Manichaean Gnosis and Creation Myth
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SINO-PLATONIC PAPERS Number 156 July, 2005 Manichaean Gnosis and Creation Myth by Abolqasen Esmailpour Victor H. Mair, Editor Sino-Platonic Papers Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305 USA [email protected] www.sino-platonic.org SINO-PLATONIC PAPERS FOUNDED 1986 Editor-in-Chief VICTOR H. MAIR Associate Editors PAULA ROBERTS MARK SWOFFORD ISSN 2157-9679 (print) 2157-9687 (online) SINO-PLATONIC PAPERS is an occasional series dedicated to making available to specialists and the interested public the results of research that, because of its unconventional or controversial nature, might otherwise go unpublished. The editor-in-chief actively encourages younger, not yet well established, scholars and independent authors to submit manuscripts for consideration. Contributions in any of the major scholarly languages of the world, including romanized modern standard Mandarin (MSM) and Japanese, are acceptable. 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To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 543 Howard Street, 5th Floor, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA. ", Manichaean Gnosis and Creation Myth by Abolqasem Esmailpour1 1 Abolqasem Esmailpour, born in 1954, is Professor in the Persian Literature Department, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran. He has been teaching as a visiting professor at the Faculty of Oriental Languages and Literatures, Shanghai International Studies University in China since 2004. He has published other books and papers on Eastern mythology and Iranian studies. Abolqasem EsmaiIpour, Manichaean Gnosis & Creation Myth Sino-Platonic Papers, 156 (July, 2005) Contents Foreword I. Manichaean Gnosis: An Introduction to Its Iranian Cultural, Artistic and Literary Reflections Manichaean Gnosis Cultural Reflections Artistic Reflections Literary Reflections II. Manichaean Creation Myth The Manichaean Pantheon The Reconstruction and Narration of the Creation Myth The Paradise of Light The Realm of Darkness The Devil's Invasion of the Realm of Light The First Creation The Second Creation The Creation of the Cosmos The Third Creation The Creation of Man The Fate of the Soul after Death The End of the World The Creation of the First Human Beings III. Mani's Pictorial Manifesto Introduction Ardahang in Classical Persian Literature The Interpretation of Ardahang The Pictorial Motifs of Creation IV. The Role of the Beloved of the Lights Introduction Middle Persian and Parthian Texts 2 Abolqasem Esmailpour, Manichaean Gnosis & Creation Myth Sino-Platonic Papers, 156 (July, 2005) Arabic and Persian Texts Syriac Texts Coptic Texts Conclusion v. Manichaean Gods and Goddesses in a Classical Arabic Treatise Introduction The Golden Age The First Creation The Second Creation The Third Creation Conclusion VI. Riimi's Prologue to the Mathnawr and Gnostic Hymns: A Comparative Analysi's Introduction Comparative Analysis Conclusion List of the Texts Bibliography 3 Abolqasem Esmailponr, Manichaean Gnosis & Creation Myth Sino-Platonic Papers, 156 (July, 2005) Foreword Among various narratives of cosmology throughout the world Manichaean creation myth is undoubtedly unique and significant. In the first chapter, before entering the fantastic imaginary scenario of Manichaean creation myth, I attempt to shine a new light on the cultural, artistic and literary reflections of Manichaean Gnosis an~ its roots in Iranian culture as an introduction to an Iranian approach to Gnosticism. However, my main motive is to supply various texts on creation myth or cosmogonical process in Manichaeism. In addition, I found it necessary to coordinate and reconstruct the myth based up on various multilingual texts, such as Parthian, Middle and Classical Persian, Sogdian, Syriac, Coptic, Uigurian, Chinese and Arabic texts, translating these into a fluent narrative. This is . provided extensively hi the second chapter. Most of. the. texts referred to throughout the present work are available in my other books: Ostiire-ye Afarinesh dar A 'fn-e Mani (The Myth ofCreation in Manichaeism, 2nd edn., 3rd print., Tehran: Caravan Books, 2004), and Adabfyyate Manavf (Manichaean Literature) written in collaboration with Professor Mehrdad Bahar (Tehran: Kamameh, 2005). Titles of the original texts referred to are listed at the end of this book. The third chapter, "Mani' s Pictorial Manifesto", contains a pictorial analysis of Manichaean cosmogony based' on the surviving texts, including Classical Persian fragments explaining the precious paintings, some of which survive on the walls of 4 Abolqasem Esmailpour, Manichaean Gnosis & Creation Myth Sino-Platonic Papers, 156 (July, 2005) Manichaean monasteries, and also on silk, leather and paper materials found in historical sites in the oasis of Turfan in China. In the fourth chapter, the role of a significant Manichaean deity, the Beloved of the Lights, in the Process of Cosmogony is discussed through a comp~rative study of Middle Persian, Parthian, Syriac, Coptic, Arabic and Farsi texts showing the deity as the first direct emanation of the Second Creation. In the fifth chapter, Manichaean gods and goddesses mentioned in a unique classical Arabic treatise are discussed. The treatise, Kitab al-Radd-i 'al'al-Zandfq al-La'm Ibn-i Muqaffa '(The Book of Refutation against the Damned Zandfq Ibn-i Muqaffa J was composed by Qasim Ibn-i Ibrahim (d. 246AH / 848AD). The references to seven Manichaean deities are faced with their specific functions. Different functions and characteristics of the deities are surveyed and -analysed through a study of the original Manichaean texts, which leads us to find some new specifications. In the final chapter, Riimi's prologue to the Mathnawf (the poet's masterpiece of the world of mysticism) and its Gnostic roots in some surviving pieces of Middle Persian, Parthian and Coptic sources, especially hymns and prayers, as well as Manichaean psalms, the scope of a comparative study in which the motifs of pre-Islamic Gnostic hymns are analysed. In addition, the themes have been compared with the main content of the prologue to the Mathnawf, which leads us to find some common features between Gnostic-mystical motifs of early Christianity and the Muslim mystical literary works. At the end, this sheds a new light on the continuity of the Gnostic-mystical tradition in the broad realm of Christianity, Manichaeism and Islam. Here, I must offer many thanks to Professor Werner Sundermann, of the German Academy of Human Sciences in Berlin, for his valuable suggestions. I acknowledge also my debt to Dr. Jason Beduhn, Professor of Manichaean Studies at North Arizona University, who patiently 5 Abolqasem Esmailpour, Manichaean Gnosis & Creation Myth Sino-Platonic Papers, 156 (July, 2005) and kindly edited the manuscript of the fIrst three chapters. I am very grateful fothis subtle suggestions and corrections. I am grateful to my dear colleague, Dr. Hassan Reza'I BaghbldI, of Tehran University, who kindly edited parts of the manuscript of this book and suggested valuable corrections. I should also thank Dr. Isma'il SalamI, of the Iranian Center for Cultural and International Studies, who translated Chapter VI of the work from' Persian version into fluent English, which was published in An Anthology of Iranian Studies (vol. 4, Tehran: Center for Cultural and International 'Studies, 2000). It was also revised by the author. Finally, I thank Paula K. Roberts, Assistant Director of the Center for East Asian Studies, University of Pennsylvania, for her careful editing. I also thank. my