ppointed hour hath
struck," He again addresses Baha'u'llah in that same commentary, "do Thou,
by the leave of God, the All-Wise, reveal from the heights of the Most
Lofty and Mystic Mount a faint, an infinitesimal glimmer of Thy
impenetrable Mystery, that they who have recognized the radiance of the
Sinaic Splendor may faint away and die as they catch a lightening glimpse
of the fierce and crimson Light that envelops Thy Revelation."

As a further testimony to the greatness of the Revelation identified with
Baha'u'llah may be cited the following extracts from a Tablet addressed by
'Abdu'l-Baha to an eminent Zoroastrian follower of the Faith: "Thou hadst
written that in the sacred books of the followers of Zoroaster it is
written that in the latter days, in three separate Dispensations, the sun
must needs be brought to a standstill. In the first Dispensation, it is
predicted, the sun will remain motionless for ten days; in the second for
twice that time; in the third for no less than one whole month. The
interpretation of this prophecy is this: the first Dispensation to which
it refers is the Muhammadan Dispensation during which the Sun of Truth
stood still for ten days. Each day is reckoned as one century. The
Muhammadan Dispensation must have, therefore, lasted no less than one
thousand years, which is precisely the period that has elapsed from the
setting of the Star of the Imamate to the advent of the Dispensation
proclaimed by the Bab. The second Dispensation referred to in this
prophecy is the one inaugurated by the Bab Himself, which began in the
year 1260 A.H. and was brought to a close in the year 1280 A.H. As to the
third Dispensation--the Revelation proclaimed by Baha'u'llah--inasmuch as
the Sun of Truth when attaining that station shineth in the plenitude of
its meridian splendor its duration hath been fixed for a period of one
whole month, which is the maximum time taken by the sun to pass through a
sign of the Zodiac. From this thou canst imagine the magnitude of the
Baha'i cycle--a cycle that must extend over a period of at least five
hundred thousand years."

From the text of this explicit and authoritative interpretation of so
ancient a prophecy it is evident how necessary it is for every faithful
follower of the Faith to accept the divine origin and uphold the
independent status of the Muhammadan Dispensation. The validity of the
Imamate is, moreover, implicitly recognized in these same passages--that