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| THE CANONICAL PRAYERBOOK OF THE MANDAEANS |
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| Prayer 165 |
| In the name of the Great Life Sublime Life be magnified! Poor am I! From the fruits... And displaced am I, from far away am I A poor one whom the Great Life afflicted , A displaced (being), for the ‘uthras removed me; They brought me from the Abode of the Good; Yea! they assigned me a dwelling in the abode of evil ones, Yea they made me dwell in the abode of evil ones Which is all full of wickedness. All full of evil, full of consuming fire. I willed it not, nor do I desire To dwell in the futile dwelling, With my strength and with my vigilance (Perforce and with vigilance?) Have I dwelt in the futile abode, By my vigilance and my praise Have I kept myself alien from it, From the world. I have stood amongst them like a fatherless child, Like a fatherless child, or like A fruit tree with none to tend it. I hear the voice of the Seven, Who murmur and confer together They say, "Whence is this being? (this) stranger, Whose whose speech is not like our speech ?" I did not listen to their talk And they were filled with evil rage against me. The Life, who heard my cry, sent towards me a saviour. He sent me a gentle ‘uthra, A being equipped and equipping. He discoursed with me in his pure voice, Just as ‘uthras discourse in the House of Perfection And he said, “Fear not, poor thing; and do not tremble, Say not ‘I am alone!’ Because of thee, poor one the firmament Was thus outspanned, the heavens were outspanned thus; And stars were created therein. For thy sake, poor one, This dry land came into being, The dry land came to pass and became solid And fell into the water. On thine account, poor one, The sun came; for thee was the moon revealed. On thine account, poor one, did the seven come. And those twelve went hither. At thy right hand, thou poor one, abideth radiance And at thy left are beams of light Stand firm! Rise in thy brightness Until thy measure (of years) is complete. When thy measure is complete, I myself will come to thee, I will bring thee Robes of splendour Which the world, coveteous, will entreat; I will bring to thee wrappings Good and pure, of the Light Which is great and boundless. I will deliver thee from the wicked And save thee from sinners. I will set thee in thy škinta In the Pure Place. I will rescue thee!” I hear the voice of the Seven As they mutter and whisper and say “Blessed is it that the poor one Hath a father, and the fruit-tree one who tendeth it. For us there is no father: our fruit-tree hath none to tend it!” Well is it for him whom the Great Life knoweth But woe to him whom the Great Life knoweth not I Well is it for him whom the Great Life knoweth, Who keepeth himself alien from the world, From the world of imperfection In which the planets sit. On thrones of rebellion do they sit And perform their deeds with a scourge. They stir up trouble about gold and silver, They cast into it (the world) strife, They stir up trouble cast strife into it. And they will go into the fire: will seethe, They will go into fire and will seethe, The wicked will seethe and their pomp Will perish and be brought to a stop. (But) I, Adam-Yuhana son of Mahnuš, And my offspring and my kinsfolk I will arise, I will behold the Place of Light The place whose sun goeth not down, Nor do its lamps of light grow dim. To it, to that place, (to that) bourne Your souls are bidden and invited, And the souls of our good brothers And those (of) our sisters who are believing. Life is extolled and victorious And victorious is the man who went hence. |