A literary history of Persia

THE MANICHJEANS 157corrupted thy religion confront me with him, that I may dispute;with him.' So he confronted them, and the Mvibadh bested him inargument, and Shapiir returned from Dualism to the Magian religion,and resolved to put Mani to death, but he fled away and came to thelands of India, where he abode until Shapiir died."Then Shapur was succeeded by his son Hurmuz, a valiantman ;and he it was who built the city of Ram- Hurmuz, but his dayswere not prolonged. He reigned one year."Then reigned Bahram the son of Hurmuz, who concerned himself[only] with his minions and amusements. And Mani's discipleswrote to him, saying, ' There hath succeeded to the throne a Kingyoun in years, greatly preoccupied [with his amusements].' So hereturned to the land of Persia, and his doings became noised abroad,and his place [of abode] became known. Then Bahram summonedhim and questioned him concerning his doctrine, and he related tohim his circumstances. Then [Bahram] confronted him with theMubadh, who disputed with him, and'said, Let molten lead bepoured on my belly and on thine, and whichever of us shall be1'unhurt thereby, he will be in the right.' But [Mani] replied, This isa deed of the Darkness.' So Bahram ordered him to be imprisoned,and said to him, ' When morning comes I will send for thee and willslay thee in such wise as none hath been slain before thee.'" So all that night Mani was being flayed, until his spirit departed[from his body]. And when it was morning, Bahram sent for him,and they found him [already] dead. So he ordered his head to becut off, and his body to be stuffed with straw ;and he persecuted hisfollowers and slew of them a great multitude. And Bahram theson of Hurmuzd reigned three years."The account of Mani given in the Fihrist is much fuller,but as it is accessible to all who read German in Fliigel'stranslation, only a few important points will here be mentioned.His father's name isgiven as Futtaq (the arabicised form of aPersian name, probably Pataka, represented by Western writersas Ilcm'iaoe, Patecius, Phatecius, and Patricius), and he was a1This " molten brass ordeal " is repeatedly mentioned both in the Pahlawiand Arabic books. Amongst the former, see Haug's ed. and translation ofthe Arda Virdf Ndmak, p. 144, especially the passages from the Dinkardcited in the note ;and also the Shikand Gumdnik Vtjdr (ed. West), p. xii.Amongst the latter, see al-Qazwini's Athdru'l-Bildd, p. 267. The test isalso said to have been proposed to Manes in the Persian Tdrikh-i-Guzida(Cambridge MS. marked Dd. 3. 23, f. 450).