Only those who are willing to associate the Revelation proclaimed by
Baha'u'llah 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 Baha'i 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 preeminent,
this most exalted Revelation, standeth unparalleled in the annals of the
past, nor will future ages witness its like."
'Abdu'l-Baha's authentic pronouncements should, likewise, be recalled as
confirming, in no less emphatic manner, the unexampled vastness of the
Baha'i 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 Baha'u'llah, 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."