In the beginning of the seventh century after Christ, when
Jerusalem was conquered, the Holy of Holies was outwardly preserved—that is to
say, the house which Solomon built; but outside the Holy of Holies the outer
court was taken and given to the Gentiles. “And the holy city shall they tread
under foot forty and two months”—that is to say, the Gentiles shall govern and
control Jerusalem forty and two months, signifying twelve hundred and sixty
days; and as each day signifies a year, by this reckoning it becomes twelve
hundred and sixty years, which is the duration of the cycle of the Qur’án. For
in the texts of the Holy Book, each day is a year; as it is said in the fourth
chapter of Ezekiel, verse 6: “Thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of
Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year.”
This prophesies the duration of the Dispensation of Islám
when Jerusalem was trodden under foot, which means that it lost its glory—but
the Holy of Holies was preserved, guarded and respected—until the year 1260.
This twelve hundred and sixty years is a prophecy of the manifestation of the
Báb, the “Gate” of Bahá’u’lláh, which took place in the year 1260 of the Hejira
of Muhammad, and as the period of twelve hundred and sixty years has expired,
Jerusalem, the Holy City, is now beginning to become prosperous, populous and
flourishing. Anyone who saw Jerusalem sixty years ago, and who sees it now,
will recognize how populous and flourishing it has become, and how it is again
honored.
This is the outward meaning of these verses of the Revelation
of St. John…
(‘Abdu’l-Baha, table talks in Akka, authenticated by ‘Abdu’l-Baha;
‘Some Answered Questions’)
