It is a reconstructed poem also dealing with creation themes but concentrating more on the origin of evil.
The full Mandaic title of Book 3 is Raza u-sidra qadmaia ḏ-šuta haita qadmaita ḏ-huat mn laqadmaia ("The Mystery and the First Book of the First Living Doctrine from the Aforetime" (or "the Very Beginning")).
Before descending into the underworld, Hibil, along with Shitil and Anush, are baptized by Manda ḏ-Hayyi and Mara ḏ-Rabuta ("The Lord of Greatness").
Some parts of the book are derived from Qulasta prayers 82 and 180–188 (Drower's CP numbering[10]).
Titled The Mystery and the Book and the Commentary of the First Doctrine (raza u-sidra u-aprašata ḏ-šuta qadmaita) in Gelbert (2011).
Within the same book, Hibil and Adakas are mentioned in two different versions of the soul's descent into the physical body of Adam.
Since the text is difficult to interpret, Lidzbarski had originally hesitated to translate it.
Chapters 2–5 are acrostic hymns, with each stanza ordered according to a letter of the Mandaic alphabet.
Book 13 (15 in the Al-Saadi edition), The Prayer of the Tarmidia to the Pious, comprises a short interim conclusion to what seems to be the original version of the Ginza.
Since Mandaean priestly commentary texts often refer to hymns and prayers by their opening lines, the opening lines of each of the 21 poems (since the Gelbert Ginza has 21, rather than 20 poems) in Book 15 are provided below.
Book 16 contains 10 or 11 mostly shorter poems, depending on the manuscript version, of which Al-Saadi's translation covers four.
It also contains lists of Pishdadian, Kayanian, Parthian, and Sasanian kings and mentions the Arab conquest of Persia.
[8] Book 18 is attributed to the Mandaean scribe Yahya Sam bar Sarwan.
Note that since Mandaic spellings can vary by manuscript, the transcriptions used below are often reconstructions by Häberl (2022).
Notes on section numbering: The summaries are based on the English translation in Gelbert (2011).