All the peoples of the world are awaiting two
Manifestations, Who must be contemporaneous; all wait for the fulfillment of
this promise. In the Bible the Jews have the promise of the Lord of Hosts and
the Messiah; in the Gospel the return of Christ and Elijah is promised.
In the religion of Muhammad there is the promise of the
Mihdí and the Messiah, and it is the same with the Zoroastrian and the other
religions, but if we relate these matters in detail, it would take too long.
The essential fact is that all are promised two Manifestations, Who will come,
one following on the other. It has been prophesied that in the time of these
two Manifestations the earth will be transformed, the world of existence will
be renewed, and beings will be clothed in new garments. Justice and truth will
encompass the world; enmity and hatred will disappear; all causes of division
among peoples, races and nations will vanish; and the cause of union, harmony
and concord will appear. The negligent will awake, the blind will see, the deaf
will hear, the dumb will speak, the sick will be cured, the dead will arise.
War will give place to peace, enmity will be conquered by love, the causes of
dispute and wrangling will be entirely removed, and true felicity will be
attained. The world will become the mirror of the Heavenly Kingdom; humanity
will be the Throne of Divinity. All nations will become one; all religions will
be unified; all individual men will become of one family and of one kindred.
All the regions of the earth will become one; the superstitions caused by races,
countries, individuals, languages and politics will disappear; and all men will
attain to life eternal, under the shadow of the Lord of Hosts. (‘Abdu’l-Baha, ‘Some
Answered Questions’)
