d:--

Baha'u'llah frequently predicted that there would be a period when
irreligion and consequent anarchy would prevail. The chaos will be
due to too great liberty among people who are not ready for it,
and in consequence there will have to be a temporary reversion to
coercive government, in the interests of the people themselves and
in order to prevent disorder and chaos. It is clear that each
nation now wishes complete self-determination and freedom of
action, but some of them are not ready for it. The prevailing
state of the world is one of irreligion, which is bound to result
in anarchy and confusion. I have always said that the peace
proposals following the great war were only a glimmer of the dawn,
and not the sunrise.

Coming of the Kingdom of God

Amid these troublous times, however, the Cause of God will prosper. The
calamities caused by selfish struggle for individual existence, or for
party or sectarian or national gain, will induce the people to turn in
despair to the remedy offered by the Word of God. The more calamities
abound, the more will the people turn to the only true remedy. Baha'u'llah
says in his Epistle to the _Sh_ah:--

God hath made afflictions as a morning shower to this green
pasture, and as a wick for His Lamp, whereby earth and heaven are
illumined.... Through affliction hath His Light shone and His
Praise been bright unceasingly; this hath been His method through
past ages and bygone times.

Both Baha'u'llah and 'Abdu'l-Baha predict in the most confident terms the
speedy triumph of spirituality over materiality and the consequent
establishment of the Most Great Peace. 'Abdu'l-Baha wrote in 1904:--

Know this, that hardships and misfortunes shall increase day by
day, and the people shall be distressed. The doors of joy and
happiness shall be closed on all sides. Terrible wars shall
happen. Disappointment and the frustration of hopes shall surround
the people from every direction until they are obliged to turn to
God. Then the lights of great happiness shall enlighten the
horizons, so that the cry of "Ya Baha'u'l-Abha!" may arise on all
sides.--Tablet to L.D.B. quoted in Compilation on War and Peace, p.
187.

When asked, in February 1914, whether any of the Great Powers would become
believers, He replied:--

All the people of the world will become believe