Rahma (Mandaeism) Explained

In Mandaeism, a rahma (ࡓࡀࡄࡌࡀ; plural form: rahmia ࡓࡀࡄࡌࡉࡀ) is a daily devotional prayer that is recited during a specific time of the day or specific day of the week.^[1]

Translations

E. S. Drower's version of the Qulasta, the Canonical Prayerbook of the Mandaeans, has 64 rahma prayers translated into English that are numbered from 106 to 169. In Drower's ordering, the rahma prayers directly follow the Asiet Malkia prayer (CP 105), while the Ṭabahatan prayer (CP 170) comes after the rahma prayers.^[2]

Part 1 of the Oxford Collection in Mark Lidzbarski's Mandäische Liturgien (1920) contains 60 rahma prayers translated into German that correspond to prayers 106–160 and 165–169 in Drower (1959).^[3]

List of rahma prayers

Below, Oxford refers to Lidzbarski's (1920) numbering, while CP refers to Drower's (1959) number.

Hourly prayers

The first 13 prayers are recited during the three times of the day for prayer, which are dawn (sunrise), noontime (the "seventh hour"), and evening (sunset).

Oxford 1.1 (CP 106): opening prayer
Oxford 1.2 (CP 107): dawn prayer
Oxford 1.3 (CP 108): dawn prayer
Oxford 1.4 (CP 109): noontime (seventh hour) prayer
Oxford 1.5 (CP 110)
Oxford 1.6 (CP 111)
Oxford 1.7 (CP 112): opening evening prayer

Rahma prayers recited after incense is offered:

Oxford 1.8 (CP 113): dawn prayer, after incense
Oxford 1.9 (CP 114): dawn prayer, after incense
Oxford 1.10 (CP 115): dawn prayer, after incense
Oxford 1.11 (CP 116): dawn prayer, after incense
Oxford 1.12 (CP 117): noontime (seventh hour) prayer, after incense
Oxford 1.13 (CP 118): evening prayer, after incense

Prayers for the days of the week

There are 6 rahma prayers for each day of the week. Each set consists of alternating long and short prayers (i.e., the 1st prayer is a long one, the 2nd prayer is a short one, while the 3rd prayer is again a long one, etc.).

Sunday prayers

Oxford 1.14 (CP 119)
Oxford 1.15 (CP 120)
Oxford 1.16 (CP 121)
Oxford 1.17 (CP 122)
Oxford 1.18 (CP 123)
Oxford 1.19 (CP 124)

Monday prayers

Oxford 1.20 (CP 125)
Oxford 1.21 (CP 126)
Oxford 1.22 (CP 127)
Oxford 1.23 (CP 128)
Oxford 1.24 (CP 129)
Oxford 1.25 (CP 130)

Tuesday prayers

Oxford 1.26 (CP 131)
Oxford 1.27 (CP 132)
Oxford 1.28 (CP 133)
Oxford 1.29 (CP 134)
Oxford 1.30 (CP 135)
Oxford 1.31 (CP 136)

Wednesday prayers

Oxford 1.32 (CP 137)
Oxford 1.33 (CP 138)
Oxford 1.34 (CP 139)
Oxford 1.35 (CP 140)
Oxford 1.36 (CP 141)
Oxford 1.37 (CP 142)

Thursday prayers

Oxford 1.38 (CP 143)
Oxford 1.39 (CP 144)
Oxford 1.40 (CP 145)
Oxford 1.41 (CP 146)
Oxford 1.42 (CP 147)
Oxford 1.43 (CP 148)

Friday prayers

Oxford 1.44 (CP 149)
Oxford 1.45 (CP 150)
Oxford 1.46 (CP 151)
Oxford 1.47 (CP 152)
Oxford 1.48 (CP 153)
Oxford 1.49 (CP 154)

Saturday prayers

Oxford 1.50 (CP 155)
Oxford 1.51 (CP 156)
Oxford 1.52 (CP 157)
Oxford 1.53 (CP 158)
Oxford 1.54 (CP 159)
Oxford 1.55 (CP 160)

Saturday evening priest initiation prayers

The 2 prayers for novices in priest initiation ceremonies, recited on Saturday evening (sunset):

CP 161 (not in Lidzbarski)
CP 162 (not in Lidzbarski)

Sunday dawn priest initiation prayers

The 2 prayers for novices in priest initiation ceremonies, recited on Sunday dawn (sunrise):

CP 163 (not in Lidzbarski)
CP 164 (not in Lidzbarski)

"Fruits of Ether" prayers

The last 5 prayers are the prayers for the "Fruit(s) of Ether".

Oxford 1.56 (CP 165)
Oxford 1.57 (CP 166)
Oxford 1.58 (CP 167)
Oxford 1.59 (CP 168)
Oxford 1.60 (CP 169)

External links

Notes and References

Book: Buckley, Jorunn Jacobsen. The Mandaeans: ancient texts and modern people. Oxford University Press. New York. 2002. 0-19-515385-5. 65198443.
Book: Drower, E. S.. The Canonical Prayerbook of the Mandaeans. E. J. Brill. 1959. Leiden.
Lidzbarski, Mark. 1920. Mandäische Liturgien. Abhandlungen der Königlichen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen, phil.-hist. Klasse, NF 17.1. Berlin.