The Law of God is also
compared to an adorned bride who appears with most beautiful ornaments, as it
has been said in chapter 21 of the Revelation of St. John: “And I John saw the
holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a
bride adorned for her husband.” [Rev. 21:2] And in
chapter 12, verse 1, it is said: “And there appeared a great wonder in heaven;
a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a
crown of twelve stars.” This woman is that bride, the Law of God that descended
upon Muhammad. The sun with which she was clothed, and the moon which was under
her feet, are the two nations which are under the shadow of that Law, the
Persian and Ottoman kingdoms; for the emblem of Persia is the sun, and that of
the Ottoman Empire is the crescent moon. Thus the sun and moon are the emblems
of two kingdoms which are under the power of the Law of God. Afterward it is
said: “upon her head is a crown of twelve stars.” These twelve stars are the
twelve Imáms, who were the promoters of the Law of Muhammad and the educators
of the people, shining like stars in the heaven of guidance.
Then it is said in the second
verse: “and she being with child cried,” meaning that this Law fell into the
greatest difficulties and endured great troubles and afflictions until a perfect offspring was produced—that is, the coming
Manifestation, the Promised One, Who is the perfect offspring, and Who was
reared in the bosom of this Law, which is as its mother. The child Who is
referred to is the Báb, the Primal Point, Who was in truth born from the Law of
Muhammad—that is to say, the Holy Reality, Who is the child and outcome of the
Law of God, His mother, and Who is promised by that religion, finds a reality
in the kingdom of that Law; but because of the despotism of the dragon the
child was carried up to God. After twelve hundred and sixty days the dragon was
destroyed, and the child of the Law of God, the Promised One, became manifest.
(‘Abdu’l-Baha, table talks in Akka, authenticated by
‘Abdu’l-Baha; ‘Some Answered Questions’)
