TheShabuhragan (Persian:شاپورگانShāpuragān), which means "dedicated to Šābuhr",^[1] also translated in Chinese as theChinese:二宗经;pinyin:Èrzōng jīng;lit. 'Text of Two principles'[2] was a sacred book ofManichaeism, written by the founderMani (c. 210–276 CE) himself, originally inMiddle Persian, and dedicated toShapur I (c. 215–272 CE), the contemporary king of theSasanian Empire.^[3] This book is listed as one of theseven treatises of Manichaeism inArabic historical sources, but it is not among the seven treatises in the Manichaean account itself.^[2] The book was designed to present to Shapur an outline of Mani's new religion, which united elements fromZoroastrianism,Christianity, andBuddhism.^{[citation needed]}

TheMiddle Persian term for "Shabuhragan" isdw bwn wzrg'y š'bwhrg'n "The twoSutras Dedicated toShabur". The Chinese translation is abbreviated as "The Text of Two Principles" (Chinese:二宗经;pinyin:Èrzōng jīng). 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 ApostleBuddha into the countries of India; in another, through the apostleZoroaster into Persia; and in another, throughJesus Christ into the West. After that, in this last age, the revelation came, which was prophesied to come toBabylon through Myself,Mani, the apostle of the true God."^[2]

Original Middle Persian fragments were discovered atTurpan, and quotations were brought in Arabic byal-Biruni:^[4]

The surviving fragments of theShabuhragan focus oneschatology. 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 theTang dynasty, the Persian Fudodan introduced theErzong jing into China.^[5]

• Manicheism English translations of portions of theShabuhragan can be found here.
• Middle Persian Sources: D. N. MacKenzie, “Mani’sŠābuhragān,” pt. 1 (text and translation), BSOAS 42/3, 1979, pp. 500–34,[1]^[usurped],copy at the Internet Archive^[usurped]. pt. 2 (glossary and plates), BSOAS 43/2, 1980, pp. 288–310[2]^[usurped],copy at the Internet Archive^[usurped].