The “cleansing of the Sanctuary,” prophesied by Daniel and
confirmed by Jesus Christ in His reference to “the abomination of desolation,”
had been accomplished. The “day whose length shall be a thousand years,”
foretold by the Apostle of God in His Book, had terminated. The “forty and two
months,” during which the “Holy City,” as predicted by St. John the Divine,
would be trodden under foot, had elapsed. The “time of the end” had been
ushered in, and the first of the “two Witnesses” into Whom, “after three days
and a half the Spirit of Life from God” would enter, had arisen and had “ascended
up to heaven in a cloud.” The “remaining twenty and five letters to be made
manifest,” according to Islamic tradition, out of the “twenty and seven
letters” of which Knowledge has been declared to consist, had been revealed.
The “Man Child,” mentioned in the Book of Revelation, destined to “rule all
nations with a rod of iron,” had released, through His coming, the creative
energies which, reinforced by the effusions of a swiftly succeeding and
infinitely mightier Revelation, were to instill into the entire human race the
capacity to achieve its organic unification, attain maturity and thereby reach
the final stage in its age-long evolution.
- Shoghi Effendi (‘God Passes By’)
