and corrupting. They further teach that all good comes from light, all evil from darkness; according to some, by their nature, according to others, by free choice, only that their choice does not run counter to their nature; and this means that light chooses the good with good intentions, while darkness chooses evil with evil intentions. They say that, with regard to beauty and ugliness, things form a contrast only according to the proportions of light and darkness, from which no thing is essentially free, as all are composed of both. They differ in their opinions regarding chance (namely, as the cause of the mixture), and fluctuate between affirmation and denial, but they are agreed that it was certainly a mixture from which the combination of things occurred. Furthermore, they differ in their opinions regarding where the mixture occurred, and they say, for example, it happened in the world of darkness, below the world of light; but also, between the two. They differ in their views regarding the cause of the mixture, and they say, it happened because the world of darkness had no boundary and continually pursued its direction until it reached the boundary of light at the time of the mixture. It is further said that darkness never ceased to roam the realm of its world, and, with a sudden attack and not with any preconceived intention, plunged upon the light, whereupon they mingled. However, a number of them say: no, it was not so; rather, the cause was that the bodies of darkness, once interrupting their damaging intrusion upon their spirits, became entangled in strife with one another. Then the spirit looked up, saw the light, and called its bodies to mingle with the light. They agreed to this, because they are always quick to do evil. Then darkness devised and formed an ugly shape from all its five components. When the king of the world of light saw this, he sent one of his angels, formed from his five essences, to meet that shape. He became powerful over the shape and bound it. Then the light parts mingled with the darkness parts. The smoke mingled with the gentle breath of air, and thus life and spirit now come from the gentle breath, but destruction from the smoke. Combustion mingled with fire, and thus good comes from fire, but evil from combustion. Light mingled with darkness, and hence came the composition of solid bodies, such as gold and silver, and so on. Whatever useful effects and beauty are contained in them comes from light, the opposite from darkness. The smoke mingled with the water, and the fiery wind with the gentle wind. Then the king of the world of light commanded the creation of this visible world and its vegetation from those mixed parts, for the purpose of freeing these components from the darkness. He created the heavens and the earth with everything in them, and entrusted one angel with supporting the earth and another with supporting the heavens. He further created the firmaments and entrusted an angel with setting them in circular motion. The sun and the moon follow their orbits for the purpose of separating whatever light is contained in this world, and they do not cease to perform their function until only tightly interwoven components remain, which they are unable to separate. Meanwhile, the angel who was entrusted with the earth raises himself up, and the angel who was entrusted with heaven lets go. Then the highest falls upon the lowest, and a fire blazes out from these lower regions and burns on until, in the world of darkness, all the light parts connected with the darkness are freed. There are different opinions about the duration of the fire; it is said that it will last 1,468 years, but it is also said that it will last 1,460 years. When the darkness has seen the liberation of the light, the urge to fight stirs within it, but the hosts surrounding it push it back, and so, filled with terror, it returns to the grave that has been prepared for it, and the entrance to the grave is blocked above it with a large stone.
They share their view, and some believe that once the light has freed itself from darkness, it will erect a partition of light from darkness between itself and the darkness, so that the darkness will not return and cause further harm. Others believe that nothing of the light remains in it, neither a little nor a lot.
The scholar says (namely, the author commented on here): Mānī states in his Gospel and in the Shābūhragan that the King of the Light World dwells in the “navel” of his earth. He further states, in the section ’Alif of his Gospel and in the first part of the Shābūhragan, that he (the Light World God) is present throughout his earth (i.e., not just in its innermost being), both without and within; he has no boundary except at the side where his earth abuts that of his enemy.
Mānī commanded them to live in poverty and acquire nothing but clothing for a year and food for a day. He further commanded the tithe of goods and entrusted this tax to his representatives. He forbade entering the temple of an idol, fornication, theft, and causing pain to any living being in any way; further, he forbade marriage and the ejaculation of semen. — Yazdānbakht claims in his writings that Adam was the first of the prophets; after him Seth, then Noah; he affirms the mission of the Buddha to India, of Zarathustra to Persia, and that of Jesus to the West. Then Mānī, the Paraclete, came as “the seal of the prophets and the leader of the righteous.” Thus Mani expressed it in his book (the Shābūhragan).
They set forth false explanations, which we will, God willing, present when the discussion turns to them.
His writings include the Gospel and the book of Shābūhragan.
This school acknowledges the divine nature of light and the divine nature of darkness, as well as their respective life and power, the creation of the world through the intermingling of both, and the opposition of their respective forms and natures. The fundamental substance of light is therefore beautiful, pure, fragrant, beautiful to look at; its soul is good, noble, life-giving, beneficial, and contains no evil. The fundamental substance of darkness is of a nature directly opposite to this.
They teach: The two were originally separated from each other, but then they mingled. These two do not reach each other from any side except on the side where they border each other.
Furthermore, they (the Manichaeans) disagree about the location of the two. It is said that light is above darkness, but it is also said that each of the two elements lie to the other’s side. It is said that the light is increased toward the north, and the darkness is reduced toward the south.
Furthermore, they disagree about the manner in which they come together, and some say it occurs by contact, just as a shadow meets the sun; others say there is a gap between the two. They maintain that each of the two elements consists of five kinds, four of which are bodies, the fifth the spirit. The corporeal components of light are fire, air, wind, and water, and its spirit is the gentle breeze, and this spirit moves incessantly back and forth in these four bodies. The corporeal components of darkness are fire, blackness, the scorching wind, and the smothering mist; its spirit is smoke, which they call al-Hummāmah. They call the bodies of light angels, and the bodies of darkness devils and satans. They further teach that the spirit of light continually benefits its bodies, and that these benefit both the spirit and each other; but the spirit of darkness acts in the opposite way. Some of them say that the spirits and the sexes are alive and endowed with sentience; others say that only the two (main) spirits, and nothing else; the (other) spirits of light are endowed with life only externally, but have neither feeling nor discrimination; the bodies of darkness are dead and corrupting. They further teach that all good comes from light, all evil from darkness; according to some, by their nature, according to others, by free choice, only that their choice does not run counter to their nature; and this means that light chooses the good with good intentions, while darkness chooses evil with evil intentions. They say that, with regard to beauty and ugliness, things form a contrast only according to the proportions of light and darkness, from which no thing is essentially free, as all are composed of both. They differ in their opinions regarding chance (namely, as the cause of the mixture), and fluctuate between affirmation and denial, but they are agreed that it was certainly a mixture from which the combination of things occurred. Furthermore, they differ in their opinions regarding where the mixture occurred, and they say, for example, it happened in the world of darkness, below the world of light; but also, between the two. They differ in their views regarding the cause of the mixture, and they say, it happened because the world of darkness had no boundary and continually pursued its direction until it reached the boundary of light at the time of the mixture. It is further said that darkness never ceased to roam the realm of its world, and, with a sudden attack and not with any preconceived intention, plunged upon the light, whereupon they mingled. However, a number of them say: no, it was not so; rather, the cause was that the bodies of darkness, once interrupting their damaging intrusion upon their spirits, became entangled in strife with one another. Then the spirit looked up, saw the light, and called its bodies to mingle with the light. They agreed to this, because they are always quick to do evil. Then darkness devised and formed an ugly shape from all its five components. When the king of the world of light saw this, he sent one of his angels, formed from his five essences, to meet that shape. He became powerful over the shape and bound it. Then the light parts mingled with the darkness parts. The smoke mingled with the gentle breath of air, and thus life and spirit now come from the gentle breath, but destruction from the smoke. Combustion mingled with fire, and thus good comes from fire, but evil from combustion. Light mingled with darkness, and hence came the composition of solid bodies, such as gold and silver, and so on. Whatever useful effects and beauty are contained in them comes from light, the opposite from darkness. The smoke mingled with the water, and the fiery wind with the gentle wind. Then the king of the world of light commanded the creation of this visible world and its vegetation from those mixed parts, for the purpose of freeing these components from the darkness. He created the heavens and the earth with everything in them, and entrusted one angel with supporting the earth and another with supporting the heavens. He further created the firmaments and entrusted an angel with setting them in circular motion. The sun and the moon follow their orbits for the purpose of separating whatever light is contained in this world, and they do not cease to perform their function until only tightly interwoven components remain, which they are unable to separate. Meanwhile, the angel who was entrusted with the earth raises himself up, and the angel who was entrusted with heaven lets go. Then the highest falls upon the lowest, and a fire blazes out from these lower regions and burns on until, in the world of darkness, all the light parts connected with the darkness are freed. There are different opinions about the duration of the fire; it is said that it will last 1,468 years, but it is also said that it will last 1,460 years. When the darkness has seen the liberation of the light, the urge to fight stirs within it, but the hosts surrounding it push it back, and so, filled with terror, it returns to the grave that has been prepared for it, and the entrance to the grave is blocked above it with a large stone.
They share their view, and some believe that once the light has freed itself from darkness, it will erect a partition of light from darkness between itself and the darkness, so that the darkness will not return and cause further harm. Others believe that nothing of the light remains in it, neither a little nor a lot.
The scholar says (namely, the author commented on here): Mānī states in his Gospel and in the Shābūhragan that the King of the Light World dwells in the “navel” of his earth. He further states, in the section ’Alif of his Gospel and in the first part of the Shābūhragan, that he (the Light World God) is present throughout his earth (i.e., not just in its innermost being), both without and within; he has no boundary except at the side where his earth abuts that of his enemy.
Mānī commanded them to live in poverty and acquire nothing but clothing for a year and food for a day. He further commanded the tithe of goods and entrusted this tax to his representatives. He forbade entering the temple of an idol, fornication, theft, and causing pain to any living being in any way; further, he forbade marriage and the ejaculation of semen. — Yazdānbakht claims in his writings that Adam was the first of the prophets; after him Seth, then Noah; he affirms the mission of the Buddha to India, of Zarathustra to Persia, and that of Jesus to the West. Then Mānī, the Paraclete, came as “the seal of the prophets and the leader of the righteous.” Thus Mani expressed it in his book (the Shābūhragan).
They set forth false explanations, which we will, God willing, present when the discussion turns to them.
Mīrkhwānd, The Garden of Purity (1497 CE)
translated from Kessler, Mani, 379-381.
Narration of the Reign of Bahram, son of Hurmuz.
… Some historians say that the painter Mānī, who had risen during the reign of Shapur, left Iran for India and returned to Iran during the reign of Bahram, and that Bahram, son of Hormizd, had him killed. …
Narration of Mani the Painter.
It is written in some books after their author came across the tradition of Mānī the Zandik that Jesus, may peace be upon him, commanded: “After me, the Paraclete will be sent; therefore, you should impress upon your descendants that they should follow him.” Mānī now imagined that “Paraclete” was a designation for himself. The fact is, however, that this exalted word is one of the names of the Holy Prophet [i.e., Muhammad]. Thus, he undoubtedly claimed the dignity of a prophet in vain conceit. He presented a book, the Gospel, and said: “This book has come down from heaven.” Al-Masudi says that Shapur first accepted his religion, but later turned away from his teachings and began to criticize Mānī; but Mānī fled and went via Kashmir to India, from where he went to Turkistan and Khata [i.e., northern China].
Mānī was a painter without equal, so that, it is said, he could describe a circle five cubits in diameter with his finger [i.e., “freehand”], and when examined with a compass, one could find absolutely no unevenness in the individual parts of the circumference. Marvelous paintings were indeed produced by him.
He then roamed incessantly in the region of the Eastern countries. It is said that he came to a mountain containing a cave that provided the necessary comfort of refreshing air and a spring of water. This cave had only one entrance. Then, unnoticed by any man, he brought a year’s worth of food into the cave and spoke to his followers: “I will ascend to heaven, and my stay in the heavenly realms will extend to one year. After a year, I will come down from heaven to earth and bring you news of God.” He said to the people: “At the beginning of the second year, pay close attention to me in such and such a place near the cave.”
After this admonition, he disappeared from human sight, entered the aforementioned cave, and spent a year painting. On a tablet, he created wonderful drawings and called this tablet Arzhang-i- Mānī. A year later, he reappeared before the people near the cave there, holding the aforementioned tablet in his hand, painted with wonderful images and inscribed with diverse drawings. Everyone who saw it said: “The world produces a thousand different drawings, but such a painting of its kind has never appeared among us.” When the people remained in stupefied amazement at this tablet, Mani declared: “I have brought this one from heaven to serve as my prophetic miracle.” Then the people accepted his religion.
But Mani turned to the Persian kingdom with the intention of deceiving the inhabitants of that land as well. When he had gained ground in Iran, he arranged a meeting with Bahram and invited him to accept his religion. The well-disposed king initially listened to his words with sympathy until he came to calm reflection. His loyal followers gathered, and he summoned the empire’s scholars to court to engage in a debate and confrontation with Mani. Mani remained the weaker in his arguments and came out on the losing end.
When his heresy and error became known to everyone, he was called upon to recant. Since Mani refused, Bahram ordered his skin to be flayed and hung at the palace gate as a warning example to all who might see it, and to his followers and successors who might be sent after him.
… Some historians say that the painter Mānī, who had risen during the reign of Shapur, left Iran for India and returned to Iran during the reign of Bahram, and that Bahram, son of Hormizd, had him killed. …
Narration of Mani the Painter.
It is written in some books after their author came across the tradition of Mānī the Zandik that Jesus, may peace be upon him, commanded: “After me, the Paraclete will be sent; therefore, you should impress upon your descendants that they should follow him.” Mānī now imagined that “Paraclete” was a designation for himself. The fact is, however, that this exalted word is one of the names of the Holy Prophet [i.e., Muhammad]. Thus, he undoubtedly claimed the dignity of a prophet in vain conceit. He presented a book, the Gospel, and said: “This book has come down from heaven.” Al-Masudi says that Shapur first accepted his religion, but later turned away from his teachings and began to criticize Mānī; but Mānī fled and went via Kashmir to India, from where he went to Turkistan and Khata [i.e., northern China].
Mānī was a painter without equal, so that, it is said, he could describe a circle five cubits in diameter with his finger [i.e., “freehand”], and when examined with a compass, one could find absolutely no unevenness in the individual parts of the circumference. Marvelous paintings were indeed produced by him.
He then roamed incessantly in the region of the Eastern countries. It is said that he came to a mountain containing a cave that provided the necessary comfort of refreshing air and a spring of water. This cave had only one entrance. Then, unnoticed by any man, he brought a year’s worth of food into the cave and spoke to his followers: “I will ascend to heaven, and my stay in the heavenly realms will extend to one year. After a year, I will come down from heaven to earth and bring you news of God.” He said to the people: “At the beginning of the second year, pay close attention to me in such and such a place near the cave.”
After this admonition, he disappeared from human sight, entered the aforementioned cave, and spent a year painting. On a tablet, he created wonderful drawings and called this tablet Arzhang-i- Mānī. A year later, he reappeared before the people near the cave there, holding the aforementioned tablet in his hand, painted with wonderful images and inscribed with diverse drawings. Everyone who saw it said: “The world produces a thousand different drawings, but such a painting of its kind has never appeared among us.” When the people remained in stupefied amazement at this tablet, Mani declared: “I have brought this one from heaven to serve as my prophetic miracle.” Then the people accepted his religion.
But Mani turned to the Persian kingdom with the intention of deceiving the inhabitants of that land as well. When he had gained ground in Iran, he arranged a meeting with Bahram and invited him to accept his religion. The well-disposed king initially listened to his words with sympathy until he came to calm reflection. His loyal followers gathered, and he summoned the empire’s scholars to court to engage in a debate and confrontation with Mani. Mani remained the weaker in his arguments and came out on the losing end.
When his heresy and error became known to everyone, he was called upon to recant. Since Mani refused, Bahram ordered his skin to be flayed and hung at the palace gate as a warning example to all who might see it, and to his followers and successors who might be sent after him.
