Chapter 5:
The Last Days
THE DAY OF THE LORD OF NAMES
This is the Day whereon He Who is the Revealer of the names of God hath stepped out of the Tabernacle of glory, and proclaimed unto all who are in the heavens and all who are on the earth: “Put away the cups of Paradise and all the life-giving waters they contain, for lo, the people of Baha have entered the blissful abode of the Divine Presence, and quaffed the wine of reunion, from the chalice of the beauty of their Lord, the All-Possessing, the Most High.”
(Baha’u’llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, p. 32)
“Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.” (2 Peter 3:3-4)
“And serve thy Lord until there come unto thee the Hour that is certain.” (Qur’án 15:99)
“For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:” (Job 19:25)
“For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.” (Matthew 16:27)
“The Day that the Spirit and the angels will stand forth in ranks, none shall speak except any who is permitted by (Allah) Most Gracious, and he will say what is right. That Day will be the sure Reality: therefore, whoso will, let him take a (straight) Return to his Lord!” (Qur’án 78:38-39)
“For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.” (Habakkuk 2:14)
“And they say: ‘What! when we lie, hidden and lost, in the earth, shall we indeed be in a creation renewed?’ Nay, they deny the meeting with their Lord!” (Qur’án 32:10)
“For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” (Matthew 5:18)
“Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.” (John 18:37)
O Handmaid of God! Hearken unto the Voice of the Lord of Names, Who from His Prison hath directed His gaze towards thee and is making mention of thee.
(Baha’u’llah: Tablets of Baha’u’llah, Page: 255)
Say: O friends! Drink your fill from this crystal stream that floweth through the heavenly grace of Him Who is the Lord of Names. Let others partake of its waters in My name, that the leaders of men in every land may fully recognize the purpose for which the Eternal Truth hath been revealed, and the reason for which they themselves have been created.
(Baha’u’llah: Gleanings, Page: 215)
Know ye from what heights your Lord, the All-Glorious is calling? Think ye hat ye have recognized the Pen wherewth your Lord, the ord of al namscommandeth you? Nay, by My life! Did ye but know it, ye would renounce the world, and would hasten with your whole hearts to the presence of the Well-Beloved. Your spirits would be so transported by His Word as to throw into commotion the Greater World -- how much more this small and petty one! Thus have the showers of My bounty been poured down from the heaven of My loving-kindness, as a token of My grace; that ye may be of the thankful....
(Baha’u’llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, p. 139)
Who is there among you, O people, who will renounce the world, and draw nigh unto God, the Lord of all names? Where is he to be found who, through the power of My name that transcendeth all created things, will cast away the things that men possess, and cling, with all his might, to the things which God, the Knower of the unseen and of the seen, hath bidden him observe? Thus hath His bounty been sent down unto men, His testimony fulfilled, and His proof shone forth above the Horizon of mercy. Rich is the prize that shall be won by him who hath believed and exclaimed: “Lauded art Thou, O Beloved of all worlds! Magnified be Thy name, O Thou the Desire of every understanding heart!”
(Baha’u’llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, p. 34)
Whoso hath, in this Day, refused to allow the doubts and fancies of men to turn him away from Him Who is the Eternal Truth, and hath not suffered the tumult provoked by the ecclesiastical and secular authorities to deter him from recognizing His Message, such a man will be regarded by God, the Lord of all men, as one of His mighty signs, and will be numbered among them whose names have been inscribed by the Pen of the Most High in His Book. Blessed is he that hath recognized the true stature of such a soul, that hath acknowledged its station, and discovered its virtues.
(Baha’u’llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, p. 159)
O thou that hast fixed thine eyes upon My countenance! The Day Spring of Glory hath, in this Day, manifested its radiance, and the Voice of the Most High is calling. We have formerly uttered these words: “This is not the day for any man to question his Lord. It behoveth whosoever hath hearkened to the Call of God, as voiced by Him Who is the Day Spring of Glory, to arise and cry out: ‘Here am I, here am I, O Lord of all Names; here am I, here am I, O Maker of the heavens! I testify that, through Thy Revelation, the things hidden in the Books of God have been revealed, and that whatsoever hath been recorded by Thy Messengers in the sacred Scriptures hath been fulfilled.’”
(Baha’u’llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, p. 163)
Should any man, in this Day, arise and, with absolute detachment from all that is in the heavens and all that is on the earth, set his affections on Him Who is the Day Spring of God’s holy Revelation, he will, verily, be empowered to subdue all created things, through the potency of one of the Names of the Lord, his God, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. Know thou of a certainty that the Day Star of Truth hath, in this Day, shed upon the world a radiance, the like of which bygone ages have never witnessed. Let the light of His glory, O people, shine upon you, and be not of the negligent.
(Baha’u’llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, p. 318)
These perspicuous verses have been sent down in one of the Tablets by the Abha Pen: “Hearken, O servant, unto the voice of this Wronged One, Who hath endured grievous vexations and trials in the path of God, the Lord of all Names, until such time as He was cast into prison, in the Land of Ta (Tihran).[1] He sumonedmunto the most sublime Paradise, and yet they seized Him and paraded Him through cities and countries. How many the nights during which slumber fled from the eyes of My loved ones, because of their love for Me; and how numerous the days whereon I had to face the assaults of the peoples against Me! At one time I found Myself on the heights of mountains; at another in the depths of the prison of Ta (Tihran), in chains and fetters. By the righteousness of God! I was at all times thankful unto Him, uttering His praise, engaged in remembering Him, directed towards Him, satisfied with His pleasure, and lowly and submissive before Him. So passed My days, until they ended in this Prison (Akká) which hath made the earth to tremble and the heavens to sigh. Happy that one who hath cast away his vain imaginings, when He Who was hid came with the standards of His signs. We, verily, have announced unto men this Most Great Revelation, and yet the people are in a state of strange stupor.”
(Baha’u’llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 78)
The light that is shed from the heaven of bounty, and the benediction that shineth from the dawning-place of the will of God, the Lord of the Kingdom of Names, rest upon Him Who is the Supreme Mediator, the Most Exalted Pen, Him Whom God hath made the Dawning-Place of His most excellent names and the Dayspring of His most exalted attributes. Through Him the light of unity hath shone forth above the horizon of the world, and the law of oneness hath been revealed amidst the nations, who, with radiant faces, have turned towards the Supreme Horizon, and acknowledged that which the Tongue of Utterance hath spoken in the kingdom of His knowledge: “Earth and heaven, glory and dominion, are God’s, the Omnipotent, the Almighty, the Lord of grace abounding!”
(Baha’u’llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 1)
‘Never since the beginning of the world,’ Bahá’u’lláh Himself affirms, ‘hath the Message been so openly proclaimed.’ ‘Each one of them,’ He, specifically referring to the Tablets addressed by Him to the sovereigns of the earth -- Tablets acclaimed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá as a ‘miracle’ -- has written, ‘hath been designated by a special name. The first hath been named ‘The Rumbling,’ the second ‘The Blow,’ the third ‘The Inevitable,’ the fourth, ‘The Plain,’ the fifth ‘The Catastrophe,’ and the others ‘The Stunning Trumpet-Blast,’ ‘The Near Event,’ ‘The Great Terror,’ ‘The Trumpet,’ ‘The Bugle,’ and the like, so that all the peoples of the earth may know, of a certainty, and may witness, with outward and inward eyes that He Who is the Lord of Names hath prevailed, and will continue to prevail, under all conditions, over all men.’[2]
(Adib Taherzadeh, The Revelation of Baha’u’llah v 3, p. 110)
And likewise, He saith: “Let not names shut you out as by a veil from Him Who is their Lord, even the name of Prophet, for such a name is but a creation of His utterance.”
(Baha’u’llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 171)
Thus doth the Nightingale utter His call unto you from this prison. He hath but to deliver this clear message. Whosoever desireth, let him turn aside from this counsel and whosoever desireth let him choose the path to his Lord.
O people, if ye deny these verses, by what proof have y believed in God? Produce it O assemblage f falseone… Be thou assured in thyself that verily, he who turns away from this Beauty hath also turned away from the Messengers of the past and showeth pride towards God from all eternity to all eternity.
(Baha’u’llah: Tablet of Ahmad, Baha’i Prayers (US), Pages: 211-213)
KNOWLEDGE INCREASED
The unity of the human race, as envisaged by Baha’u’llah, implies the establishment of a world commonwealth in which all nations, races, creeds and classes are closely and permanently united…A mechanism of world inter-communication will be devised, embracing the whole planet, freed from national hindrances and restrictions, and functioning with marvellous swiftness and perfect regularity.
(Shoghi Effendi: World Order of Baha’u’llah, P. 203)
On May 24th, 1844, in Washington D.C., Mr. Samuel F. B. Morse, the inventor of the telegraph, stepped to the keyboard of his new instrument. He was about to send the first official telegram in history flashing along the wires from Washington to Baltimore. The press had heralded this day as a modern miracle. By this invention, it was said, the world would be united physically in the twinkling of an eye. These lightning-like impulses leaping along the wires would shrink the size of the planet, they said.
In fact, when Congress appropriated $40,000 for Morse to continue his work, he was told that now he could send his “lightnings” to the world. Thus his invention was associated with the words in the Book of Job, although at the time it was said partly in jest.
Students of Scripture asked: ‘Is this not still another proof that 1844 is indeed the hour for the appearance of Christ? Is it not written in the Book of Job that only God can send ‘lightnings that may go and say unto thee here we are!’ (Job 38:35)
Does it not mean that Christ is here? Did not this same Job promise:
‘For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth.’ (Job 19:25)
Samuel Morse put his hand to the keyboard of the telegraph and tapped out that first formal message. The words were taken from the Book of Numbers:
‘What hath God wrought!’ (Numbers 23:23)
I was curious about that message of Morse in 1844. What had God wrought in that day, if anything besides the telegraph? Was there a hidden story? Was it possible to find it? At least this was a beginning.
About this time I came upon the account of a lecture given by the British scientist, Sir Lawrence Bragg, in Carnegie Hall, New York. Sir Lawrence drew a graph of the scientific achievements of man until the period around 1844. He showed that man’s advancement up until that time had been very slow, so slow, indeed, that the line of the graph up to 1844 was almost horizontal.
Subsequently, however, and immediately, the line of the graph went almost directly upwards, and has continued to climb ever since.
This did interest me. Why? What had caused this new spirit of energy and creation in the world following the year 1844? Why had it begun in that particular period?
Had some historical event taken place in 1844 which could account for this new upsurge of knowledge and invention? Was there some happening which the hisorians had overlooked, or neglected? Did it have anything to do with the coming of the Messiah, the generally talked about return of Christ. These were questions to which I now eagerly wanted the answer. The Case of the Missing Millenium was at last becoming interesting. I decided to make a thorough check on the exact year of Morse’s 1844 message.
(William Sears, Thief in the Night, p. 3-5)
I found ample evidence that Christ never tried to ‘unseal’ the Books Himself. He left this for a future date. Rather, He spoke in parables and hidden meanings. He even prophesied that while He (Christ) spoke in parables, there would be a time in the future, when the Son would return in the Glory of the Father, and would speak plainly to them. Christ said:
‘These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh, when I shall speak no more unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of the Father.’ (John 16:25)
This promise to explain the hidden meanings is given by Jesus in the very same chapter in which He speaks of the coming of the Spirit of Truth who will guide His followers unto all truth. When this ‘Comforter’ comes, Christ promises:
‘...he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.’ (John 14:26)
Christ, in these words, seems to offer the clear promise that the new Messiah would, in the day of His coming, ‘unseal the books’ and bring to light the ‘hidden things of darkness’.
If He had appeared in 1844, that would certainly account for all the renewed enthusiasm.
I turned away from the Scriptures long enough to test my theory. I was intrigued to discover that certainly some creative power had ‘brought to light’ the ‘hidden things’ during that epoch of 1844. My search through secular history revealed the astonishing fact that beginning in that decade an entirely new spirit of invention and discovery had made itself apparent.
It proved without doubt the accuracy of Sir Lawrence Bragg’s graph, to which we have already referred.
I also read the report given by an official of the United States Patent Office who, in 1844, stated that in his opinion everything worthwhile had already been invented, and the Patent Office might as well close its doors. From that time on the Patent Office was overwhelmed with new inventions and discoveries. The most cursory survey vindicates Bragg’s graph and shows that a whole new world seemed to be in the making following 1844.
Some of the great steps forward were these:
The following are but a few of the vast downpouring of discoveries and inventions that lighted the age: 1844, Telegraph, Vulcanised rubber; 1845, Turret lathe; 1846, Rotay press; 1854, Elevator; 185, Gas burner; 858, AlaniCable; 1867, Typewriter, Dynamite; 1869, Air brakes; 1876, Telephone;1877, Gas engine; 1878, Incandescent lamp; 1879, Arc lamp; 1880, Centrifugal creamer; 1844, Fountain pen, Cash register; 1885, Automobile, Linotype; 1888, Film, Transparent photo; 1891, Armourised plate; 1892, Diesel motor; 1893, Motion pictures, Coke oven; 1899, Wireless telegraphy; 1903, Airplane.
New and far-reaching developments took place in the fields of: Thermodynamics, Steam power, Electro-magnetism Electric motor power, Gaslight, Electric light, High-speed press, Lithography, X-ray, Antiseptic surgery, Anesthetics, Steamboats, Railways, Canal construction.
Great progress was made in bacteriology and medicine with such men as Lister, Koch, Pasteur in the lead. In the field of metallurgy, Sorby in Britain and Chernoff in Russia led the way. In music, Chopin, Schubert, Tschaikowsky and a flood of creative genius appeared. Literature produced such names as Emerson, Tolstoi, Fitzgerald, Tennyson, Lowell, Whitman, James, Dickens, Thoreau, Dostevski, to name but a few.
Man’s life was enriched by an increasing number of inventions and benefits, a process which has continued from 1844 to the present day, taking even higher the graph of human accomplishment: Airlines, Jets (Planes, Ships, Submarines), Streamlined trains, Luxury liners, Air-conditioning, Radio, Television, Electronics, Antibiotics, Wonder drugs, Missiles, Rockets to the moon, All the magic of nuclear physics.
The endless stream of wonders still continues. The whole concept of life has altered. Newspapers, magazines, books, radio, television, telephone, telegraph, schools, education, travel -- have all vastly increased man’s knowledge and information.
Is there any doubt these were the events foreseen by Daniel for the time of the end? In the very chapter in which he spoke of the (1) coming of Michael, Who looks like God, (2) in the year of 1844, (3) when the Book will be unsealed, Daniel prophesied:
‘...many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.’ (Daniel 12:4)
According to the sacred Writings there was a definite promise that when all these things took place the ‘book’ would be ‘unsealed’. This unique event was foretold in Isaiah, Daniel and Revelation in a remarkable series of prophecies.
In one chapter, Isaiah prophesies that (1) the Book is sealed, and (2) that in the last days the Book will be opened:
‘And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed.’ (Isaiah 29:11)
‘And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see... They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine.’ (Isaiah 29:18)
Daniel made the same two promises: (1) that the Books would be sealed until the time of the end, and (2) that they would be opened and explained in the last days:
‘Go thy way, Daniel; for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.’ (Daniel 12:9)
‘I beheld all the (other) thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit ... and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgement was set, and the books were opened.’ (Daniel 7:9-10)
This last promise is given by Daniel in the same chapter in which he says that ‘one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven.’ The Book of Revelation seems to end all question on this subject. The basic theme of this entire book is the second coming of Christ. Revelation states plainly that those books which were sealed until the time of the end would then be unsealed and would be sealed no more:
‘Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book; for the time is at hand.’ (Revelation 22:10)
Revelation, like Daniel, repeats the same vision of the coming of the Son of man (Christ) when the books were unsealed:
‘And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man...’ (Revelation 14:14)
In yet another place, Revelation describes this Messiah as one:
‘...clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.’ (Revelation 19:13)
Revelation says of this Lamb of God who will appear in the last days:
‘Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof...’ (Revelation 5:9)
I felt that I had found at last a satisfactory answer to those puzzling questions:
Why had interest in Christ’s return died out after His crucifixion?
Why had such an enthusiastic revival of this interest taken place in 1844?
(William Sears, Thief in the Night, p. 47-51)
Can you blame me for feeling excited? The search had been long, but the reward promised to be great. I might at last solve my mystery.
One of the first things I learned was this:
He declared that this was the day foretold in all the Scriptures of the past. This day, he said, was the day when the Promised One of all religions would appear. This was to be the day of the ‘one fold and one shepherd’.
This took place in Persia in 1844. Naturally my attention was arrested immediately by the date and the place.
I learned that he was called the Báb. Just as the name Christ means ‘the anointed’, the name Báb means ‘the gate’ or ‘the door’. This young man claimed that he was the ‘gate’ or the ‘door’ through which would come the One promised in all the holy Books, the One Who would establish the one fold of God.
I remembered the promise given by Christ:
‘But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep...And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold and one shepherd.’ (John 10:2-16)
The Báb said that he was the herald and forerunner of one greater than himself. His mission was to call men back to God and to prepare the way for the great world Saviour foretold by Christ and all the prophets of the past. Just as John the Baptist had been the forerunner of Christ, the Báb claimed to be the forerunner of this Promised Redeemer of all ages.
(William Sears, Thief in the Night, p. 90-91)
THE WORD UNVEILED
The revered minister read from the words of the Gospel,
“I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth.” (John 16:12-13)
The century has dawned when the Spirit of Truth can reveal these verities to mankind, proclaim that very Word, establish the real foundations of Christianity and deliver the nations and peoples from the bondage of forms and imitations. The cause of discord, prejudice and animosity will be removed, the basis of love and amity be established. Therefore, all of you must strive with heart and soul in order that enmity may disappear entirely and that strife and hatred pass away absolutely from the midst of the human world. You must listen to the admonition of this Spirit of Truth. You must follow the example and footprints of Jesus Christ. Read the Gospels. Jesus Christ was mercy itself, was love itself. He even prayed in behalf of His executioners - for those who crucified Him - saying, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” If they knew what they were doing, they would not have done it. Consider how kind Jesus Christ was, that even upon the cross He prayed for His oppressors. We must follow His example. We must emulate the Prophets of God. We must follow Jesus Christ. We must free ourselves from all these imitations which are the source of darkness in the world.
(`Abdu’l-Baha: Promulgation of Universal Peace*, Pages: 41-42)
“Followers of the Gospel,” Baha’u’llah addressing the whole of Christendom exclaims, “behold the gates of heaven are flung open. He that had ascended unto it is now come. Give ear to His voice calling aloud over land and sea, announcing to all mankind the advent of this Revelation - a Revelation through the agency of which the Tongue of Grandeur is now proclaiming: `Lo, the sacred Pledge hath been fulfilled, for He, the Promised One, is come!’” “The voice of the Son of Man is calling aloud from the sacred vale: `Here am I, here am I, O God my God!’ ... whilst from the Burning Bush breaketh forth the cry: `Lo, the Desire of the world is made manifest in His transcendent glory!’ The Father hath come. That which ye were promised in the Kingdom of God is fulfilled. This is the Word which the Son veiled when He said to those around Him that at that time they could not bear it... Verily the Spirit of Truth is come to guide you unto all truth... He is the One Who glorified the Son and exalted His Cause...” “The Comforter Whose advent all the scriptures have promised is now come that He may reveal unto you all knowledge and wisdom. Seek Him over the entire surface of the earth, haply ye may find Him.”
(Shoghi Effendi: World Order of Baha’u’llah, Pages: 104-105)
Me thinks, with every step He took and every word He uttered thousands of oceans of light surged before my face, and thousands of worlds of incomparable splendor were unveiled to my eyes, and thousands of suns blazed their light upon me!
(H.M. Balyuzi, Baha’u’llah - The King of Glory, p. 110)
Know verily that Knowledge is of two kinds: Divine and Satanic. The one welleth out from the fountain of divine inspiration; the other is but a reflection of vain and obscure thoughts. The source of the former is God Himself; the motive-force of the latter the whisperings of selfish desire. The one is guided by the principle: “Fear ye God; God will teach you;”[3] the other is but a confirmation of the truth: “Knowledge is the most grievous veil between man and his Creator.” The former bringeth forth the fruit of patience, of longing desire, of true understanding, and love; whilst the latter can yield naught but arrogance, vainglory and conceit. From the sayings of those Masters of holy utterance, Who have expounded the meaning of true knowledge, the odour of these dark teachings, which have obscured the world, can in no wise be detected. The tree of such teachings can yield no result except iniquity and rebellion, and beareth no fruit but hatred and envy. Its fruit is deadly poison; its shadow a consuming fire. How well hath it been said: “Cling unto the robe of the Desire of thy heart, and put thou away all shame; bid the worldlywise be gone, however great their name.”
The heart must needs therefore be cleansed from the idle sayings of men, and sanctified from every earthly affection, so that it may discover the hidden meaning of divine inspiration, and become the treasury of the mysteries of divine knowledge. Thus hath it been said: “He that treadeth the snow-white Path, and followeth in the footsteps of the Crimson Pillar, shall never attain unto his abode unless his hands are empty of those worldly things cherished by men.” This is the prime requisite of whosoever treadeth this path. Ponder thereon, that, with eyes unveiled, thou mayest perceive the truth of these words.
(Baha’u’llah: The Kitab-i-Iqan, Pages: 69-70)
The praise which hath dawned from Thy most august Self, and the glory which hath shone forth from Thy most effulgent Beauty, rest upon Thee, O Thou Who art the Manifestation of Grandeur, and the King of Eternity, and the Lord of all who are in heaven and on earth! I testify that through Thee the sovereignty of God and His dominion, and the majesty of God and His grandeur, were revealed, and the Day-Stars of ancient splendor have shed their radiance in the heaven of Thine irrevocable decree, and the Beauty of the Unseen hath shone forth above the horizon of creation. I testify, moreover, that with but a movement of Thy Pen Thine injunction “Be Thou” hath been enforced, and God’s hidden Secret hath been divulged, and all created things have been called into being, and all the Revelations have been sent down.
I bear witness, moreover, that through Thy beauty the beauty of the Adored One hath been unveiled, and through Thy face the face of the Desired One hath shone forth, and that through a word from Thee Thou hast decided between all created things, causing them who are devoted to Thee to ascend unto the summit of glory, and the infidels to fall into the lowest abyss.
I bear witness that he who hath known Thee hath known God, and he who hath attained unto Thy presence hath attained unto the presence of God. Great, therefore, is the blessedness of him who hath believed in Thee, and in Thy signs, and hath humbled himself before Thy sovereignty, and hath been honored with meeting Thee, and hath attained the good pleasure of Thy will, and circled around Thee, and stood before Thy throne. Woe betide him that hath transgressed against Thee, and hath denied Thee, and repudiated Thy signs, and gainsaid Thy sovereignty, and risen up against Thee, and waxed proud before Thy face, and hath disputed Thy testimonies, and fled from Thy rule and Thy dominion, and been numbered with the infidels whose names have been inscribed by the fingers of Thy behest upon Thy holy Tablets.
Waft, then, unto me, O my God and my Beloved, from the right hand of Thy mercy and Thy loving-kindness, the holy breaths of Thy favors, that they may draw me away from myself and from the world unto the courts of Thy nearness and Thy presence. Potent art Thou to do what pleaseth Thee. Thou, truly, hast been supreme over all things.
The remembrance of God and His praise, and the glory of God and His splendor, rest upon Thee, O Thou Who art His Beauty! I bear witness that the eye of creation hath never gazed upon one wronged like Thee. Thou wast immersed all the days of Thy life beneath an ocean of tribulations. At one time Thou wast in chains and fetters; at another Thou wast threatened by the sword of Thine enemies. Yet, despite all this, Thou didst enjoin upon all men to observe what had been prescribed unto Thee by Him Who is the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.
May my spirit be a sacrifice to the wrongs Thou didst suffer, and my soul be a ransom for the adversities Thou didst sustain. I beseech God, by Thee and by them whose faces have been illumined with the splendors of the light of Thy countenance, and who, for love of Thee, have observed all whereunto they were bidden, to remove the veils that have come in between Thee and Thy creatures, and to supply me with the good of this world and the world to come. Thou art, in truth, the Almighty, the Most Exalted, the All-Glorious, the Ever-Forgiving, the Most Compassionate.
Bless Thou, O Lord my God, the Divine Lote-Tree and its leaves, and its boughs, and its branches, and its stems, and its offshoots, as long as Thy most excellent titles will endure and Thy most august attributes will last. Protect it, then, from the mischief of the aggressor and the hosts of tyranny. Thou art, in truth, the Almighty, the Most Powerful. Bless Thou, also, O Lord my God, Thy servants and Thy handmaidens who have attained unto Thee. Thou, truly, art the All-Bountiful, Whose grace is infinite. No God is there save Thee, the Ever-Forgiving, the Most Generous.
(Baha’u’llah: The Tablet of Visitation,Prayers and Meditations, Pages: 310-313)
THE CHOICE SEALED WINE
“And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.” (Daniel 12:9)
“And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the LORD, and shall water the valley of Shittim.” (Joel 3:18)
“…verily the record of the Righteous is (preserved)…Truly the Righteous will be in Bliss: On Thrones (of Dignity) will they command a sight (of all things): Thou wilt recognise in their faces the beaming brightness of Bliss. Their thirst will be slaked with Pure Wine sealed: The seal thereof will be Musk: And for this let those aspire, who have aspirations:A spring, from (the waters) whereof drink those Nearest to God.” (Qur’án 83:18-28)
‘The seal of the Choice Wine hath...been broken.’ The reference to choice wine, sealed, may be found in the Qur’án (see 83: 22-6). The significance of ‘sealed’ is that the true meanings of the Words of God in former Dispensations were not disclosed until the advent of Bahá’u’lláh (see vol. 1, pp. 160-61, on this prophecy of Daniel). The unsealing of the Choice Wine signifies the revelation of the Word of God in this age, disclosing to mankind new teachings and new laws. Bahá’u’lláh declares in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, ‘Think not that We have revealed unto you a mere code of laws. Nay rather We have unsealed the Choice Wine with the fingers of might and power.’
(Adib Taherzadeh, The Revelation of Baha’u’llah v 4, p. 433)
“For example, in the Qur’an the righteous are promised that they will be given to drink of the ‘choice sealed wine’. In His Tablets, Baha’u’llah identifies the ‘choice Wine’ with His Revelation whose ‘musk-laden fragrance’ has been wafted ‘upon all created things’. He states that He has ‘unsealed’ this ‘Wine’, thereby disclosing spiritual truths that were hitherto unknown, and enabling those who quaff thereof to ‘discern the splendours of the light of divine unity’ and to ‘grasp the essential purpose underlying the Scriptures of God’.”
(Baha’u’llah: Aqdas: Notes, Page: 166)
Foremost among the priceless treasures cast forth from the billowing ocean of Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation ranks the Kitab-i-Iqan (Book of Certitude), revealed within the space of two days and two nights, in the closing years of that period (1278 A.H. - 1862 A.D.). It was written in fulfillment of the prophecy of the Báb, Who had specifically stated that the Promised One would complete the text of the unfinished Persian Bayan (1), and in reply to the questions addressed to Bahá’u’lláh by the as yet unconverted maternal uncle of the Báb, Haji Mirza Siyyid Muhammad, while on a visit, with his brother, Haji Mirza Hasan-’Ali, to Karbila.
A model of Persian prose, of a style at once original, chaste and vigorous, and remarkably lucid, both cogent in argument and matchless in its irresistible eloquence, this Book, setting forth in outline the Grand Redemptive Scheme of God, occupies a position unequalled by any work in the entire range of Bahá’i literature, except the Kitab-i-Aqdas, Bahá’u’lláh’s Most Holy Book. Revealed on the eve of the declaration of His Mission, it proffered to mankind the “Choice Sealed Wine,” whose seal is of “musk,” and broke the “seals” of the “Book” referred to by Daniel, and disclosed the meaning of the “words” destined to remain “closed up” till the “time of the end.”
(Shoghi Effendi: God Passes By, Pages: 138-139)
The Holy Book of The Báb
By the righteousness of God! Idle fancies have debarred men from the Horizon of Certitude, and vain imaginings withheld them from the Choice Sealed Wine. In truth I say, and for the sake of God I declare: This Servant, this Wronged One, is abashed to claim for Himself any existence whatever, how much more those exalted grades of being! Every man of discernment, while walking upon the earth, feeleth indeed abashed, inasmuch as he is fully aware that the thing which is the source of his prosperity, his wealth, his might, his exaltation, his advancement and power is, as ordained by God, the very earth which is trodden beneath the feet of all men. There can be no doubt that whoever is cognizant of this truth, is cleansed and sanctified from all pride, arrogance, and vainglory. Whatever hath been said hath come from God. Unto this, He, verily, hath borne, and beareth now, witness, and He, in truth, is the All-Knowing, the All-Informed.
(Baha’u’llah: Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, Page: 44)
Those who attained the Presence of Bahá’u’lláh with pure hearts and spiritual vision had the bounty of being able to recognize Him through ‘His own Self’. As a result of coming in contact with His Person these believers became a new creation completely detached from the things of this world, intoxicated by the wine of His presence and carried away into new realms of the spirit. They enjoyed such nearness to the Blessed Beauty that they became the intimates of His mysteries. Some of them saw glimpses of His hidden glory and power and were awestruck at the revelation of His supreme station.
(Adib Taherzadeh, The Revelation of Baha’u’llah v 4, p. 113)
THE FALLEN STARS
“Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.” (Isaiah 13:9-10)
“Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:” (Matthew 24:29)
“He questions: ‘When is the Day of Resurrection?’ At length, when the Sight is dazed, And the moon is buried in darkness.” (Qur’án 75: 6-8)
“Assuredly, what ye are promised must come to pass. Then when the stars become dim; When the heaven is cleft asunder;” (Qur’án 77: 7-9)
The second coming of Christ also will be in like manner: the signs and conditions which have been spoken of all have meanings, and are not to be taken literally. Among other things it is said that the stars will fall upon the earth. The stars are endless and innumerable, and modern mathematicians have established and proved scientifically that the globe of the sun is estimated to be about one million and a half times greater than the earth, and each of the fixed stars to be a thousand times larger than the sun. If these stars were to fall upon the surface of the earth, how could they find place there? It would be as though a thousand million of Himalaya mountains were to fall upon a grain of mustard seed. According to reason and science this thing is quite impossible.
(Abdu’l-Baha, Some Answered Questions, p. 111)
As to the words—“Immediately after the oppression of those days”--they refer to the time when men shall become oppressed and afflicted, the time when the lingering traces of the Sun of Truth and the fruit of the Tree of knowledge and wisdom will have vanished from the midst of men, when the reins of mankind will have fallen into the grasp of the foolish and ignorant, when the portals of divine unity and understanding--the essential and highest purpose in creation--will have been closed, when certain knowledge will have given way to idle fancy, and corruption will have usurped the station of righteousness. Such a condition as this is witnessed in this day when the reins of every community have fallen into the grasp of foolish leaders, who lead after their own whims and desire. On their tongue the mention of God hath become an empty name…
In another sense, by these terms is intended the divines of the former Dispensation, who live in the days of the subsequent Revelations, and who hold the reins of religion in their grasp. If these divines be illumined by the light of the latter Revelation they will be acceptable unto God, and will shine with a light everlasting. Otherwise, they will be declared as darkened…
(Baha’u’llah: Kitáb-i-Íqán, pp 29,36)
Whereas, by “oppression” is meant the want of capacity to acquire spiritual knowledge and apprehend the Word of God. By it is meant that when the Day-star of Truth hath set, and the mirrors that reflect His light have departed, manind will become afflicted with “oppression” and hardship, knowing not whither to turn for guidance. Thus We instruc thee in the interpretation of the traditions, and revealunto thee the mysteries of dvine wisdom, tat hapy tomayest comprehend the meaning thereof, and be of them that have quaffed the cup of divine knowledge and understanding.
And now, concerning His words—“The sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give light, and the stars shall fall from heaven.” By the terms “sun” and “moon,” mentioned in the writings of the Prophets of God, is not meant solely the sun and moon of the visible universe. Nay rather, manifold are the meanings they have intended for these terms. In every instance they have attached to them a particular significance. Thus, by the ”sun” in one sense is meant those Suns of Truth Who rise from the dayspring of ancient glory, and fill the world with a liberal effusion of grace from on high. These Suns of Truth are the universal Manifestations of God in the worlds of His attributes and names, even as the visible sun that assisteth, as decreed by God, the true One, the Adored, in the development of all earthly things, such as the trees, the fruits, and colours thereof, the minerals of the earth, and all that may be witnessed in the world of creation, so do the divine Luminaries, by their loving care and educative influence, cause the trees of divine unity, the fruits of His oneness, the leaves of detachment, the blossoms of knowledge and certitude, and the myrtles of wisdom and utterance, to exist and be made manifest. Thus it is that through the rise of these Luminaries of God the world is made new, the waters of everlasting life stream forth the billows of loving-kindness surge, the clouds of grace are gathered, and the breeze of bounty bloweth upon all created things. It is the warmth that these Luminaries of God generate, and the undying fires they kindle, which cause the light of the love of God to burn fiercely in the heart of humanity. It is through the abundant grace of these Symbols of Detachment that the Spirit of life everlasting is breathed into the bodies of the dead. Assuredly the visible sun is but a sign of the splendour of that Day-star of Truth, that Sun Which can never have a peer, a likeness, or rival. Through Him all things live, move, and have their being. Through His grace they are made manifest, and unto Him they all return. From Him all things have sprung, and unto the treasuries of His revelation they all have repaired. From Him all created things did proceed, and to the depositories of His law they did revert.
(Baha’u’llah: Kitáb-i-Íqán, pp 32-34)
In another sense, by the terms “sun”, “moon”, and “stars” are meant such laws and teachings as have been established and proclaimed in every Dispensation, such as the laws of prayer and fasting. These have, according to the law of the Qur’án, been regarded, when the beauty of the Prophet Muhammad had passed beyond the veil, as the most fundamental and binding laws of His dispensation. To this testify the texts of the traditions and chronicles, which, on account of their being widely known, need not be referred to here. Nay rather, in every Dispensation the law concerning prayer hath been emphasized and universally enforced.
(Baha’u’llah: Kitáb-i-Íqán, pp 38,39)
...by the words “the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven” is intended the waywardness of the divines, and the annulment of laws firmly established by divine Revelation, all of which, in symbolic language, have been foreshadowed by the Manifestation of God. None except the righteous shall partake of this cup, none but the godly can share therein.
(Baha’u’llah: Kitáb-i-Íqán, pp 41)
“He questions: ‘When is the Day of Resurrection?’…And the sun and moon are joined together… Before thy Lord (alone) that Day will be the place of rest.” (Qur’an 75:6,9,12)
According to the Islamic tradition, the term ‘sun,’ symbolizes and denotes Prophet Muhammad, and the term ‘moon,’ symbolizes Imám Ali (His first disciple). Thus, where it has been said: ‘the sun and moon are joined together’ (Qur’an 75:9), it would mean Ali-Muhammad – the given name of The Báb; the return of the 12th Imám; The Promised Qa’im.
IN THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN
“I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven….” (Daniel 7:13)
“And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” (Matthew 24:30)
“Will they wait until Allah comes to them in canopies of clouds, with angels (in His train)…” (Qur’an 2:210)
And now, with reference to His words: “And then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” These words signify that in those days men will lament the loss of the Sun of the divine beauty, of the Moon of knowledge, and of the Stars of divine wisdom. Thereupon, they will behold the countenance of the promised One, the adored Beauty, descending from heaven and riding upon the clouds. By this is meant that the divine Beauty will be made manifest from the heaven of the will of God, and will appear in the form of the human temple. The term “heaven” denoteth loftiness and exaltation, inasmuch as it is the seat of the revelation of those Manifestations of Holiness, the Day-springs of ancient glory. These ancient Beings, though delivered from the womb of their mother, have in reality descended from the heaven of the will of God. Though they be dwelling on this earth, yet their true habitations are the retreats of glory in the realms above. Whilst walking amongst mortals, they soar in the heaven of the divine presence. Without feet they tread the path of the spirit, and without wings they rise unto the exalted heights of divine unity. With every fleeting breath they cover the immensity of space, and at every moment traverse the kingdoms of the visible and the invisible. Upon their thrones is written: “Nothing whatsoever keepeth Him from being occupied with any other thing;” and on their seats is inscribed: “Verily, His ways differ every day.” They are sent forth through the transcendent power of the Ancient of Days, and are raised up by the exalted will of God, the most mighty King. This is what is meant by the words: “coming in the clouds of heaven.”
(Baha’u’llah: The Kitab-i-Iqan, Pages: 66-67)
And now regarding His words, that the Son of man shall “come in the clouds of heaven.” By the term “clouds” is meant those things that are contrary to the ways and desires of men. Even as He hath revealed in the verse already quoted: “As oft as an Apostle cometh unto you with that which your souls desire not, ye swell with pride, accusing some of being impostors and slaying others.” (Qur’an 2:87)
These “clouds” signify, in one sense, the annulment of laws, the abrogation of former Dispensations, the repeal of rituals and customs current amongst men, the exalting of the illiterate faithful above the learned opposers of the Faith. In another sense, they mean the appearance of that immortal Beauty in the image of mortal man, with such human limitations as eating and drinking, poverty and riches, glory and abasement, sleeping and waking, and such other things as cast doubt in the minds of men, and cause them to turn away. All such veils are symbolically referred to as ”clouds.”
These are the “clouds” that cause the heavens of the knowledge and understanding of all that dwell on earth to be cloven asunder. Even as He hath revealed: “On that day shall the heaven be cloven by the clouds.” (Qur’an 25:25)
Even as the clouds prevent the eyes of men from beholding the sun, so do these things hinder the souls of men from recognizing the light of the divine Luminary.
(Baha’u’llah: The Kitab-i-Iqan, Pages: 71-72)
The day is fine, the air is pure, the sun shines, no mist nor cloud obscures its radiance. These brilliant rays penetrate into all parts of the city; so may the Sun of Truth illumine the minds of men. Christ said, “They shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of Heaven.”[4] Baha’u’llah said, “When Christ came for the first time He came upon the clouds.”[5] Christ said that He had come from the sky, from Heaven - that He came forth from God - while He was born of Mary, His Mother. But when He declared that He had come from Heaven, it is clear that He did not mean the blue firmament but that He spoke of the Heaven of the Kingdom of God, and that from this Heaven He descended upon the clouds. As clouds are obstacles to the shining of the sun, so the clouds of the world of humanity hid from the eyes of men the radiance of the Divinity of Christ.
Men said, “He is of Nazareth, born of Mary, we know Him and we know his brethren. What can He mean? What is He saying? That He came forth from God?”
The Body of Christ was born of Mary of Nazareth, but the Spirit was of God. The capacities of His human body were limited but the strength of His spirit was vast, infinite, immeasurable. Men asked, “Why does He say He is of God?” If they had understood the reality of Christ, they would have known that the body of His humanity was a cloud that hid His Divinity. The world only saw His human form, and therefore wondered how He could have “come down from Heaven” Baha’u’llah said, “Even as the clouds hide the sun and the sky from our gaze, even so did the humanity of Christ hide from men His real Divine character”.
I hope that you will turn with unclouded eyes towards the Sun of Truth, beholding not the things of earth, lest your hearts be attracted to the worthless and passing pleasures of the world; let that Sun give you of His strength, then will not the clouds of prejudice veil His illumination from your eyes! Then will the Sun be without clouds for you. Breathe the air of purity. May you each and all share in the Divine Bounties of the Kingdom of Heaven. May the world be for you no obstacle hiding the truth from your sight, as the human body of Christ hid His Divinity from the people of His day. May you receive the clear vision of the Holy Spirit, so that your hearts may be illumined and able to recognize the Sun of Truth shining through all material clouds, His splendour flooding the universe.
Let not the things of the body obscure the celestial light of the spirit, so that, by the Divine Bounty, you may enter with the children of God into His Eternal Kingdom.”
(`Abdu’l-Baha: Paris Talks*, Pages: 43-45)
COMING SECRETLY
“Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.” (Revelation 3:3)
“Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.” (Revelation 16:15)
“And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through. Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.” (Luke 12:39-40)
Did not Christ say that He would come like a thief in the night? But He also said ‘every eye’ should see Him! (Rev. 1:7) ‘Every eye’, yes, but those who do not see Him are spiritually blind.
O ye who are the chosen ones of the Abha Kingdom! Praise ye the Lord of Hosts for He, riding upon the clouds, hath come down to this world out of the heaven of the invisible realm, so that East and West were lit by the glory of the Sun of Truth, and the call of the Kingdom was raised, and the heralds of the realm above, with melodies of the Concourse on high, sang out the glad tidings of the Coming. Then the whole world of being did quiver for joy, and still the people, even as the Messiah saith, slept on: for the day of the Manifestation, when the Lord of Hosts descended, found them wrapped in the slumber of unknowing. As He saith in the Gospel, My coming is even as when the thief is in the house, and the goodman of the house watcheth not.
From amongst all mankind hath He chosen you, and your eyes have been opened to the light of guidance and your ears attuned to the music of the Company above; and blessed by abounding grace, your hearts and souls have been born into new life. Thank ye and praise ye God that the hand of infinite bestowals hath set upon your heads this gem-studded crown, this crown whose lustrous jewels will forever flash and sparkle down all the reaches of time.
(`Abdu’l-Baha: Selections ... `Abdu’l-Baha, Page: 35)
Praise thou God that in this age, the age of the dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh, thou hast been awakened, hast been made aware of the Manifestation of the Lord of Hosts. All the people of the world are buried in the graves of nature, or are slumbering, heedless and unaware. Just as Christ saith: ‘I may come when you are not aware. The coming of the Son of Man is like the coming of a thief into a house, the owner of which is utterly unaware.’
In brief, my hope is that from the bounties of Bahá’u’lláh, thou mayest daily advance in the Kingdom, that thou mayest become a heavenly angel, confirmed by the breaths of the Holy Spirit, and mayest erect a structure that shall eternally remain firm and unshakeable....
These days are very precious; grasp the present opportunity and ignite a candle that shall never be extinguished, and which shall pour out its light eternally illuminating the world of mankind!
(Abdu’l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu’l-Baha, p. 198)
In the first half of the nineteenth century there was world-wide and fervent expectation that during the 1840’s the return of Christ would take place. The story made the headlines and even reached the Congress of the United States. From China and the Middle East to Europe and America, men of conflicting ideas shared in the expectancy. Scoffers were many but the enthusiasm was tremendous, and all agreed on the time. Why? And what became of the story? Did anything happen or was it all a dream?
The Solution. Patiently, and with exemplary thoroughness, William Sears set out to solve this mystery. In Thief in the Night he presents his fully detailed “conduct of the case” in an easy style which enthuses the reader with the excitement of the chase. The solution to which all the clues lead comes as a tremendous challenge.
This is a mystery story with a difference: the mystery is a real one, and of vital importance to every human being. The author presents the evidence in The Case of the Missing Millenium in such a way that you can solve it for yourself.
(William Sears, Thief in the Night)
Christ said that this was the day to ‘Watch!’ for the Lord would come as a ‘thief’ and ‘break up’ the house of the faithless. Micah said that this hour was:
‘the day of thy watchmen and thy visitation cometh...’ (Micah 7:4)
Micah then let loose an astonishing downpour of prophecy. He foretold the exact steps by which the Lord would come to Israel, and the things that would befall Him. No detective had a clearer set of clues. Micah promised that:
Frankly, I felt that a fulfilment of these prophecies would be sufficient by itself to establish the authenticity of the Messiah, for in addition to these eight prophesies, Bahá’u’lláh had also fulfilled Micah’s prophesies that the Messiah must:
No wonder I called him the ‘Amazing Micah’. I now felt that if Bahá’u’lláh also fulfilled these eight additional prophecies, I might indeed be coming to the end of my search. I had to admit that I had already assembled a powerful array of evidence pointing to a solution of The Case of the Missing Millenium.
[William Sears, Thief in the Night, p. 122-123]
RAISING OF THE DEAD
By the terms “sun” and “moon,” mentioned in the writings of the Prophets of God, is not meant solely the sun and moon of the visible universe…Thus, by the “sun” in one sense is meant those Suns of Truth Who rise from the dayspring of ancient glory, and fill the world with a liberal effusion of grace from on high. These Suns of Truth are the universal Manifestations of God in the worlds of His attributes and names…Thus it is that through the rise of these Luminaries of God the world is made new, the waters of everlasting life stream forth, the billows of loving-kindness surge, the clouds of grace are gathered, and the breeze of bounty bloweth upon all created things. It is the warmth that these Luminaries of God generate, and the undying fires they kindle, which cause the light of the love of God to burn fiercely in the heart of humanity. It is through the abundant grace of these Symbols of Detachment that the Spirit of life everlasting is breathed into the bodies of the dead.
(Baha’u’llah: The Kitab-i-Iqan, Pages: 33-34)
“In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised…and we shall be changed.” (1 Corinthians 15:52)
“Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead?” (Acts 26:8)
Inasmuch as the Christian divines have failed to apprehend the meaning of these words, and did not recognize their object and purpose, and have clung to the literal interpretation of the words of Jesus, they therefore became deprived of the streaming grace of the Muhammadan Revelation and its showering bounties. The ignorant among the Christian community, following the example of the leaders of their faith, were likewise prevented from beholding the beauty of the King of glory[6], inasmuch as those signs which were to accompany the dawn of the sun of the Muhammadan Dispensation did not actually come to pass. Thus, ages have passed and centuries rolled away, and that most pure Spirit hath repaired unto the retreats of its ancient sovereignty. Once more hath the eternal Spirit breathed into the mystic trumpet, and caused the dead to speed out of their sepulchres of heedlessness and error unto the realm of guidance and grace. And yet, that expectant community still crieth out: When shall these things be? When shall the promised One, the object of our expectation, be made manifest, that we may arise for the triumph of His Cause, that we may sacrifice our substance for His sake, that we may offer up our lives in His path? In like manner, have such false imaginings caused other communities to stray from the Kawthar of the infinite mercy of Providence, and to be busied with their own idle thoughts.
(Baha’u’llah: The Kitab-i-Iqan, Pages: 26-27)
“If thou couldst but see when they are confronted with their Lord! He will say: ‘Is not this the truth?’ They will say: ‘Yea, by our Lord!’ He will say: ‘Taste ye then the penalty, because ye rejected faith.’ Lost indeed are they who treat it as a falsehood that they must meet Allah, until on a sudden the hour is on them, and they say: ‘Ah! woe unto us that we took no thought of it;’” (Qur’án 6:30-31)
“O mankind! fear your Lord! For the convulsion of the Hour (of Judgment) will be a thing terrible!” (Qur’án 22:1)
The following is an evidence of the sovereignty exercised by Muhammad, th Day-star of Truth. Hast thou not herd how with one sigle vers He asundered light from darkness, the righteous from the ungodly, and the believing from the infidel? All the signs and allusions concerning the Day of Judgment, which thou hast heard, such as the raising of the dead, the Day of Reckoning, the Last Judgment, and others have been made manifest through the revelation of that verse. These revealed words were a blessing to the righteous who on hearing them exclaimed: “O God our Lord, we have heard, and obeyed.” They were a curse to the people of iniquity who, on hearing them affirmed: “We have heard and rebelled.” Those words, sharp as the sword of God, have separated the faithful from the infidel, and severed father from son.
(Baha’u’llah: The Kitab-i-Iqan, Pages: 111-112)
“And verily the Hour will come: there can be no doubt about it, or about (the fact) that Allah will raise up all who are in the graves.” (Qur’án 22:7)
The breeze of the All-Merciful hath wafted, and the souls have been quickened in the tombs of their bodies. Thus hath the decree been fulfilled by God, the Mighty, the Beneficent. They that have gone astray have said: “When were the heavens cleft asunder?” Say: “While ye lay in the graves of waywardness and error.”
(Baha’u’llah: Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, Page: 133)
“When the Sky is cleft asunder;” (Qur’án 82:1)
…strive thou to comprehend from these lucid, these powerful, conclusive, and unequivocal statements the meaning of the “cleaving of the heaven” - one of the signs that must needs herald the coming of the last Hour, the Day of Resurrection. As He hath said: “When the heaven shall be cloven asunder.”[7] By “heaven” is meant the heaven of divine Revelation, which is elevated with every Manifestation, and rent asunder with every subsequent one. By “cloven asunder” is meant that the former Dispensation is superseded and annulled. I swear by God! That this heaven being cloven asunder is, to the discerning, an act mightier than the cleaving of the skies! Ponder a while. That a divine Revelation which for years hath been securely established; beneath whose shadow all who have embraced it have been reared and nurtured; by the light of whose law generations of men have been disciplined; the excellency of whose word men have heard recounted by their fathers; in such wise that human eye hath beheld naught but the pervading influence of its grace, and mortal ear hath heard naught but the resounding majesty of its command - what act is mightier than that such a Revelation should, by the power of God, be “cloven asunder” and be abolished at the appearance of one soul?
(Baha’u’llah: The Kitab-i-Iqan, Pages: 44-45)
“The Trumpet will (just) be sounded, when all that are in the heavens and on earth will swoon, except such as it will please Allah (to exempt). Then will a second one be sounded, when behold, they will be standing and looking on! And the Earth will shine with the glory of its Lord:” (Qur’án 39:68-69)
The first Trumpet sound prophesied the Manifestation of the Báb; the harbinger of the Advent of the second Trumpet sound: Bahá’u’lláh (The Glory of God).
“Say: O concourse of archbishops! He Who is the Lord of all men hath appeared. In the plain of guidance He calleth mankind, whilst ye are numbered with the dead! Great is the blessedness of him who is stirred by the Breeze o God, and hath arisen from amongst he dead in this prspicuou Nam. “Say: O concourse of bishops! Trembling hath seized all the kindreds of the earth, and He Who is the Everlasting Father calleth aloud between earth and heaven. Blessed the ear that hath heard, and the eye that hath seen, and the heart that hath turned unto Him Who is the Point of Adoration of all who are in the heavens and all who are on earth.”
“O concourse of bishops! Ye are the stars of the heaven of My knowledge. My mercy desireth not that ye should fall upon the earth. My justice, however, declareth: ‘This is that which the Son [Jesus] hath decreed.’ And whatsoever hath proceeded out of His blameless, His truthspeaking, trustworthy mouth, can never be altered. The bells, verily, peal out My Name, and lament over Me, but
My spirit rejoiceth with evident gladness. The body of the Loved One yearneth for the cross, and His head is eager for the spear, in the path of the All-Merciful. The ascendancy of the oppressor can in no wise deter Him from His purpose.”
And again: “The stars of the heaven of knowledge have fallen, they that adduce the proofs they possess in order to demonstrate the truth of My Cause, and who make mention of God in My Name. When I came unto them, in My majesty, however, they turned aside from Me. They, verily, are of the fallen. This is what the Spirit [Jesus] prophesied when He came with the truth, and the Jewish doctors caviled at Him, until they committed what made the Holy Spirit to lament, and the eyes of such as enjoy near access to God to weep.”
“Say: O concourse of priests! Leave the bells, and come forth, then, from your churches. It behooveth you, in this day, to proclaim aloud the Most Great Name among the nations. Prefer ye to be silent, whilst every stone and every tree shouteth aloud: `The Lord is come in His great glory!’?... He that summoneth men in My name is, verily, of Me, and he will show forth that which is beyond the power of all that are on earth. ...Let the Breeze of God awaken you. Verily, it hath wafted over the world. Well is it with him that hath discovered the fragrance thereof and been accounted among the well-assured.”
And again: “O concourse of priests! The Day of Reckoning hath appeared, the Day whereon He Who was in heaven hath come. He, verily, is the One Whom ye were promised in the Books of God, the Holy, the Almighty, the All-Praised. How long will ye wander in the wilderness of heedlessness and superstition? Turn with your hearts in the direction of your Lord, the Forgiving, the Generous.”
(Shoghi Effendi: The Promised Day is Come, Pages: 101-102)
“Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.” (John 18:37)
Thus doth the Nightingale utter His call unto you from this prison. He hath but to deliver this clear message. Whosoever desireth, let him turn aside from this counsel and whosoever desireth let him choose the path to his Lord. O people, if ye deny these verses, by what proof have ye believed in God? Produce it, O assemblage of false ones. Nay, by the One in Whose hand is my soul, they are not, and never shall be able to do this, even should they combine to assist one another…Be thou assured in thyself that verily, he who turns away from this Beauty hath also turned away from the Messengers of the past and showeth pride towards God from all eternity to all eternity. (Baha’u’llah: Tablet of Ahmad, Baha’i Prayers, p. 209,213)
…the day of the appearance of the Holy Manifestations is the spiritual springtime; it is the divine splendor; it is the heavenly bounty, the breeze of life, the rising of the Sun of Reality. Spirits are quickened; hearts are refreshed and invigorated; souls become good; existence is set in motion; human realities are gladdened, and grow and develop in good qualities and perfections. General progress is achieved and revival takes place, for it is the day of resurrection, the time of excitement and ferment, and the season of bliss, of joy and of intense rapture.
(`Abdu’l-Baha: Some Answered Questions, Page: 74)
RUMOURS OF WARS
Christ compared the phenomena of Noah’s Advent to those which would occur at the future time of His own Second Advent:
‘As it was in the days of Noe.’ (Matthew 24:37)
(George Townshend, The Heart of the Gospel, p. 47)
Isn’t this clear from reading of Genesis that the days of Noe (Noah) were turbulent; that Noe preached for a long time and his preaching fell on deaf ears? Would this not also suggest that in the days of His Second Advent, Christ, was to receive the same treatment as Noe before Him, that man would be reluctant to hear His Call?
Since the coming of Bahá’u’lláh in A.D. 1844, mankind has witnessed many horrific, ruinous and devastating wars that have contributed to nothing but the loss of millions of lives, and the destruction of the environment for all living things on earth...
Together with the Christian scholars of that day, I too, had found that prophecy after prophecy terminated in the year 1844. These prophecies spoke of the Time of the end, the Day of Judgement, the Last days, the Day of Resurrection, and the Hour of the Return of Christ. Yet they spoke of them in a new and provocative manner. Christ said:
‘... there shall be wars and rumours of wars ... And then shall they see the Son of man coming ...’ (Mark 13: 7,26)
Bible scholar Paul K. Dealy in his Dawn of Knowledge writes: ‘History records the following great wars among the leading nations: (1) About this time a war was in progress between China and England terminating in the loss of Hong Kong to the former. A treaty was signed between them in 1842. (2) The Crimean War -- England, France and Turkey against Russia 1854. (3) The atrocious Sepoy mutiny 1857-8. (4) France and Italy against Austria 1859. (5) Civil war of the United States 1861-65. (6) Franco-Prussian war 1870-1. (7) Russian-Turkish war 1877-8. (8) And during the last decade the wars between China and Japan, Turkey and Greece, Spain and the United States, the invasion of China by all the great powers, and the Boer war.’
To this list could be added the two greatest world wars that mankind had ever seen. The Korean war, the war in Indo-China, the Arab-Jewish war, the multiplying minor wars and revolutions within countries, the increasing border skirmishes, the constant ‘cold war’ and the never-ending newspaper headlines that threaten man daily with ‘rumours of wars.’ Certainly the words of Christ aptly fit this day.
In the late 1800’s, the conviction became very strong among the American Indians that the Messiah had already appeared and was on earth. Throughout the Western Hemisphere, the great majority of Indians had for centuries been awaiting the appearance of their promised Redeemer.
In the latter part of the nineteenth century, General Miles of the United States Army reported in a St. Paul, Minnesota, newspaper that during his tour of the west, ‘I have learned that this belief (in the Messiah) exists among ... 16 tribes.’ The belief in the coming of this same Messiah was also strongly held in the East. Krishna had foretold the coming of a great World Educator.
(William Sears, Thief n the Night p. 2-2)
The distinguished Orientalist, Prof. E. G. Browne of Cambridge, was granted his four successive interviews with Baha’u’llah, during the five days he was His guest at Bahji (April 15-20, 1890), interviews immortalized by the Exile’s historic declaration that “these fruitless strifes, these ruinous wars shall pass away and the `Most Great Peace’ shall come.” “The face of Him on Whom I gazed,” is the interviewer’s memorable testimony for posterity, “I can never forget, though I cannot describe it. Those piercing eyes seemed to read one’s very soul; power and authority sat on that ample brow.... No need to ask in whose presence I stood, as I bowed myself before one who is the object of a devotion and love which kings might envy and emperors sigh for in vain.” “Here,” the visitor himself has testified, “did I spend five most memorable days, during which I enjoyed unparalleled and unhoped-for opportunities of holding intercourse with those who are the fountain-heads of that mighty and wondrous spirit, which works with invisible but ever-increasing force for the transformation and quickening of a people who slumber in a sleep like unto death. It was, in truth, a strange and moving experience, but one whereof I despair of conveying any save the feeblest impression.”
(Shoghi Effendi: God Passes By, Page: 194)
In that interview, Baha’u’llah spoke these Words:
...Praise be to God that thou hast attained!... Thou hast come to see a prisoner and an exile.... We desire but the good of the world and happiness of the nations; yet they deem us a stirrer up of strife and sedition worthy of bondage and banishment.... That all nations should become one in faith and all men as brothers; that the bonds of affection and unity between the sons of men should be strengthened; that diversity of religion should cease, and differences of race be annulled - what harm is there in this?... Yet so it shall be; these fruitless strifes, these ruinous wars shall pass away, and the “Most Great Peace” shall come.... Do not you in Europe need this also? Is not this that which Christ foretold?... Yet do we see your kings and rulers lavishing their treasures more freely on means for the destruction of the human race than on that which would conduce to the happiness of mankind.... These strifes and this bloodshed and discord must cease, and all men be as one kindred and one family.... Let not a man glory in this, that he loves his country; let him rather glory in this, that he loves his kind....
(Baha’u’llah: Peace, Page: 157)
In yet other Tablets, He revealed:
The Great Being, wishing to reveal the prerequisites of the peace and tranquillity of the world and the advancement of its peoples, hath written: The time must come when the imperative necessity for the holding of a vast, an all-embracing assemblage of men will be universally realized. The rulers and kings of the earth must needs attend it, and, participating in its deliberations, must consider such ways and means as will lay the foundations of the world’s Great Peace amongst men. Such a peace demandeth that the Great Powers should resolve, for the sake of the tranquillity of the peoples of he earth, to be fully reconciled among themselves. Should any king take up arms against another, all should unitedly arise and prevent him. If this be done, the nations of the world will no longer require any armaments, except for the purpose of preserving the security of their realms and of maintining internal order within their territories. This will ensure the peace and composure of every people, government and nation. We fain would hope tht the kings and rulers of the earth, the mirrors of the gracious and almigty name of God, may attain unto thisstation, and shiel mankindfromtonslaught of tyranny. ...The day is approaching when all the peoples of the world will have adopted one universal language and one common script. When this is achieved, to whatsoever city a man may journey, it shall be as if he were entering his own home. These things are obligatory and absolutely essential. It is incumbent upon every man of insight and understanding to strive to translate that which hath been written into reality and action.... That one indeed is a man who, today, dedicateth himself to the service of the entire human race. The Great Being saith: Blessed and happy is he that ariseth to promote the best interests of the peoples and kindreds of the earth. In another passage He hath proclaimed: It is not for him to pride himself who loveth his own country, but rather for him who loveth the whole world. The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens.
(Baha’u’llah: Gleanings, Pages: 249-250)
Consider the civilization of the West, how it hath agitated and alarmed the peoples of the world. An infernal engine hath been devised, and hath proved so cruel a weapon of destruction that its like none hath ever witnessed or heard. The purging of such deeply-rooted and overwhelming corruptions cannot be effected unless the peoples of the world unite in pursuit of one common aim and embrace one universal faith. Incline your ears unto the Call of this Wronged One and adhere firmly to the Lesser Peace.
Strange and astonishing things exist in the earth but they are hidden from the minds and the understanding of men. These things are capable of changing the whole atmosphere of the earth and their contamination would prove lethal. Great God! We have observed an amazing thing. Lightning or a force similar to it is controlled by an operator and moveth at his command. Immeasurably exalted is the Lord of Power Who hath laid bare that which He purposed through the potency of His weighty and invincible command.
O people of Baha! Each one of the ordinances We have revealed is a mighty stronghold for the preservation of the world of being. Verily, this Wronged One desireth naught but your security and elevation.
(Baha’u’llah: Tablets of Baha’u’llah, Page: 69)
THE PROMISED HOUR
“Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.” (Luke 12:40)
“O mankind! fear your Lord! For the convulsion of the Hour (of Judgment) will be a thing terrible!” (Qur’án 22:1)
“One of the most mighty signs that shall signalise the advent of the promised Hour is this: ‘A woman shall give birth to One who shall be her Lord.’”
(Shoghi Effendi, The Dawn-Breakers, p. 11)
Bestir yourselves, O people, in anticipation of the days of Divine justice, for the promised hour is now come. Beware lest ye fail to apprehend its import and be accounted among the erring.
(Baha’u’llah: Gleanings, Page: 17)
How far from the grace of the All-Bountiful and from His loving providence and tender mercies it is to single out a soul from amongst all men for the guidance of His creatures, and, on one hand, to withhold from Him the full measure of His divine testimony, and, on the other, inflict severe retribution on His people for having turned away from His chosen One! Nay, the manifold bounties of the Lord of all beings have, at all times, through the Manifestations of His divine Essence, encompassed the earth and all that dwell therein. Not for a moment hath His grace been withheld, nor have the showers of His loving-kindness ceased to rain upon mankind.
(Baha’u’llah: The Kitab-i-Iqan, Page: 14)
You stand at this challenging hour in the history of the Cause at the threshold of a new era; the functions you are called upon to discharge are fraught with immense possibilities; the responsibilities you shoulder are grave and momentous; and the eyes of many peoples are turned, at this hour, towards you, expectant to behold the dawning of a Day that shall witness the fulfilment of His divine Promise.
(Shoghi Effendi, Baha’i Administration, p. 44)
“Bahá’u’lláh is a Savior of the Twentieth Century.” “The time fore-ordained unto the peoples and kindreds of the earth is now come. The promises of God, as recorded in the holy Scriptures have all been fulfilled.” “The Lord is come in His great glory!” “He, verily, is the One Whom ye were promised in the Books of God.
...How long will ye wander in the wilderness of heedlessness and superstition. Turn your hearts in the direction of your Lord, the Forgiving, the Generous.” “Every Prophet hath announced the coming of this day ... This Day is God’s Day! ... Happy is he who hath renounced this world, and clung to Him. ...” “Bestir yourselves, O people, ... for the promised hour is now come. Beware lest ye fail to apprehend its import. ...” “Night hath succeeded day, and day hath succeeded night, and the hours and moments of your lives have come and gone, yet none of you hath, for one instant, contented to detach yourself from that which perisheth. Bestir yourselves, that the brief moments that are still yours may not be dissipated and lost. Even as the swiftness of lightning your days shall pass, and your bodies shall be laid to rest beneath a canopy of dust. What can ye then achieve? How can ye atone for your past failure?” “He Who is the Everlasting Father calleth aloud between earth and heaven. Blessed the ear that hath heard, and the eye that hath seen, and the heart that hath turned unto Him ... “This is that which the Son (Jesus) hath decreed.” -- Bahá’u’lláh
(William Sears, Release the Sun, p. 237)
THE PLACE OF VISION
The light of the intellect enables us to understand and realize all that exists, but it is only the Divine Light that can give us sight for the invisible things, and which enables us to see truths that will only be visible to the world thousands of years hence.
It was the Divine Light which enabled the prophets to see two thousand years in advance what was going to take place and today we see the realization of their vision. Thus it is this Light which we must strive to seek, for it is greater than any other.
It was by this Light that Moses was enabled to see and comprehend the Divine Appearance, and to hear the Heavenly Voice which spoke to him from the Burning Bush.[8]
It is of this Light Muhammad is speaking when he says, ‘Allah is the light of the Heavens, and of the Earth’.
Seek with all your hearts this Heavenly Light, so that you may be enabled to understand the realities, that you may know the secret things of God, that the hidden ways may be made plain before your eyes.
This light may be likened unto a mirror, and as a mirror reflects all that is before it, so this Light shows to the eyes of our spirits all that exists in God’s Kingdom and causes the realities of things to be made visible. By the help of this effulgent Light all the spiritual interpretation of the Holy Writings has been made plain, the hidden things of God’s Universe have become manifest, and we have been enabled to comprehend the Divine purposes for man.
I pray that God in His mercy may illumine your hearts and souls with His glorious Light, then shall each one of you shine as a radiant star in the dark places of the world.
(Abdu’l-Baha, Paris Talks, p. 69)
Arise and wash thy body, wear a pure gown, and , directing thyself to the Kingdom of God, supplicate and pray to Him. Sleep in a clean, well prepared and ventilated place, and ask for appearance (or display) in the world of vision. Thou wilt have visions which will cause the doors of doubts to be closed, which will give you new joy, wonderful dilation, brilliant glory. Thou wilt comprehend realities and meanings.
(Abdu’l-Baha, Tablets of Abdu’l-Baha v3, p. 673)
I now began an earnest search for clues which would tell me something about the place in which the Messiah would appear.
Two interesting things came to light. For the first coming, Daniel had given the time and Micah had given the place.
Daniel had prophesied exactly when the Messiah would appear the first time and when He would be slain. Micah had said of the place:
‘But thou, Bethlehem...out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel.’ (Micah 5:2)
Daniel had also prophesied with even greater exactness the time of the second coming of the Messiah in 1844 (see p. 20). Therefore, I turned to Micah for a possible clue as to the place of His second appearance.
I was richly rewarded. In Micah vii. 7 and 12 I found:
‘I will wait for the God of my salvation...In that day also he shall come even to thee from Assyria...’ (Micah 7:7,12)
The Assyrian Empire at one time covered the entire area in which both Daniel and Micah lived out their lives. Therefore, I chose to study those parts of the Empire in which these two prophets traditionally lived and taught.
To my surprise, I found that there were many other clues to follow as well. Gradually one led to another, until a definite picture began to emerge, and I knew at least in which direction to turn my gaze. The book of Ezekiel spoke of a great Figure who would come in those days. He said:
‘And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east.’ (Ezekiel 43:2)
This was clearly a reference to the second coming of Christ and not the first, for Jesus did not come from the way of the East, He came from north and west of Jerusalem.
Isaiah in like manner spoke of the wondrous Figure who would come from the East. Isaiah said that it was God Himself Who had
‘...raised up the righteous man from the east, called him to his foot, gave the nations before him, and made him rule over kings.’ (Isaiah 41:2)
Even Christ Himself pointed to the direction from which He would appear in the day of His second coming. Speaking of that day, He said:
‘For as the lightning cometh out of the East...so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.’ (Matthew 24:27)
The Jewish Oracles, the Sibylline books, prophesied that the ‘King Messiah’ of the time of the end would come ‘from the sunrise.’ (The Messianic Idea in Israel, J.G. Klausner, 1956, p. 376)
Daniel had written his words of millennial prophecy while in the East. In fact, he was in Elam, a part of ancient Persia, when he foretold with such startling accuracy the exact time of both the first and the second comings of Christ.
It was in the capital city of Persia, Shushan, that Daniel had the prophetic vision which revealed the year 1844 as the time for the return of the Messiah.
Daniel not only gave the time 1844, but he also directed attention to the place, saying that ‘Elam’ (Persia) would be given as a place of ‘vision’ in the latter days. (Daniel 8:2)
The Prophet Jeremiah speaks of things that ‘shall come to pass in the latter days’ and in the verse preceding this, he says:
‘And I will set my throne in Elam (Persia)...saith the Lord.’ (Jeremiah 49:38)
I came across a prophecy well known among the Arabs. Speaking of the time of the end, it said:
When the promised One appears, the ‘upholders of His faith shall be the people of Persia.’[Th Dawnbreakers,Nabil,P. 9 All these prophecies clearly showed that the Messiah would come from the East, and they put a strong emphasis on the territory of Persia. It was something definite to go on. The circle was narrowing.
(William Sears, Thief in the Night, p. 72-74)
THREE PROMISES OF CHRIST
In all the revealed world religions the coming of the Kingdom is identified with the appearance of the Supreme world Redeemer, the Lord of Hosts, the returned Christ, the Qá’im, the new Buddha. “One fold and one shepherd” is to replace the many conflicting and separated groups of men.
This outstanding pledge, originally given thousands of years ago, has never been taken up by any of the Great Prophets until the nineteenth century, when Bahá’u’lláh, Founder of the Bahá’í Faith, announced to the rulers and religious leaders of the world that He was this Redeemer and the Bearer of God’s message to modern man. He proclaimed that He spoke with the Voice of God Himself, that He was the Lord of Hosts, Christ come in the glory of the Father, and that this was indeed the Last Day, the Day of Judgment.
The Cause of Bahá’u’lláh and His martyred Forerunner, the Báb, had for twenty years suffered persecution of every form; yet without investigation the kings and ecclesiastical rulers whom He addressed ignored His message. He died in 1892 in the Holy Land, an exile and captive of the Turks. Yet to-day a world-wide community exists bearing His name and following His teachings.
(George Townshend, Christ and Baha’u’llah, p. 9)
…millennial zeal reached its climax in the year 1844. I wanted to know exactly why. What had led all these people to the same year?
I found the answer. This date in history had been chosen primarily because of three specific promises made by Christ Himself to His disciples. He gave three promises, saying that when these three things came to pass, He (Christ) would return to earth. The promises are as follows:
(William Sears, Thief in the Night, p. 7)
With all these proofs to guide them, why did the people fail to recognize Christ in the day of His return in 1844? Why did over a century pass with no clear explanation of this great riddle?
The answer is simple. It was the same reason that the people did not recognize Christ in the day of His first coming, until after the passing of centuries. Those who were spiritually “alive” knew Him, but the great mass of mankind were spiritually “dead” and knew Him not. These were the people spoken of by Jeremiah:
“O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not.” (Jeremiah 5:21)
(William Sears, Release the Sun, p. 198)
A study of the following Biblical, and historical facts, reveals that the Second Advent of Christ has already been fulfilled.
Christ made many Promises pointing to His return. The First is easy to find; He made it to His disciples in direct reply to their question. In Matthew, chapter 24, verse 3, we read: “Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?”
In Matthew, chapter 24, verses 13, and 14, Christ said:
“But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”
This is clear enough that the end would come, and Christ would return, when His Gospel was preached throughout the world.
A study of the spread of Christianity made by scholars of the 1840’s, convinced them that the message of Christ, had by their day, already encircled the globe. The Gospel was being taught in all the continents. By 1844 it was being taught even in the interior of Africa, not by solitary missionaries, but on an organized scale. A commercial history of East Africa states: “Christian missions began their activities amongst the African people in 1844.” (Year Book and Guide to East Africa, Ed. By Robert Hale Ltd., London, 1953, p. 44)
Another account states: “In 1804 the British and Foreign Bible Society was organized. Students of the prophetic word felt at the time that these agencies were coming in fulfillment of the prophecy.” (Our Day in the Light of Prophecy, Spicer, P. 308) This was a direct reference to the prophecy of Christ that He would return when His Gospel was preached everywhere in the world.
M. H. Goyer writes in his book on prophetic fulfillment: “The British and Foreign Bible Society (for one example) has issued, since its foundation in 1804, over 421 million copies of the Scriptures, in practically every country known throughout the globe.”
In Our Day in the Light of Prophecy, Spicer wrote that the Gospel in his day had been spread “to ninety-five percent of the inhabitants of the earth..” He added: “It was in 1842 that five treaty-ports in China were opened to commerce and to missions - advance steps in the opening of all China to the Gospel. In 1844 Turkey was prevailed upon to recognize the right of Moslems to become Christians, reversing all Moslem tradition. In 1844 Allen Gardiner established the South American Mission. In 1842 Livingstone’s determination was formed to open the African interior.”
It was by these accounts that the millennial scholars of the 1840’s felt that Christ’s first promise had been fulfilled. They felt it had been clearly demonstrated that the Gospel had been preached in all the world for a witness, and, therefore, the hour of His coming must now be at hand.
The second Promise of the return of Christ was made in reply to a direct question asked by His disciples in Luke, chapter 21, verse 7:
“And they asked him, saying, Master, but when shall these things be? and what sign will there be when these things shall come to pass?”
Christ, in Luke, chapter 21, verse 24 replied:
“And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”
And, in Luke, chapter 21, verse 31, He added:
“So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.”
This would mean to say that when ‘the times of the Gentiles’ fulfilled, that meant that, Christ had already returned!
The ‘times of the Gentiles’ denotes that period of time during which Jerusalem would be held in the power of aliens, or Gentiles, and during which the Jews themselves would be excluded from their homeland. One should know that Jerusalem was destroyed by the Roman Titus, in A.D. 70, and that, the Jews were scattered and exiled, and many of them exactly as had been foretold by Christ, fell ‘by the edge of the sword’.
The strict exclusion of the Jews from their own land enforced by the Muslims for some twelve centuries was at last relaxed by the Edict of Toleration, and the ‘times of Gentiles’ were fulfilled. In the year A.D. 1844 the Moslems under the leadership of Turkey were compelled by the Western Powers, notably England, to grant religious toleration to all (nations) within their borders. This included the Holy Land, Palestine.
The Turkish Government agreed to permit religious freedom and signed the document which guaranteed that ‘The Sublime Porte engages to take effectual measures to prevent henceforward’ any religious intolerance.
For the first time in twelve hundred years the Jews were guaranteed the right to return to Israel in freedom and security. The date on this document was March 21, 1844.
Biblically, by using the accepted formula of ‘I have appointed thee each day for a year’ (Ezekiel 4:6), the Gentiles were to tread the Holy City (Jerusalem) under foot, for 42 months (1260 days), or for 1260 years.
Therefore, the prophecy from Revelation 11 could now be read as: ‘And the Holy City (Jerusalem) shall they tread under foot for 1260 years’:
“But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.” (Revelation 11:2)
Therefore, according to the Promise of Christ in Luke (21:24), these Gentiles (Romans-Moslems) would tread the city under foot until the hour of His return which would be 1260 years by the measurement of the prophecy. During all that time, the Jews would be banished from their own land. But in the hour of Christ’s return, the privilege of going home would be restored to them, and the ‘times of the Gentiles’ would be ended.
An examination of the calendar of the Muslims reveals the astonishing finding that, the year A.D.1844 of the calendar of the Christians coincided with the year 1260 AH of the calendar of the Muslims.
The year 1260 given in Revelation as the time when the days of the ‘Gentiles’ would be ended and the Jews would be permitted to return to their homeland, was the same year as that of 1844 when the Muslim rulers were forced to sign the Edict of Toleration permitting the return of the Jews to their homeland.
One can now begin to understand the growing enthusiasm of the Bible scholars of the 1840’s. Christ had promised that when the ‘times of the Gentiles’ was fulfilled, He would come back to earth. To these students of Scripture, the Promise of the Second coming of Christ was exactly fulfilled, and the date (1844) established without question.
The third Promise of the return of Christ was made in reply to direct question asked by His dsciples in the ook of atte In Matthew, chapter 24, verse 3, Christ clearly says that what Daniel meant by his prophecy was the date of the Manifestation, and this is the verse:
“As He sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto Him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?”
One of the explanations He gave them in reply was this (v. 15):
“When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand).”
In this answer He referred them to the prophecies in the Book of Daniel, which relate both to Christ, and The Báb (‘the Gate,) Who was to appear as the Forerunner before the Second coming, Bahá’u’lláh, Arabic for ‘the Glory of God’.
The year of the martyrdom of Christ is prophesied in chapter 9 of the Book of Daniel. In this book, the time from the rebuilding of Jerusalem to the martyrdom of Christ, is given as seventy weeks; for by the martyrdom of Christ the sacrifice is accomplished and the altar destroyed. These seventy weeks begin with the restoration and the rebuilding of Jerusalem, concerning which four edicts were issued by three kings.
The first was issued by Cyrus in the year 536 B.C.; this is recorded in the first chapter of the Book of Ezra. The second edict, with reference to the rebuilding of Jerusalem, is that of Darius of Persia in the year 519 B.C.; this is recorded in the sixth chapter of Ezra. The third is that of Artaxerxes in the seventh year of his reign - that is, in 457 B.C.; this is recorded in the seventh chapter of Ezra. The fourth is that of Artaxerxes in the year 444 B.C.; this is recorded in the second chapter of Nehemiah.
But the Bahá’i writings clearly state that Daniel refers to the third edict which was issued in the year 457 B.C., after which work on the rebuilding commenced. Seventy weeks make four hundred and ninety days. Each day, according to the text of the Holy Book, is a year. For in the Bible it is said: “The day of the Lord is one year.”(Numbers 14:34). Therefore, four hundred and ninety days are four hundred and ninety years. The third edict of Artaxerxes was issued four hundred and fifty-seven years before the birth of Christ, and Christ, was martyred and ascended four hundred and ninety years after the issue of the edict of Artaxerxes. Thus Christ was thirty three years old at the time of His ascension.
In the eighth chapter of the Book of Daniel, verse thirteen, it is said:
“Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?”
Then he answered (v. 14):
“Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed”; (v. 17) “But he said unto me ... at the time of the end shall be the vision.”
That is to say, how long will this misfortune, this ruin, this abasement nd degradation last? meaning, when willbe the dawn of the Manifestaton? Then he answered,
“Two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.”
In the text of the Bible each day is a year. Thus from the date of the issuing of the edict of Artaxerxes to rebuild Jerusalem until the dawn of the Manifestation and the cleansing of the sanctuary is two thousand three hundred years. It may be seen that from the issuing of the edict to the birth of Christ, there are 456 years, and the new dawn, therefore, occurs 1844 years later. That is to say, the fulfillment of the vision of Daniel took place in the year A.D. 1844, and this is the year of the Manifestation of The Báb according to the actual text of the Book of Daniel. Consider how clearly he determines the year of Manifestation; there could be no clearer proof for a prophecy than this.
A CROWN OF TWELVE STARS
The Law of God is also compared to an adorned bride who appears with most beautiful ornaments, as it has been said in chapter 21 of the Revelation of St. John:
“And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” (Rev. 21:2)
And in chapter 12, verse 1, it is said:
“And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.” (Rev. 12:1)
This woman is that bride, the Law of God that descended upon Muhammad. The sun with which she was clothed, and the moon which was under her feet, are the two nations which are under the shadow of that Law, the Persian and Ottoman kingdoms; for the emblem of Persia is the sun, and that of the Ottoman Empire is the crescent moon. Thus the sun and moon are the emblems of two kingdoms which are under the power of the Law of God.
Afterward it is said: “upon her head is a crown of twelve stars.” (Rev. 12:1)
These twelve stars are the twelve Imams, who were the promoters of the Law of Muhammad and the educators of the people, shining like stars in the heaven of guidance.
Then it is said in the second verse: “and she being with child cried,” (Rev. 12:2)
Meaning that this Law fell into the greatest difficulties and endured great troubles and afflictions until a perfect offspring was produced -- that is, the coming Manifestation, the Promised One, Who is the perfect offspring, and Who was reared in the bosom of this Law, which is as its mother. The child Who is referred to is the Báb, the Primal Point, Who was in truth born from the Law of Muhammad -- that is to say, the Holy Reality, Who is the child and outcome of the Law of God, His mother, and Who is promised by that religion, finds a reality in the kingdom of that Law; but because of the despotism of the dragon the child was carried up to God. After twelve hundred and sixty days the dragon was destroyed, and the child of the Law of God, the Promised One, became manifest.
Verses 3 and 4: “And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth.” (Rev. 12:3-4)
These signs are an allusion to the dynasty of the Umayyads who dominated the Muhammadan religion. Seven heads and seven crowns mean seven countries and dominions over which the Umayyads had power: they were the Roman dominionaround Damascus; and the Persian, Arabian and Egyptian dominions, together with the dominion of Africa -- that is o say, Tunis, Morocco and Algeria; the dominion of Andaluia, which is now Spain; and he dominion o the TrksoTransoxania. The Umayyads had power over these countries. The ten horns mean the names of the Umayyad rulers -- that is, without repetition, there were ten names of rulers, meaning ten names of commanders and chiefs -- the first is Abu Sufyan and the last Marvan -- but several of them bear the same name. So there are two Muaviya, three Yazid, two Valid, and two Marvan; but if the names were counted without repetition there would be ten. The Umayyads, of whom the first was Abu Sufyan, Amir of Mecca and chief of the dynasty of the Umayyads, and the last was Marvan, destroyed the third part of the holy and saintly people of the lineage of Muhammad who were like the stars of heaven.
Verse 4: “And the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour the child as soon as it was born.” (Rev. 12:4)
As we have before explained, this woman is the Law of God. The dragon was standing near the woman to devour her child, and this child was the promised Manifestation, the offspring of the Law of Muhammad. The Umayyads were always waiting to get possession of the Promised One, Who was to come from the line of Muhammad, to destroy and annihilate Him; for they much feared the appearance of the promised Manifestation, and they sought to kill any of Muhammad’s descendants who might be highly esteemed.
Verse 5: “And she brought forth a man child, Who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron.” (Rev. 12:5)
This great son is the promised Manifestation Who was born of the Law of God and reared in the bosom of the divine teachings. The iron rod is a symbol of power and might -- it is not a sword -- and means that with divine power and might He will shepherd all the nations of the earth. This son is the Báb.
Verse 5: “And her child was caught up unto God, and to His throne.” (Rev. 12:5)
This is a prophecy of the Báb, Who ascended to the heavenly realm, to the Throne of God, and to the center of His Kingdom. Consider how all this corresponds to what happened.
Verse 6: “And the woman fled into the wilderness” (Rev. 12:6)
-- that is to say, the Law of God fled to the wilderness, meaning the vast desert of Hijaz, and the Arabian Peninsula.
Verse 6: “Where she had a place prepared of God.” (Rev. 12:6)
The Arabian Peninsula became the abode and dwelling place, and the center of the Law of God.
Verse 6: “That they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.” (Rev. 12:6)
In the terminology of the Holy Book these twelve hundred and sixty days mean the twelve hundred and sixty years that the Law of God was set up in the wilderness of Arabia, the great desert: from it the Promised One has come. After twelve hundred and sixty years that Law will have no more influence, for the fruit of that tree will have appeared, and the result will have been produced.
Consider how the prophecies correspond to one another. In the Apocalypse, the appearance of the Promised One is appointed after forty-two months, and Daniel expresses it as three times and a half, which is also forty-two months, which are twelve hundred and sixty days. In another passage of John’s Revelation it is clearly spoken of as twelve hundred and sixty days, and in the Holy Book it is said that each day signifies one year. Nothing could be clearer than this agreement of the prophecies with one another. The Báb appeared in the year 1260 of the Hejira of Muhammad, which is the beginning of the universal era-reckoning of all Islam. There are no clearer proofs than this in the Holy Books for any Manifestation.
For him who is just, the agreement of the times indicated by the tongues of the Great Ones is the most conclusive proof. There is no other possible explanation of these prophecies. Blessed are the just souls who seek the truth. But failing justice, the people attack, dispute and openly deny the evidence, like the Pharisees who, at the manifestation of Christ, denied with the greatest obstinacy the explanations of Christ and of His disciples. They obscured Christ’s Cause before the ignorant people, saying, “These prophecies are not of Jesus, but of the Promised One Who shall come later, according to the conditions mentioned in the Bible.”
Some of these conditions were that He must have a kingdom, be seated on the throne of David, enforce the Law of the Bible, and manifest such justice that the wolf and the lamb shall gather at the same spring.
And thus they prevented the people from knowing Christ.
Note. -- In these last conversations ‘Abdu’l-Bahá wishes to reconcile in a new interpretation the apocalyptic prophecies of the Jews, the Christians and the Muslims, rather than to show their supernatural character. On the powers of the Prophets, cf. “The Knowledge of the Divine Manifestations,” p. 157; and “Visions and Communication with Spirits,” p. 251.
(`Abdu’l-Baha: Some Answered Questions, Pages: 68-72)
It might seem natural to expect that the Dispensation of the Herald of the Kingdom would be followed in sequence by that of the King whose Herald He was. But this was not to be. It had been already so announced in the Book of Genesis.
God foretold to Abraham that the Prophetic succession was to run through Him and be fulfilled not only in Isaac but in Ishmael. In Genesis xii 1-2 it is written:
“Now the Lord had said unto Abram,...I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:”
And again in Genesis xvii 20
“And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.”
The narrative continues (Gen. xxi 20-21):
“God was with the lad; and he grew,...and he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran: and...took him a wife out of the land of Egypt.”
He became the progenitor of the people of Arabia and the twelve Princes which he begot are interpreted as the twelve Imams who followed Muhammad. Moses confirmed this promise when He Prophesied (Deut. xviii 15) to the Israelites that:
“the Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me.”
This refers not only to the coming of Jesus Christ, as is usually thought, but more especially to Muhammad. Moses would have used the word “seed” if He had meant to refer to an Israelite, whereas the word “brethren” indicates that He alludes to Isaac’s brother Ishmael. He connects Mount Paran explicitly with the Prophetic line when, in His final blessing before His death, He describes the Prophets who will follow Him:
“The Lord came from Sinai” (meaning Himself), and rose up from Seir . . . (meaning Jesus Christ); he shined forth from mount Paran (meaning Muhammad), and he came with ten thousands of saints (meaning Bahá’u’lláh).” (Deut. xxxiii 2)
On the other hand Muhammad mentions in the Qur’án the prophecies of His coming made in the Bible (Sura 26 verses 192-199) and states that Abraham prayed for His coming (Sura 2 verses 118-144) and that He was foretold by Moses and described in the Law and the Evangel.
(George Townshend, Christ and Baha’u’llah, P. 31-32)
Note.-- George Townshend, M.A. (Sometime Canon of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin Archdeacon of Clonfert)
“He questions: ‘When is the Day of Resurrection?’…And the sun and moon are joined together” (Qur’an 75:6,9)
According to the Islamic tradition, the term ‘sun’ in the Holy Qur’an symbolizes the Manifestation of Prophet Muhammad. And, the term ‘moon’ Imám Ali (His first disciple); Commander of the Faithful (Bahá’u’lláh: Kitab-i-Iqan, Page: 164).
Hence, it may be perceived that, symbolically, from the adjoining of ‘sun’ and the ‘moon’ (Qur’an 75:9), Ali-Muhammad is resulted – the given name of The Báb; the return of the 12th Imám; The Qa’im.
EVENTS OF THE TIME
It took me three years instead of one before I could close my file of ‘findings’. In the end, however, I knew that I had unearthed a truly remarkable story. The hard-boiled newspapermen had been right. If a man picked up his Sunday paper and read this story on the front page, he would indeed be rocked back on his heels. Nothing would ever be quite the same again.
Can you blame me for feeling excited? The search had been long, but the reward promised to be great. I might at last solve my mystery.
One of the first things I learned was this:
On May 24, 1844, in the West, Samuel Morse sent his famous telegraphic message, quoting from the Scriptures: ‘What hath God wrought?’
On May 23rd, 1844, the preceding day, in the East, this young man arose to make a staggering claim.
He declared that this was the day foretold in all the Scriptures of the past. This day, he said, was the day when the Promised One of all religions would appear. This was to be the day of the ‘one fold and one shepherd’.
This took place in Persia in 1844. Naturally my attention was arrested immediately by the date and the place.
I learned that he was called the Báb. Just as the name Christ means ‘the anointed’, the name Báb means ‘the gate’ or ‘the door’. This young man claimed that he was the ‘gate’ or the ‘door’ through which would come the One promised in all the holy Books, the One Who would establish the one fold of God.
I remembered the promise given by Christ:
‘But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep...And other sheep have I which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold and one shepherd.’ (John 10:2-16)
The Báb said that he was the herald and forerunner of one greater than himself. His mission was to call men back to God and to prepare the way for the great world Saviour foretold by Christ and all the prophets of the past. Just as John the Baptist had been the forerunner of Christ, the Báb claimed to be the forerunner of this Promised Redeemer of all ages.
(William Sears, Thief in the Night, pp. 90-91)
The early nineteenth century was a period of messianic expectations in many lands. Deeply disturbed by the implications of scientific inquiry and industrialization, earnest believers from many religious backgrounds turned to the scriptures of their faiths for an understanding of the accelerating processes of change.
In Europe and America groups like the Templers and the Millerites believed they had found in the Christian scriptures evidence supporting their conviction that history had ended and the return of Jesus Christ was at hand. A markedly similar ferment developed in the Middle East around the belief that the fulfillment of various prophecies in the Qur’án and Islamic Traditions was imminent.
Shaykh Ahmad-i-Ahsai and Siyyid Kazim-i-Rashti, who were amongst the greatest scholars and theologians of their time (of Qur’án, the Hoy Bband other Holy Books) announced the nearness of the Advent of The Deliverer of the Latter Days -- The Qa’im.
By far, the most dramatic of these millennialist movements emerged in Iran, in 1844(1260 A.H. of Islamic Lunar Calendar). It focused on the person and teachings of a young merchant from the city of Shiraz, a city located in central Persia (Iran). He was known to history as The Báb; Arabic for “The Gate”.
From 1844 to 1863, Persians of All classes were caught up in a storm of hope and excitement, aroused by The Báb’s announcement that the Day of God was at hand and that He was Himself the One Promised in the Holy Scriptures. Humanity stood, He said, on the threshold of an era that would witness the restructuring of all aspects of life. The human race, He said, was called by God to embrace new changes through undertaking a transformation of its moral, and spiritual life. His own Mission was to prepare humanity for the event that lay at the heart of these developments, the coming of that Universal Messenger of God, “Him Whom God shall make Manifest,” awaited by the followers of All religions. The claim soon evoked violent hostility from the Muslim clergy who taught that the process of divine revelation had ended with Muhammad and that any assertion to the contrary represented apostasy, punishable by death. Their denunciation of The Báb soon enlisted the support of the Persian authorities. Thousands of followers of the new faith perished in horrific series of massacres throughout the country, and The Báb was publicly executed on July 9th, A.D. 1850. After The Báb, Bahá’u’lláh’s Mission began in a subterranean dungeon in Teheran, in August, A.D. 1852. Bahá’u’lláh in Arabic translates to “The Glory of God”.
In some respects, The Báb’s role can be compared to John the Baptist in the founding of Christianity. The Báb was Bahá’u’lláh’s herald; His primary mission was to prepare the way for Bahá’u’lláh’s coming. Accordingly, the founding of The Bábí Faith is viewed by Bahá’ís as synonymous with the founding of the Bahá’í Faith, and its purpose was fulfilled when Bahá’u’lláh announced in 1863 that He was the Promised One foretold by The Báb.
The Bahá’i Faith reveals that it was Mulla Husayn-i-Bushru’i who found The Báb. He found Him in Shiraz. He was given the title of “Bábu’l-Báb,” “Gate of the Gate” -- the first to believe in The Báb. Mulla Husayn was a follower of Shaykh Ahmad-i-Ahsai, and Siyyid Kazim-i-Rashti.