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The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh
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Pages 166-168
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The Final Consummation
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Only those who are willing to associate the Revelation proclaimed
by Bahá'u'lláh with the consummation of so stupendous
an evolution in the collective life of the whole human race can grasp
the significance of the words which He, while alluding to the glories
of this promised Day and to the duration of the Bahá'í Era, has
deemed fit to utter. "This is the King of Days," He exclaims, "the
Day that hath seen the coming of the Best-Beloved, Him Who,
through all eternity, hath been acclaimed the Desire of the World."
"The Scriptures of past Dispensations," He further asserts, "celebrate
the great jubilee that must needs greet this most great Day of
God. Well is it with him that hath lived to see this Day and hath
recognized its station." "It is evident," He, in another passage explains,
"that every age in which a Manifestation of God hath lived
is divinely-ordained, and may, in a sense, be characterized as God's
appointed Day. This Day, however, is unique, and is to be distinguished
from those that have preceded it. The designation `Seal of
the Prophets' fully revealeth its high station. The Prophetic Cycle
hath verily ended. The Eternal Truth is now come. He hath lifted
up the ensign of power, and is now shedding upon the world the
unclouded splendor of His Revelation." "In this most mighty Revelation,"
He, in categorical language, declares, "all the Dispensations
of the past have attained their highest, their final consummation.
That which hath been made manifest in this préeminent, this most
exalted Revelation, standeth unparalleled in the annals of the past,
nor will future ages witness its like."
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`Abdu'l-Bahá's authentic pronouncements should, likewise, be
recalled as confirming, in no less emphatic manner, the unexampled
vastness of the Bahá'í Dispensation. "Centuries," He affirms in one
of His Tablets, "nay, countless ages, must pass away ere the Day-Star
of Truth shineth again in its mid-summer splendor, or
appeareth once more in the radiance of its vernal glory... The
mere contemplation of the Dispensation inaugurated by the Blessed
Beauty would have sufficed to overwhelm the saints of bygone ages
--saints who longed to partake, for one moment, of its great glory."
"Concerning the Manifestations that will come down in the future
`in the shadows of the clouds,'" He, in a still more definite language,
affirms, "know, verily, that in so far as their relation to the
Source of their inspiration is concerned, they are under the shadow
of the Ancient Beauty. In their relation, however, to the age in
which they appear, each and every one of them `doeth whatsoever
He willeth.'" "This holy Dispensation," He, alluding to the Revelation
of Bahá'u'lláh, explains, "is illumined with the light of the
Sun of Truth shining from its most exalted station, and in the plenitude
of its resplendency, its heat and glory."
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