As the year sixty, [1260 AH, 1844 AD] the year that
witnessed the birth of the promised Revelation, had just dawned upon the world,
it would not seem inappropriate, at this juncture, to digress from our theme,
and to mention certain traditions of Muhammad and of the imáms of the Faith
which bear specific reference to that year. Imám Ja’far, son of Muhammad, when
questioned concerning the year in which the Qá’im was to be made manifest,
replied as follows: “Verily, in the year sixty His Cause shall be revealed, and
His name shall be noised abroad.” In the works of the learned and far-famed
Muhyi’d-Dín-i-‘Arabí, many references are to be found regarding both the year
of the advent and the name of the promised Manifestation. Among them are the following:
“The ministers and upholders of His Faith shall be of the people of Persia.”
“In His name, the name of the Guardian [‘Alí] precedeth that of the Prophet
[Muhammad].” “The year of His Revelation is identical with half of that number
which is divisible by nine [2520].” Mírzá Muhammad-i-Akhbarí, in his poems
relating to the year of the Manifestation, makes the following prediction: “In
the year Ghars [the numerical value of the letters of which is 1260] the earth
shall be illumined by His light, and in Gharásih [1265] the world shall be
suffused with its glory. If thou livest until the year Gharasí [1270], thou
shalt witness how the nations, the rulers, the peoples, and the Faith of God
shall all have been renewed.” In a tradition ascribed to the Imám ‘Alí, the
Commander of the Faithful, it is likewise recorded: “In Ghars the Tree of
Divine guidance shall be planted.”
- Nabil (‘The Dawn-Breakers’, translated and
edited by Shoghi Effendi)
