The ''Shabuhragan'' ( ''Shāpuragān''), which means "dedicated to Šābuhr", also translated in Chinese as the Chronology of Ancient Nations; ed. and trans. by A. Brinkmann; Leipzig, 1895 was a sacred book of Manichaeism, written by the founder Mani (c. 210–276 CE) himself, originally in

Middle Persian Middle Persian, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg ( Inscriptional Pahlavi script: , Manichaean script: , Avestan script: ) in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasania ...

, and dedicated to

Shapur I Shapur I (also spelled Shabuhr I; ) was the second Sasanian Empire, Sasanian King of Kings of Iran. The precise dating of his reign is disputed, but it is generally agreed that he ruled from 240 to 270, with his father Ardashir I as co-regent u ...

(c. 215272 CE), the contemporary king of the

Sasanian Empire The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranian peoples, Iranians"), was an List of monarchs of Iran, Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, th ...

. This book is listed as one of the seven treatises of Manichaeism in

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

historical sources, but it is not among the seven treatises in the Manichaean account itself. The book was designed to present to Shapur an outline of Mani's new religion, which united elements from

Zoroastrianism Zoroastrianism ( ), also called Mazdayasnā () or Beh-dīn (), is an Iranian religions, Iranian religion centred on the Avesta and the teachings of Zoroaster, Zarathushtra Spitama, who is more commonly referred to by the Greek translation, ...

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

, and

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

. The

term for "Shabuhragan" is ''dw bwn wzrg'y š'bwhrg'n'' "The two

Sutra ''Sutra'' ()Monier Williams, ''Sanskrit English Dictionary'', Oxford University Press, Entry fo''sutra'' page 1241 in Indian literary traditions refers to an aphorism or a collection of aphorisms in the form of a manual or, more broadly, a ...

s Dedicated to Shabur". The Chinese translation is abbreviated as "The Text of Two Principles" (). Mani wrote this book in Middle Persian and presented it to Shabur, the Sasanian Emperor, as an outline of the teachings of Manichaeism. In this book, Mani described his religion as the perfection and continuation of other existing religions, and called himself the "Sealed Prophet": "Throughout the generations, the apostles of God have never ceased to bring wisdom and work here. Thus, they came in one age through the Apostle Buddha into the countries of India; in another, through the apostle

Zoroaster Zarathushtra Spitama, more commonly known as Zoroaster or Zarathustra, was an Iranian peoples, Iranian religious reformer who challenged the tenets of the contemporary Ancient Iranian religion, becoming the spiritual founder of Zoroastrianism ...

into Persia; and in another, through

Jesus Christ Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

into the West. After that, in this last age, the revelation came, which was prophesied to come to Babylon through Myself, Mani, the apostle of the true God." Original Middle Persian fragments were discovered at

Turpan Turpan () or Turfan ( zh, s=吐鲁番) is a prefecture-level city located in the east of the Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of Xinjiang, China. It has an area of and a population of 693,988 (2020). The historical center of the ...

, and quotations were brought in Arabic by al-Biruni: The surviving fragments of the ''Shabuhragan'' focus on

eschatology Eschatology (; ) concerns expectations of the end of Contemporary era, present age, human history, or the world itself. The end of the world or end times is predicted by several world religions (both Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic and non-Abrah ...

. When the end of the world comes, the God of the wise world, Jesus, comes and performs the final judgment, separating the sinners from the righteous. The angels go and seize the sinners and cast them into hell. The dead will rise, the righteous will ascend to heaven, and all other beings will fall into hell with them. The gods who support the world depart and the world collapses, and the fire of judgment enters from outside the universe and burns up the world, which will last for 1468 years. Evildoers suffer in this fire, but the righteous are unharmed. The evildoers ask for forgiveness, but will only be condemned. Finally, the sinners will be thrown into eternal prison along with the devil. According to the Chronicle of the Buddha, in the first year of Yanzai of the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

, the Persian Fudodan introduced the ''Erzong jing'' into China."In the first year of the reign of Yanzai ...... a native of the Persian state of Fudodan (original note: a native of the Western Sea state of Daqin) came to the dynasty with the false teachings of the Two Sutras." (The Unified Chronicle of the Buddha - Volume 39)

References

Sources

Manicheism
English translations of portions of the ''Shabuhragan'' can be found here. * Middle Persian Sources: D. N. MacKenzie, “Mani’s ''Šābuhragān'',” pt. 1 (text and translation), BSOAS 42/3, 1979, pp. 500–34,, . pt. 2 (glossary and plates), BSOAS 43/2, 1980, pp. 288–310 , . {{Persian literature Manichaean texts Persian words and phrases Middle Persian literature Shapur I 3rd-century books Texts in Syriac Lost religious texts