End of Days
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Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Moshe Sharon, End of Days, bahai-library.com.
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End of Days

Moshe Sharon

The End of Days, namely the end of current history and the start
of messianic times, when a divinely inspired, and guided holy leader
will come to the world to initiate an eternal era of bliss, has occupied
humanity to this very day. The ultimate redeemer, whose Biblical
designation “Messiah” entered both Christianity and Islam, is known
by various other names in religions not influenced by the Bible. The
word “messiah”, the anointed (“mashiya˙” in Hebrew), describes the
redeemer, consecrated by being anointed with holy oil in the same
way that any person (e.g. priest) or object is consecrated. The Greek
translation of the term is Christos, Christ, and this term is sometimes
used instead, together, or separate from, the messiah. In Arabic the
term masí˙ is used specifically to denote Jesus of Nazareth who is
regarded in Islam to be a prophet whose birth from his mother Mary
was caused by divine intervention (“...His word that he committed to
Mary and a spirit from Him” [Q 4:171]).
In Christianity the duration of the blissful messianic times
beginning with the “second coming” of Jesus is one thousand years,
for which Christianity yearns, and for that matter, Christians add, the
entire humanity should yearn for. In Judaism, it is the Messiah, the
anointed one, the son of David who will finally bring ultimate
freedom from bondage and exile to the Jewish people, and will re-
establish the perfect kingdom of God in their holy land. For the Jews,
the redemption is very well defined: it is finally the end of their
suffering, it is the renewal of their independence and their freedom
from persecution and physical destruction. In many ways, the
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universal redeemer for the Christianity and Islam is for the Jews a
national savior, and an actual human king belonging to the sacred
dynasty of David. In Islam, the mahdí, whether Sunní or Shíʿite, with
all the differences between them, will come like the others at the end
of days, to fill the world with justice, replacing the evil and injustice
with which it is filled nowadays. The Sunnís, of course regard the
mahdí, the one supported and directed by G-d, in whose time, and as
the outcome of whose activity the whole world will follow the true
religion, namely Islam, Sunní Islam.

The Shíʿites are more specific as far as the identity of the mahdí is
concerned. Unlike the Sunna, the Shíʿite mahdí is still alive, he is the
twelfth imám, who until his reappearance to fulfill his major
function, is hidden in the mystery of his “greater occultation.” But
when he appears he also will fill the world with justice and bring it
under God’s true religion, presumably Islam in its Shíʿite version.

Jesus also plays a role in the drama of the end of days according to
Islam, mainly in its Sunní version. He also appears at the end of days
next to, or with, the mahdí, mainly to clear the world of the major
opponent of the mahdí, the Dajjál, the false messiah, the Anti-Christ.
In all three or four versions of the apocalypse of the End of Days, the
appearance of the ultimate redeemer is connected with the final
battle between the forces of evil and those of righteousness. This
battle, which assumes different names and takes place at various sites
in the Holy Land, ending with the victory of the good side over the
evil one, must precede messianic times. [See in Detail N. Cohn, The
pursuit of the Millennium, London [1962], pp. 1-21 and throughout the book.]

Observing that the world is full of evil, and yearning for its
redemption, religious thinkers were induced to look for clues in the
scriptures, and transmitted tradition in order to calculate the exact
era of messianic times. Each one of the religions mentioned above,
Jewish, Christian and Islamic, tried to calculate the time of the
arrival of as-sáʿah — the “Hour” if we use the Arabic-Islamic term;
a˙arithayamím — the “End of Days,” or yemothamashiya˙ — “The
Days of the messiah” or just haketz — “The End,” in Hebrew, if we
use the Jewish term. Similarly “the Millennium,” and the “Second
advent” used in the Christian eschatology [ibid, pp. 13f.]. The search
was for two different signs foretelling the approach of the final
redemption. One related to its circumstances — unusual occurrences
End of Days                                                          315

or major events of colossal magnitude including moral corruption;
the second was the actual mathematical calculation of the exact date
in which the messianic age should be expected.

It is interesting that these calculations, somehow, led those who
were engaged in them to reach the conclusion that their calculations
pointed to their own time as the time of redemption, the messianic
era and the time of the appearance of God’s revealed, guided,
inspired and even manifested, promised one. William Miller, for
instance, fixed the end of 1843 and the beginning of 1844 as the date
of Jesus’ second coming. In Judaism there were such calculations,
mostly in times of great stress and persecution. Each such calculation
ended with disappointment. Some Talmudic scholars tried to stop the
repeated exercise of the “calculation of the End” and the activities of
“calculators of the End” (mehashevekitzin) by bringing proofs that
“the Holy One blessed be He will not renew his world before 5000 or
7000 years (have passed since creation)” [BT, Sanhedrin 97b]. However,
some scholars want to be more specific. An old document in Hebrew,
they said, was found in the Roman archives, in which it was stated
that ”the world will come to an end 4291 years after the creation”
[ibid.]. In Sunni Islam, the calculation of the End is described in great
detail in the hadith, and is based on the division of Islamic history
into two cycles (dawlah): a short one of one hundred years and a long
one of an unspecified period. The short one is based on a ˙adíth that
states that Gods sends a “renewer” at the beginning of every century
to revive the collapsing Islam.” At the beginning of each century,
Allah will send to this nation someone to renew its religion: inna allah
sayabʿathiláhádhihi al-umma, ‘ala raʾs kull qarn man yujaddidlahá
dínaha. The second indication of the end of days, or the “Hour” in
Sunní Islam is not connected with a date but with some major event,
which will initiate the period of wars preceding the final redemption.

In Judaism, “the calculators of the end” based their calculations
on the Book of Daniel, chapters 7, 9 and 12, where the cryptic
language, and the no less cryptic numbers, have excited and
challenged these calculators. They have been attracting them to the
present day. Already in the early third century, Talmudic scholars
attempted to stop the practice of apocalyptic calculations because
they felt that they involved disappointment on the one hand, and
hasty activity such as attempting revolt, which ended usually with
316                                                Lights of Irfán vol. 19

national disaster. The irresponsibility of such calculations could also
lead to blasphemy. For if according to the calculators the Messiah
was to come at a certain date, and he did not come then some people
could conclude that he would never come, which would be a denial of
one of the articles of faith — the belief in the coming of the Messiah.
In the language of the Talmud: “Accursed are the calculators of the
End for they used to say: since the End has come (according to the
calculations) and he (the Messiah) has not come, it follows that he
will not come.” This negates the obligation to say, “even if he tarries,
I shall wait for him” [ibid.].

However, in institutionalized Judaism, Christianity and Islam, it is
generally believed that since the true redeemer has not yet come; there
is no need, therefore, to prove the authenticity of anyone who claims
to be the promised one. Yet, in more than one case in modern times,
there appeared claimants to messianic status who created a need for
such proofs, namely objective sources proving such claims beyond
doubt. The proofs are needed mainly to ward off the attacks of
opponents, but they also help to strengthen the faith of believers.
One of such cases is that of the Mormon religion in which the claim
of Joseph Smith was supported by the mysterious gold plates that
only he could read and translate. It was the testimony of eleven
people who vowed that they had seen the tablets with their own eyes
that established their existence, and therefore firmly supported the
claim of Joseph Smith’s prophecy, which led to the foundation of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints [see “Testimony of three and
eight witnesses,” Book of Mormon].

The case of the Bábí-Bahá’í faiths is particularly significant in this
regard. A few proofs were needed to confirm the claims of the Báb
and then Bahá’u’lláh. Both claimed to have been prophets and the
manifestations of God. During their lifetime, their claims were based
on, and reinforced by, their personalities, writings and sayings. In the
case of the Báb, at least, there were also the circumstances of his
appearance. The Báb put his claim forward on a very significant date
for the Shíʿah, in the year of 1260 of the Hijrah, a thousand years
after the disappearance of the 12th imám, the hidden mahdí. Towards
the year 1260 AH, and particularly during this exact year, the
Messianic expectations in the Shíʿah soared high, and the Báb could
well present himself as a Ṣá˙ibaz-Zamán, the master of time. The
End of Days                                                        317

proof that he was indeed divinely inspired was put forward when he
wrote in Arabic a mystical interpretation of the Súrat Yúsuf, the 12th
Súrah of the Qurʾán, right in front of the amazed eyes of Óusayn
Bushrúʾí, who became his first disciple.

The short ministry of the Báb needed no external, independent
proofs. His writings were the best proof, particularly the Bayán, his
major opus. His recognition as a Sayyid, namely the acceptance of his
genealogy as the descendent of the Prophet, and particularly his
imprisonment far away from his disciples which conferred on him the
aura of mystical occultation (ghaybah) reserved until then only for
the Hidden Mahdí, added to the establishment of his claim to
mahdíhood, and to even more.
Bahá’u’lláh openly claimed to be the manifestation of God, and
the promised one of all ages and all creeds. During his lifetime he had
no need for external proofs, his charismatic personality, his prophetic
writings, and his firm claim for divine station were sufficient to
secure this status. After he passed away, however, Abdu’l-Bahá’, his
son and heir, felt that in spite of the fact that a growing Bahá’í
community worshiped his father, it was still necessary to delve into
the former scriptures, and look for the proofs for his claim. Like
calculators of the End before him (including William Miller) he
concluded that the best proof could be the one that would show the
correlation between the dates of the revelations of the Báb and of
Bahá’u’lláh, and the dates found in the cryptic prophecy of Daniel.
The Qur’án could also be used for that matter, through the
interpretation of some verses, but the Book of Daniel is a different
matter. If one could work out mathematically the meaning of
Daniel’s numbers, that would be a “scientific” proof for the claim of
prophecy.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá’ was no doubt familiar with the correlation between
Arabic letters and their numerical value. The heart of the faith
created by the Báb and his father was established on such
correlations. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’, using the numbers in Daniel 9:24 proves
that Daniel prophesized the martyrdom and ascendance of Christ
[SAQ, 40-45]. We have to note in passing that the calculations of
‘Abdu’l-Bahá’ were based on wrong translation of a verse in Numbers
14:34, which has nothing to do with “The day of the Lord is one
year”. This does not appear anywhere in the Bible. What appears in
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the Bible is that the day of the Lord is a thousand years [Ps. 90:4, “For a
thousand years in Thy sight are but as yesterday when it is passed”]. However,
there are other sources to support the notion that one day could
mean one year. At any rate, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’ introduces the supposed
prophecy about Christ only as an introduction to Daniel’s prophecy
about the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh: “Now that the manifestation of Christ
has been proved by the prophecies of Daniel, let us prove the
manifestation of Bahá’u’lláh and the Báb” [ibid].
By a simple arithmetic exercise, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’ shows that Daniel
prophesized the appearance of the Báb in 1844. The cryptic verse in
Daniel              8:14,      which           in          the         original   Hebrew                      says:
:‫ ”וַיּ ֹאמֶר ֵאלַיעַדע ֶֶרבבֹּקֶראַ ְל ַפּי ִםוּשְֹׁלשׁמֵאוֹת ְונִצְדַּ קק ֹדֶ שׁ‬And he said unto me: Unto
two thousand and three hundred [days] then shall the sanctuary be
cleansed” [Translation: Authorized King James Version]. The Arabic
translation (published in Beirut, December 1880) which ʿAbdu’l-Bahá
must have consulted reads: ‫ﺛﻼث ﻣﺌ ِﺔﻣﺴﺂ ٍء وﺻﺒﺎحٍ ﺛ ﱠُﻢ ﻳُﻄَ ﱠﻬ ُﺮ‬                 ِ ‫َﻓﻘ ََﺎل ِﱄ إِﻟ َﯩﺄَﻟْ َﻔ ْﻴ ِﻨ َﻮ‬
‫اﻟْﻘُﺪْ ِس‬. This is interpreted by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’ to mean that in 2300
years, “the sanctuary will be cleansed,” namely that will be the time of
the “dawn of the Manifestation”. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’ then makes the
following calculation: From the time of the edict of Artaxerxes to
rebuild Jerusalem until the birth of Christ there were 456 years, and
the Báb appeared in 1844. Adding these two numbers (1844+456) and
you get 2300. (Artaxerxes’ rule began in 465 BC, and the permission
to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem was issued by the King to Nehemiah
as late as summer 445BC.JE, 2:146)

Daniel’s cryptic verse probably means 2300 days, which, in Biblical
terms could also mean years. ( ‫ יוֹם‬day, and ‫ י ָ ִמים‬days, in the plural,
mean both a day and a year). Otherwise, as we have just seen, based
on Ps. 90, yom (day), would be a thousand years and this surely is not
the interpretation of Daniel in this verse. Daniel, therefore,
according to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s calculations prophesized the “dawn of
the Manifestation of the Báb” [SAQ, 42]. One note should be added
here; the Septuagint Greek translation of the Bible says clearly “two
thousand three hundred days.” (The word “days” does not appear in
the original Hebrew text, but it is implied by the usage of “evening
and morning” which was translated correctly into Arabic.)
Incidentally, William Miller used the text of Daniel to prove that the
Second Advent will take place in 1844.
End of Days                                                        319

Once Abdu’l-Bahá’ established the manifestation of the Báb by
Daniel’s prophecy, he used the same source to prove the
Manifestation of Bahá’u’lláh. For this purpose, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’
changed calendar, and based his proof on the Islamic one instead of
the Christian one, which he just used to prove the manifestation of
the Báb. In Chapter 12: 11, Daniel mentions twelve hundred and
ninety years “from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken
away and the abomination that maketh desolute set up...” This is a
very cryptic verse too. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’ was not interested in the “daily
sacrifice” nor the “abomination that maketh desolute” ( ‫שקּוּץ ש ֹ ֵמם‬
ִ in
Hebrew). Only the number 1290 interested him for proof. With no
effort he shows that 1290 lunar years had elapsed from the
announcement of Muhammad’s prophecy, ten years before the
Hijrah, until the announcement of Bahá’u’lláh of his prophecy and
manifestation in 1280 AH, namely in 1863, at the Garden of Ri∂wán.

The obscure text of Daniel and its cryptic numbers allowed
”Calculators of the End” throughout the ages to find in them almost
anything they wanted. Here ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’ goes as far as attributing
to Daniel full knowledge of both the Hijrah and the Christian
calendars(in the 2nd century BC), calculating of the appearance of the
Báb using the Christian calendar and placing the birth of Christ in the
centre of his calculation, an event of no significance for the Jews.

On the Jewish side and about the same time, the number 1290 was
used in a short treatise by Joseph ben ‘Uliel (1858-1937), a rabbi who
was born in Morocco, was a professor of Roman languages at the
University of Lisbon, and the consul of Morocco in Portugal. In 1917
he wrote his “Five Statements of Daniel on the Redemption” ( ‫חמישה‬
‫)מאמרי דניאל על הגאולה‬. He regarded the year 1917, or 5677 of the
Jewish calendar, as the year of global redemption, but particularly the
long awaited redemption of Israel. According to his calculation, all
the numbers in Daniel’s prophecies lead to the same conclusion –that
the Hebrew year 5677 definitely signifies Messianic times. He goes so
far as to suggest that the number 1335 in Daniel 12:12, “Blessed be he
that waiteth and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and
thirty days,” refers to the Hijrah year equivalent to 1917 CE. “It is
possible that this number hints to the date counted by the
Mohammedans, the rulers of the Holy Land, from then until now,
which comes to one thousand three hundred and thirty five.”
320                                                 Lights of Irfán vol. 19

Abdu’l-Bahá by the way does not refer to this number. [For an
interesting Christian interpretation of the same date see The New Scofield
Reference Bible, Daniel 12:12, note 3.] Ben ‘Uliel, however, does refer to
1290 which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’ calculates as the time from the
proclamation of Mohammad’s mission until the proclamation of
Bahá’u’lláh in 1280 AH (1863). ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’ does not refer to the
whole verse in Daniel 12:11, which speaks about 1290 (days/years)
which will elapse from “the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken
away and the abomination that maketh desolate set up.” For Ben
‘Uliel this entire verse is important for establishing his calculation
based on the general, not the Muslim calendar. This verse mentions
two events — the taking away of the daily sacrifice (in the Temple)
and the setting up of the destructive “abomination.” In between the
two, he adds the destruction of the Temple, about ten years after the
abolition of the sacrifice. The “abomination that maketh desolate”
according to his understanding, is the mosque built by caliph ‘Umar
on the Temple Mount (meaning the Dome of the rock which was built
over the site, that is generally regarded as the location of the Holy of
Holies in the Temple.). This took place, he says, in 637 when ‘Umar
conquered Jerusalem. Now the calculation up to 1290 adds up as
follows:

From the abolition of the daily sacrifice to the destruction of
the Temple: 10 years

From the conquest of Jerusalem by ʿUmar until Ben ‘Uliel’s
present: 1280 years

In this way, says Ben ‘Uliel, Daniel’s verse points directly to 1917
(1280 + 637), his own time, interpreting the whole verse rather than
only using the number 1290. I quoted Ben ‘Uliel to show that the
Book of Daniel can be easily manipulated to serve the needs of the
user. It is, however, interesting that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’ turns to the Bible
when searching for proofs from a sacred text. For the Western
faithful, this has been surely convincing.

Until now I have not dealt with the involvement of the Bahá’í
Jews in supplying proofs for the validation of the manifestation of
Bahá’u’lláh. A very interesting manuscript, which came to my
attention some time ago, triggered the present discussion.
End of Days                                                          321

The manuscript is a one page document in Hebrew, Judeo Arabic
and Aramaic. It surfaced in the antiquities market in Jerusalem. Its
owner, an antique dealer, demanded for it an exorbitant price. Since
the document is still in his possession, I cannot publish it. I was able
to make, however, a copy of it. The writer of this document is a
Jewish convert to the Bahá’í faith who brings proofs that the actual
name Bahá’u’lláh is no less than the representation of the most secret,
the most holy name of the Lord in Hebrew consisting of the four
letters, the tetragrammaton, which no Jew is allowed to pronounce.
The true vowels of this sacred name has been intentionally obscured
to prevent its exact pronunciation. Instead the vowels of the word
Adonai (“my Lord”) was attached to the four consonants of the
Lord’s name creating a bizarre meaningless combination. The usage in
western languages of the pronunciation “Jehovah” or “Yahweh” is
based on these purposefully confusing vowels. Even the writing of
the four consonants outside the realm of sacred writing is not
allowed. In post-Biblical literature we are told that only the high
priest could pronounce the name of the Lord in its correct form, and
only on the Day of Atonement and only next to the holiest place in
the Temple.

In this document, the Jewish writer has no such restrictions.
Bahá’u’lláh is the Lord in his most majestic, secret and mystical name
Y-H-W-H. The document begins with the four letters, the
tetragrammaton, and under these letters we read ‫ בהאאלאבהי‬which is
the exact transliteration of the Arabic ‫ﺑﮭﺎ اﻷﺑﮭﻰ‬. The article al in
Hebrew is written in small letters above the text; the real name
should accordingly be read without the article, Bahá Abhá in Arabic
‫ﺑﮭﺎ أﺑﮭﻰ‬. The numerical value of these letters (2+5+1+1+2+5+10)
is 26, which is the exact numerical value of the tetragrammaton
(10+5+6+5=26). In other words ‫( בהא אבהי‬note that ‫ אבהי‬is the exact
transliteration of the Arabic) is ‫י ה ו ה‬. For a Jew this is no less than
pure impudent blasphemy. Following this we read:

‫“ ברוך הבא אדני י ה ו ה‬Welcome Adonai (the Lord) Y-H-W-H.”
The four letters beginning the four Hebrew words create the
acronym ‫ — בהאי‬Bahai. The same is repeated at the end of the
document where this acronym is specified.
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The text then continues in Judeo-Arabic and Aramaic written in
Hebrew letters: ha bisharat hadrati rabbina wa moshí’ ana bahá
elohayah. This is the good tidings of our Lord and Saviour Bahá
(splendor) of God. The word Saviour is in Hebrew with the Arabic
possessive ending in the plural. Instead of al-Abhá which in the
Arabic means the “most glorious”, “most splendid” referring to God
and to Bahá’u’lláh in the designation “Bahá’ al-Abhá” — the glorious
of the most glorious, the Hebrew/Aramaic text has the word
elohayah — God, and the combination for Bahá’u’lláh — The splendor
of God (bahá elohayah). This one sentence is a statement repeating
the idea which defines Bahá’u’lláh as both the Lord and the Saviour.

The usage of the Hebrew moshiyaʿ to denote “saviour” is
important, for it comes from the list of the adjectival appellations of
the God of Israel, defined in the first Benediction of the daily
“Eighteen Benedictions Prayer” as ‫מלך עוזר ומושיעומגן‬. The word
moshiyaʿ (Gr. σωτὲρ) indicates the exalted divine station of
Bahá’u’lláh in his capacity as the ultimate Savior. He is described in
terms saved for God Himself: “A Helper King, Saviour and
Protector.” The text moves to Aramaic quoting the qaddish prayer:
yehesh mehrabbahmeborakhle’alam we-’alme‘almayah.” May His
Great Name (in the original the Lord’s, but here could well mean
Bahá’u’lláh) be blessed forever and ever.” The text continues in
Hebrew: bishnat shalosh‘esrim malkhut Náßir-al Dín Sháh Melekh
Paras ...etc.
“In the year twenty three of the rule of Nasir ad Din Shah, the
King of Persia, concerning the vision of Daniel, fulfilling his
prophecy” (12:11]. “And from the time that the daily sacrifices shall
be taken away and the abomination that maketh desolate set up one
thousand two hundred and ninety days; every day is a year from the
Caliphate of ‘Umar until now and this is in the year 5633 (=1873) of
the creation)”. The year 1290 AH is 1873 corresponding to 5633 of
the Creation, which the writer identifies as “now”. However, 23 years
of the rule of Náßir ad-Dín Sháh is not 1873 but 1871. This date
cannot be explained, but could well be a mistake. This date 1873
however is very important for the writer, as we shall soon see.

Here, just as in the calculations of Ben ‘Uliel, we read the name of
‘Umar. Ben Uliel identified “the abomination that maketh desolate” in
Daniel’s prophecy, as the mosque of ‘Umar, and it seems that here
End of Days                                                             323

also ‘Umar’s Caliphate in general could well be the “abomination.” If
one takes into consideration that for the Shí‘ah ‘Umar is probably the
most hated figure in the entire Islamic history, this hatred filtered
through into the Bábí and Bahá’í thought, and found its way to
occupy the place of the “abomination” in Daniel’s vision. One thing
seems sure, the 1290 date in this document is not the period of time
that elapsed from the time of ‘Umar’s Caliphate but of the time from
the Hijrah. It is only thus that we arrive at 5633 corresponding to
1873 the accepted date of the writing of al-Kitáb al-Aqdas. Unless
there is a mistake in the dating. The text that follows says:

The majesty of the Divine presence (or the Being) shone and
blazed; the light of ‘I am that I am’ glittered, rising, when the
mighty and awful God became jealous for the shrine of Zion
in the tower of Akko. ‘Look upon Zion, the city of our
solemnities etc. [Thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet
habitation a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; not one
of its stakes shall ever be removed neither shall any of its
cords be broken. [Isaiah 33:20]’.]

In the document, “etc.” is written after ‘solemnities’ leaving the
continuation of the very well-known verse (continued here in square
brackets) to the reader. In this part the writer describes the
appearance of Bahá’u’lláh as ‘rising light’ and his imprisonment in the
fortress (“tower”) of ‘Akko as the time when he had the vision of the
revival of Jerusalem and the “shrine of Zion” (‫)היכל אלציונא‬. The
language is basically Hebrew to with the Arabic article (“al”) added.
For the glitter of light of the new manifestation, the writer uses the
Hebrew words‫אור אל אהיה‬the light of God Ehyeh, the word by which
God defined himself to Moses: “I AM” [Exodus 3:14]. The
manifestation is defined by the Hebrew ‫ כבוד אלהויה‬the Majesty of
Being ( ‫)הויה‬.

In the fortress of Akko the angry God is jealous for the temple of
Zion. This is an interesting interpretation of the redemptive station
of Bahá’u’lláh as an angry god for Zion, and its saviour. In this way,
he fulfills the role of the Jewish Messiah who redeems Zion, and heals
its wounds. The following paragraph in the text moves again to deal
with yet another date connected with the time of redemption:
324                                                 Lights of Irfán vol. 19

Blessed is he who waits and reaches the days of one thousand,
three hundred and thirty five days — each day means a year
(‫)הימים לשנה‬. Until now (Aramaic: ‫ ) ְכּ ָען‬he revealed the year
5675 as the [time of] redemption according to the full
calendar.

(In the text    —
‫לפ”ק‬acronym: “according to the lesser calendar
system” namely without the figure of thousands, but it should be
‫לפ”ג‬, acronym: “according to the full calendar” system including the
reckoning of the thousands as we have it in the text. Without the
thousands, the date is 675, but the text explicitly gives the full date
with the thousands that is to say 5675.

This is a difficult part. 5675 corresponds to 1915, the middle of
the First World War. The writer uses the Aramaic ‫ כען‬meaning “now,
at this time,” to denote the time of redemption. However it is
possible that he means that the year 1335 of the Hijrah which
corresponds to 1917 is the awaited date of the redemption which is
expected already in 1915 (5675). This brings us back to the
calculations of Ben ‘Uliel from Lisbon who in his own way calculated
that the redemption would occur in 1280 after ‘Umar’s conquest of
Jerusalem (1280 + 637 = 1917). The combination of General Allenby’s
conquest of Jerusalem in 1917, and the Balfour Declaration in the
same year obviously had the qualities of redemption for the Jewish
rabbi, professor and a consul at Lisbon, as well as for our obscure
writer, who at this point breaks into exaltation with the verse of
Isaiah 52:7: “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him
that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace, that bringeth good
tidings of good, that publisheth salvation, that sayeth unto Zion: Thy
God reigneth!” This verse is used by Christians to mean Jesus and by
Bahá’ís to mean Bahá’u’lláh.

Following this, the writer finishes the happy part of the text by
quoting a verse from a religious hymn sung by the Jews on the
conclusion of Sabbath (Saturday night). Only a Jew could have
thought of including this verse in a text dedicated to Bahá’u’lláh in
his capacity of the harbinger of the redemption of Zion and his
coronation, according to Isaiah, as her king. The harbinger could be
Bahá’u’lláh but it could also be the Báb proclaiming the ascension of
Bahá’u’lláh to the throne of Zion.
End of Days                                                          325

In Jewish tradition, the herald of the Messiah is the zealot prophet
Elijah. He will precede the coming of the Messiah, preparing the way
for him. It is not surprising that the Báb is represented as Elijah. In
Jewish tradition Elijah, who destroyed the priests of the Phoenician
god Ba’al out of jealousy for the God of Israel is likened to the priest
Phineas who is described in the Bible as the ultimate zealot. In reward
for his jealousy, God says: “I give to him my covenant of peace”
[Numbers 25:12]. Of course, it is Moses who brought the divine
promise to Phineas, who reappeared, many generations later, as
Elijah. This idea is conveyed in the hymn sung at the end of the
Sabbath the first verses of which run as follows:

Elijah the Prophet, Elijah the Tishbite, Elijah the Gileadean:
Let him come quickly to us with the messiah, the son of
David.

He is a man who was jealous for the name of God; He is a man
who received the good tidings of peace by Yekutiel.

Yekutiel is another name of Moses in Jewish tradition. Only a Jew
who kept the Sabbath and was well acquainted with the ritual at its
conclusion could quote the verses of this hymn, which refer to the
Messianic ideas of this document. This in fact could be the end of the
document but the writer finishes by emphasizing yet again the divine
station of Bahá’u’lláh. For in this hymn the Báb who is Elijah, and
beforehand Phineas, was chosen to receive the good tidings by no less
than Moses himself. However the text continues with going back to
the holy tetragrammaton. Y-H-W-H, he says, is Bahá’u’lláh in
gematry, as we saw above. The acronym “Welcome the Lord Y-H-W-
H” in Hebrew‫( ברוך הבא אדוניי ה ו ה‬which we met at the very
beginning of the document), gives us the word ‫– בהאי‬Bahá’í. The text
mentions the reference to Daniel 12:11-12, which we dealt with
above, and is used here towards the end of the document as a
reminder. It ends with a sentence in Aramaic: “It came from the Holy
Torah to the people of the world, from the vision of the later
prophets who brought the good tidings of Oneness.” The meaning of
this sentence is more or less clear. The message of Divine unity,
brought to the world in general, is found in the Holy Torah and the
prophecies of the later prophets meaning, most probably one
prophet, Daniel, to whom the reference is supplied. Above of the
326                                               Lights of Irfán vol. 19

words “vision of the later prophets” the writer inserted two words
“visions that bring good tidings” correcting the language of the text
under them.

Summary

The Calculation of the End in the anonymous document presented
here refers to the same dates used by Ben ‘Uliel and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. All
three documents refer to the date of a number of years in the esoteric
prophecies in the Book of Daniel. The main number is 1290 which
appears in the last chapter of the book, chapter 12 verses 11-12.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, regards it to refer to the time that elapsed from the
public proclamation of Mo˙ammad’s mission, ten years before the
hijrah. If we detract 10 years from 1290, we are left with the 1280
years that have elapsed since the hijrah, which corresponds to 1863
CE, the year of Bahá’u’lláh’s proclamation at Ri∂wán.

Ben ‘Uliel refers to the whole verse (12:11) and also detracts 10
years from 1290 — the time that elapsed from the abolishment of the
daily sacrifice to the destruction of the Temple. According to him the
“abomination” mentioned by Daniel refers to the mosque, which was
built by Umar in 637.

The calculation in the anonymous document is similar to Ben
Uliel’s although the interpretation is none too clear. However, in this
document the important parts are dedicated to proving the divinity
of Bahá’u’lláh using combinations of letters which demonstrate that
the name Bahá’u’lláh is no less than the revered, mystical and great
name of the Lord.
-- End of Days (Used by permission of the curator)