The Prophetic Convergence

Here are the various proofs of Baha’u’llah’s claim, from several different sources. I can and will also compile quotes about the actual claim itself, but I need to go to sleep. Please read and meditate on the whole text. Pass no segment unless you thoroughly understand it. Any questions, I’m happy to answer - you know that, I feel.

"When righteousness is weak and faint, and unrighteousness exults in pride, then my spirit arises on earth. For the salvation of those who are good, for the destruction of evil in men, for the fulfillment of the kingdom of righteousness, I come to this world, from age to age.”
[SRI KRISHNA]

"I am not the first Buddha who came upon earth, nor shall I be the last. In due time, another Buddha will arise in the world; a holy One, a supremely enlightened One, endowed with wisdom and conduct -auspicious, knowing the universe; an incomparable leader of men, a Master of angels and mortals. He will reveal the same eternal truths which I have taught you. He will preach His religion; glorious at the goal, in the spirit and in the letter. He will proclaim a religious life, Wholly perfect and pure, such as I now proclaim."
[GAUTAMA BUDDHA]

"And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away, and there was no more sea. And I, John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven."
[JOHN OF PATMOS]

"... And the government shall be upon His shoulder; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor - the Mighty God!, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end; to order it and to establish it with judgment and with justice, from henceforth, even forever!!"
[ISAIAH]

"... When a thousand, two hundred and some years have passed from the inception of the religion of the Arabian,[Islam, 622 C.E.] and the overthrow of the kingdom of Iran, [651 C.E., according to history, was the final battle.] and the degradation of the followers of My religion, [within 15 years of the battle, the followers of Zoroaster who did not submit to Islam were thrown out of the country] a descendant of the Iranian kings will be raised up as a prophet ...
[Zoroaster]

Now, add 1,200 years to the dates mentioned. The Baha’i Faith’s calendar commences on the evening of May 22, 1844 Common Era. That date precisely coincides with the 5th day of the month Javvadiul Avval, in the Moslem calendar - on the year after Hejira 1,260!! Add the same number of years to the second referenced year [651 C.E.] and we come to 1851. We’re in the very midst of the Bábi dispensation - the forerunner of the Baha’i Faith! Baha’u’llah declared His Cause to humanity in 1863! ‘One thousand, two hundred and some years ’! Below, see how this relates to the Bible, especially Revelations! ...

See, God leaves clues ... The period of time mentioned by Zoroaster, shows up again, in Revelations, chapters 10 & 11. In three distinct formats -- as 1,260 ‘days’ [every day for a year], as forty and two months, as ‘a time, times, and half a time’. The period is also referred as both the time the ‘Woman’ is ‘nurtured in the desert’ and the duration of the power of the ‘two witnesses’, For all that to transpire, in the two scriptures, there has to be a significance, hasn’t there?

Eschatology -- the final strand -- concerns the prophecies above. We’ll start with the “1,200 and odd years”. This is spoken as the word of Zoroaster, in the Dinkird - His book. Until I gave allegiance to Bahá’u’lláh, I’d never even heard of Zoroaster. Have you? Do we remember who the “Wise men” of the Bible were? When I was growing up, I’d heard of them as Magi. Only a little investigation revealed them to be these “wise men” - the prophecy they were following, that mentioned the event in the heavens, a babe in a manger, was from Zoroaster! I further learned that this Zoroaster prophesied Buddha, Muhammad, the Báb, and Bahá’u’lláh.

To me, as to any Bahá'í, the significance is plain; but for those of us who are only now hearing of this Cause, allow me to explain. The Báb, forerunner to Bahá’u’lláh, proclaimed his mission to the first to believe in Him on the evening of May 22, 1844. Near the start of the year 1,260, A.H. [Moslem calendar]!

Not to overload this simple thesis, here are some excerpts from other sources:

From Revelations, CH 10 &12:
And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth." These are the two olive trees and the two lamp stands that stand before the Lord of the earth. If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies. This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die. These men have power to shut up the sky so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying; and they have power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want.
Now when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the Abyss will attack them, and overpower and kill them. Their bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which is figuratively called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. For three and a half days men from every people, tribe, language and nation will gaze on their bodies and refuse them burial.
The inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them and will celebrate by sending each other gifts, because these two prophets had tormented those who live on the earth. But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and terror struck those who saw them.
Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here." And they went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies looked on. At that very hour there was a severe earthquake and a tenth of the city collapsed. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the survivors were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.

A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads. His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born. She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne.
The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days. And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven.
The great dragon was hurled down--that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: "Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.
Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short." When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the desert, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent's reach. Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth.
Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring--those who obey God's commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus.

Note: My Bible, the New American Standard, gives the verse in Numbers, appointing ‘every day for a year’, as well as the definition of the word ‘time’ used in this book as being interchangable with the word for ‘year’. I say this here, lest someone accuse me of extrapolating, in trying to find significance where none is present. - MRF

This follows, excerpted from talks of ‘Abdu’l-Baha on this subject:

REVELATION OF ST. JOHN
In the beginning of the eleventh chapter of the Revelation of St. John it is said:
"And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.
"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."
This reed is a Perfect Man Who is likened to a reed, and the manner of its likeness is this: when the interior of a reed is empty and free from all matter, it will produce beautiful melodies; and as the sound and melodies do not come from the reed, but from the flute player who blows upon it, so the sanctified heart of that blessed Being is free and emptied from all save God, pure and exempt from the attachments of all human conditions, and is the companion of the Divine Spirit. Whatever He utters is not from Himself, but from the real flute player, and it is a divine inspiration. That is why He is likened to a reed; and that reed is like a rod - that is to say, it is the helper of every impotent one, and the support of human beings. It is the rod of the Divine Shepherd by which He guards His flock and leads them about the pastures of the Kingdom.
(`Abdu'l-Baha: Some Answered Questions, Page: 45)

In the beginning of the seventh century after Christ, when Jerusalem was conquered, the Holy of Holies was outwardly preserved - that is to say, the house which Solomon built; but outside the Holy of Holies the outer court was taken and given to the Gentiles. "And the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months" - that is to say, the Gentiles shall govern and control Jerusalem forty and two months, signifying twelve hundred and sixty days; and as each day signifies a year, by this reckoning it becomes twelve hundred and sixty years, which is the duration of the cycle of the Qur'an. For in the texts of the Holy Book, each day is a year; as it is said in the fourth chapter of Ezekiel, verse 6: "Thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year."
This prophesies the duration of the Dispensation of Islam when Jerusalem was trodden under foot, which means that it lost its glory - but the Holy of Holies was preserved, guarded and respected - until the year 1260. This twelve hundred and sixty years is a prophecy of the manifestation of the Báb, the "Gate" of Bahá’u’lláh, which took place in the year 1260 of the Hejira of Muhammad, and as the period of twelve hundred and sixty years has expired, Jerusalem, the Holy City, is now beginning to become prosperous, populous and flourishing. Anyone who saw Jerusalem sixty years ago, and who sees it now, will recognize how populous and flourishing it has become, and how it is again honored.
(`Abdu'l-Baha: Some Answered Questions, Pages: 46-47)

"And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and three-score days, clothed in sackcloth."(1) These two witnesses are Muhammad the Messenger of God, and Ali, son of Abu Talib.
In the Qur'an it is said that God addressed Muhammad, the Messenger of God, saying: "We made You a Witness, a Herald of good news, and a Warner" - that is to say, We have established Thee as the witness, the giver of good tidings, and as One bringing the wrath of God.(2) The meaning of "a witness" is one by whose testimony things may be verified. The commands of these two witnesses were to be performed for twelve hundred and sixty days, each day signifying a year. Now, Muhammad was the root, and Ali the branch, like Moses and Joshua. It is said they "are clothed in sackcloth," meaning that they, apparently, were to be clothed in old raiment, not in new raiment; in other words, in the beginning they would possess no splendor in the eyes of the people, nor would their Cause appear new; for Muhammad's spiritual Law corresponds to that of Christ in the Gospel, and most of His laws relating to material things correspond to those of the Pentateuch. This is the meaning of the old raiment.
Then it is said: "These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth."(1) These two souls are likened to olive trees because at that time all lamps were lighted by olive oil. The meaning is two persons from whom that spirit of the wisdom of God, which is the cause of the illumination of the world, appears. These lights of God were to radiate and shine; therefore, they are likened to two candlesticks: the candlestick is the abode of the light, and from it the light shines forth. In the same way the light of guidance would shine and radiate from these illumined souls.
Then it is said: "They are standing before God," meaning that they are standing in the service of God, and educating the creatures of God, such as the barbarous nomad Arab tribes of the Arabian peninsula, whom they educated in such a way that in those days they reached the highest degree of civilization, and their fame and renown became worldwide.
"And if any man would hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies."(2) That is to say, that no one would be able to withstand them, that if a person wished to belittle their teachings and their law, he would be surrounded and exterminated by this same law which proceedeth out of their mouth; and everyone who attempted to injure, to antagonize and to hate them would be destroyed by a command which would come out of their mouth. And thus it happened: all their enemies were vanquished, put to flight and annihilated. In this most evident way God assisted them.
Afterward it is said: "These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy,"(1) meaning that in that cycle they would be like kings. The law and teachings of Muhammad, and the explanations and commentaries of Ali, are a heavenly bounty; if they wish to give this bounty, they have power to do so. If they do not wish it, the rain will not fall: in this connection rain stands for bounty.
(`Abdu'l-Baha: Some Answered Questions, Pages: 48-50)

"And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified."(1) "Their bodies" means the Religion of God, and "the street" means in public view. The meaning of "Sodom and Egypt," the place "where also our Lord was crucified," is this region of Syria, and especially Jerusalem, where the Umayyads then had their dominions; and it was here that the Religion of God and the divine teachings first disappeared, and a body without spirit remained. "Their bodies" represents the Religion of God, which remained like a dead body without spirit.
"And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and a half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves."(2)
As it was before explained, in the terminology of the Holy Books three days and a half signify three years and a half, and three years and a half are forty and two months, and forty and two months twelve hundred and sixty days; and as each day by the text of the Holy Book signifies one year, the meaning is that for twelve hundred and sixty years, which is the cycle of the Qur'an, the nations, tribes and peoples would look at their bodies - that is to say, that they would make a spectacle of the Religion of God: though they would not act in accordance with it, still, they would not suffer their bodies - meaning the Religion of God - to be put in the grave. That is to say, that in appearance they would cling to the Religion of God and not allow it to completely disappear from their midst, nor the body of it to be entirely destroyed and annihilated. Nay, in reality they would leave it, while outwardly preserving its name and remembrance.
(`Abdu'l-Baha: Some Answered Questions, Pages: 51-52)

"And after three days and a half the spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them that saw them."(1) Three days and a half, as we before explained, is twelve hundred and sixty years. Those two persons whose bodies were lying spiritless are the teachings and the law that Muhammad established and Ali promoted, from which, however, the reality had departed and only the form remained. The spirit came again into them means that those foundations and teachings were again established. In other words, the spirituality of the Religion of God had been changed into materiality, and virtues into vices; the love of God had been changed into hatred, enlightenment into darkness, divine qualities into satanic ones, justice into tyranny, mercy into enmity, sincerity into hypocrisy, guidance into error, and purity into sensuality. Then after three days and a half, which by the terminology of the Holy Books is twelve hundred and sixty years, these divine teachings, heavenly virtues, perfections and spiritual bounties were again renewed by the appearance of the Báb and the devotion of Jinab-i-Quddus.(2)
The holy breezes were diffused, the light of truth shone forth, the season of the life-giving spring came, and the morn of guidance dawned. These two lifeless bodies again became living, and these two great ones - one the Founder and the other the promoter - arose and were like two candlesticks, for they illumined the world with the light of truth.
(`Abdu'l-Baha: Some Answered Questions, Pages: 54-55, excerpts only - MRF)

NOTE HERE: I personally believe that, in the last instance the Master speaks of, refers to a phenomenon which occurred in the dispensation of the Báb. The fact that both the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh were Manifestations of God, and that each one recognized the other as such, is what is referred to as the TWIN MIRACLE.

Now, the references above would be enough, for our purposes -- except that God left yet another clue. He wants to be sure we get the picture! What follows is from the book “THE DAWN-BREAKERS: NABIL’S NARRATIVE”, pages 48-50. The entire reference is rather lengthy, so I’ll excerpt parts from it. But, the whole book deserves a thorough read, if you get the chance.

“As the year sixty [1260], the year that witnessed the birth of the promised Revelation, had just dawned upon the world, it would not seem inappropriate, at this juncture, to digress from our theme, and to mention certain traditions of Muhammad and of the imams of the Faith which bear specific reference to that year। Imam Jafar, son of Muhammad, when questioned concerning the year in which the Qa’im [He Who will arise] was to be made manifest, replied as follows: “Verily, in the year sixty His Cause shall be revealed, and His name shall be noised abroad.” In the works of the learned and far-famed Muhiyi’ud-Din-Arabi, many references are to be found regarding both the year of the advent and the name of the promised Manifestation. Among them are the following: The ministers and upholders of His Faith shall be the people of Persia.” “In His name, the name of the Guardian [Ali] precedeth that of the Prophet [Muhammad].” “The year of His Revelation is identical with half that number which is divisible by nine. [2520]” Mirza Muhammad-i-Akhbari, in his poems relating to the year of the Manifestation, makes the following prediction: “In the year Ghars [the numerical value of the letters of which is 1260] the earth shall be illumined by His light, and in Gharasih [1265] the world shall be suffused with its glory. If thou livest until the year Gharasi [1270], thou shalt witness how the nations, the rulers, the peoples, and the Faith of God shall all have been renewed.” In a tradition ascribed to the Imam Ali, the Commander of the Faithful, it is likewise recorded: “In Ghars the Tree of Divine guidance shall be planted.”

These are “Hadiths”, or traditions, from Shi’ah Islam. They may or may not carry the weight of scriptural pronouncement, but I personally find them interesting.

I hope I have not given you too much - as I mentioned, overloaded the simple thesis. I also hope that you’ll do some search on your own.