…the Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh -- … -- a Dispensation
which, as the Author of the Faith has Himself categorically asserted, must
extend over a period of no less than one thousand years, and which will
constitute the first stage in a series of Dispensations, to be established by
future Manifestations, all deriving their inspiration from the Author of the
Bahá'í Revelation, and destined to last, in their aggregate, no less than five
thousand centuries.
- Shoghi Effendi (‘Citadel of Faith’)
