614 M A NI C H A E A N LITERATUR E
I will teach you and open your eyes to this wonder
and my leadership.MANI RECORDS HIS TRIUMPHS
Observe. I, a single Manichaean, have come alone
to the world. And the races and kin of the body,
and the gold, silver, copper, and breastplates,
the multitude's armor and a mass of people
submit to me, including many kinds of gods and idols
from the smelting furnaces!
You have seen the kingdom of the world.
Yet with all their advantages and gifts,
with breastplates and a violent war,
they have subdued no city or conquered no country.
But without breastplate or armor
I have conquered remote cities by the word of god,
and remote countries. And they bless my name,
which is glorified in all countries.
And there is another thing I shall teach you.
Kings have worked with me, and the nobles
and their officials and their powers,
so they might bring their truth to nothing.
They lacked the strength to work against me.
Since I am now alone, why were they impotent
before me, all those who opposed me?
And I have a third message. No one in this world
has freed his children and brothers and kin
from the circumstance of all things as I have.
I have freed all my children from labor.
And I have a fourth thing. I have covered them
with the breastplate of wisdom,
and so among humans you will not find one
who has been victorious. No one is victorious
over me in the whole world. Nor upon
my children. No one can conquer them.