The ages of its infancy and childhood are past, never again to return,
while the Great Age, the consummation of all ages, which must signalize
the coming of age of the entire human race, is yet to come. The
convulsions of this transitional and most turbulent period in the annals
of humanity are the essential prerequisites, and herald the inevitable
approach, of that Age of Ages, "the time of the end," in which the folly
and tumult of strife that has, since the dawn of history, blackened the
annals of mankind, will have been finally transmuted into the wisdom and
the tranquility of an undisturbed, a universal, and lasting peace, in
which the discord and separation of the children of men will have given
way to the worldwide reconciliation, and the complete unification of the
divers elements that constitute human society.
This will indeed be the fitting climax of that process of integration
which, starting with the family, the smallest unit in the scale of human
organization, must, after having called successively into being the tribe,
the city-state, and the nation, continue to operate until it culminates in
the unification of the whole world, the final object and the crowning
glory of human evolution on this planet. It is this stage which humanity,
willingly or unwillingly, is resistlessly approaching. It is for this
stage that this vast, this fiery ordeal which humanity is experiencing is
mysteriously paving the way. It is with this stage that the fortunes and
the purpose of the Faith of Baha'u'llah are indissolubly linked. It is the
creative energies which His Revelation has released in the "year sixty,"
and later reinforced by the successive effusions of celestial power
vouchsafed in the "year nine" and the "year eighty" to all mankind, that
have instilled into humanity the capacity to attain this final stage in
its organic and collective evolution. It is with the Golden Age of His
Dispensation that the consummation of this process will be forever
associated. It is the structure of His New World Order, now stirring in
the womb of the administrative institutions He Himself has created, that
will serve both as a pattern and a nucleus of that world commonwealth
which is the sure, the inevitable destiny of the peoples and nations of
the earth.
Just as the organic evolution of mankind has been slow and gradual, and
involved successively the unification of the family, the tribe, the
city-state, and the nation, so has the light vouchsafed by the Revelation
of God, at various stages in the evolution of religion, and reflected in
the successive Dispensations of the past, been slow and progressive.
Indeed the measure of Divine Revelation, in every age, has been adapted
to, and commensurate with, the degree of social progress achieved in that
age by a constantly evolving humanity.
"It hath been decreed by Us," explains Baha'u'llah, "that the Word of God,
and all the potentialities thereof, shall be manifested unto men in strict
conformity with such conditions as have been foreordained by Him Who is
the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.... Should the Word be allowed to release
suddenly all the energies latent within it, no man could sustain the
weight of so mighty a Revelation." "All created things," 'Abdu'l-Baha,
elucidating this truth, has affirmed, "have their degree or stage of
maturity. The period of maturity in the life of a tree is the time of its
fruit-bearing.... The animal attains a stage of full growth and
completeness, and in the human kingdom man reaches his maturity when the
light of his intelligence attains its greatest power and development.
...Similarly there are periods and stages in the collective life of
humanity. At one time it was passing through its stage of childhood, at
another its period of youth, but now it has entered its long-predicted
phase of maturity, the evidences of which are everywhere apparent.... That
which was applicable to human needs during the early history of the race
can neither meet nor satisfy the demands of this day, this period of
newness and consummation. Humanity has emerged from its former state of
limitation and preliminary training. Man must now become imbued with new
virtues and powers, new moral standards, new capacities. New bounties,
perfect bestowals, are awaiting and already descending upon him. The gifts
and blessings of the period of youth, although timely and sufficient
during the adolescence of mankind, are now incapable of meeting the
requirements of its maturity." "In every Dispensation," He moreover has
written, "the light of Divine Guidance has been focused upon one central
theme.... In this wondrous Revelation, this glorious century, the
foundation of the Faith of God, and the distinguishing feature of His Law,
is the consciousness of the oneness of mankind."