Failed Prophecies - Daniel and the New Era

IMRAN SHAYKH

Following are the changing interpretations of Daniel\'s \"1335 Days\"in Dr. Esslemont\'s book, \"Baha\'u\'llah and the New Era\", from 1923to 1970.

I. During a table talk, \'Abdu\'l-Baha states that Daniel\'s 1335 days are solar years after the Hejira (622 AD). Esslemont performs the simple calculation, arriving at 1957 as the date for:

\"Universal Peace will be firmly established, a Universal language promoted. Misunderstandings will pass away. The Baha\'i Cause will be promulgated in all parts and the oneness of mankind established. It will be most glorious!\" - \'Abdu\'l-Baha

The 1923 and 1937 editions of \"The New Era\" contained this interpretation. The latter edition was overseen by Shoghi Effendi, yet this interpretation was not altered.

II. In \"God Passes By\", Shoghi Effendi changes the calculation to point to the years 1959 and 1963. He does so by starting at 1863 and using lunar years. This conflicts with the Hejira/Solar interpretation previously published. (see note below)

III. In the 1946 printing of the 1937 edition of \"The New Era\", we find the following remark:

P. 303: \"the end of the 1,335 days.\" The Guardian has written that in the Baha\'i teachings themselves there is nothing to indicate that any definite degree of world peace will be established by 1957, nor by 1963, the one hundredth anniversary of the Declaration of Baha\'u\'llah. The Baha\'is understand that the process of spiritual regeneration and social order is evolutionary, and that no human powers can prevent the final consummation of the divine promise.
(J. E. Esslemont, \"Baha\'u\'llah and the New Era\", (Wilmette: Baha\'i Publishing Trust, 1946), p. ix)

This remark was gone by the 1950 edition. Though this disclaimer is quite clear, the upcoming edition would continue to hold expectations high, but only without showing any calculations.

IV. In 1950, Shoghi Effendi oversees the release of a new edition of \"The New Era\". In it, all calculations are dropped, and the target date is changed to 1963, but the expectations are preserved:

\"\'Abdu\'l-Baha\'s Tablets make it clear that this prophecy refers to the one-hundredth anniversary of the declaration of Baha\'u\'llah in Baghdad, or the year 1963. Asked what will be manifest after the 1,335 \"days,\" he replied: Universal peace will be firmly established, a Universal language promoted. Misunderstandings will pass away. The Baha\'i Cause will be promulgated in all parts and the oneness of mankind established. It will be most glorious!\"
(Esslemont, Baha\'u\'llah and the New Era, 1950 Edition, pg. 303)

V. In 1970, A new edition is published, with some faulty arithmetic: \"\'Abdu\'l-Baha\'s Tablets make it clear that this prophecy refers to the one-hundredth anniversary of the declaration of Baha\'u\'llah in Baghdad, or the year 1963:-

Now concerning the verse in Daniel, the interpretation whereof thou didst ask, namely, \"Blessed is he who cometh unto the thousand, three hundred and thirty-five days.\" These days must be reckoned as solar and not lunar years. For according to this calculation a century will have elapsed from the dawn of the Sun of Truth, then will the teachings of God be firmly established upon the earth, and the divine light shall flood the world from the East even unto the West. Then, on that day, will the faithful rejoice!\"
(Esslemont, Baha\'u\'llah and the New Era, 1970 Edition, pg. 250)

We are now at 622 AD + 1335 solar years = 1963, which is incorrect. Of course the year of the Hijra (622) is not explicitly mentioned, but it is clear that we are back to the original calculation that had been published widely for 27 years.

Remarkably, the 1970 edition confirms Esslemont\'s calculations, 20 years after they had been removed under Shoghi Effendi\'s guidance.

Just as remarkably, the Universal House of Justice associated its founding with the prophecy of Daniel, thus implicitly claiming to have fulfilled the ancient prophecy.

The Baha\'is had expected something great to happen in 1963, at least since Shoghi Effendi had published \"God Passes By.\" How anti-climactic that such a prophecy be fulfilled by an administrative act. Clearly, there\'s no magic in scheduling and manufacturing the fulfillment of a prophecy in such a way.

On the contrary, it is a transparent act of unscrupulous manipulation.

NOTE ON THE INTERPRETATION OF DANIEL\'S PROPHECY IN \"GOD PASSES BY\".

Shoghi Effendi calculated the \"1335 days\" to be literal days, and noticed that one could use 1335 days as an between 100 solar years and 100 lunar years. In this way, the Guardian was able to explain \'Abdu\'l-Baha\'s references to the year 1963. While speaking of the Declaration of Baha\'u\'llah (1863) Shoghi Effendi says:

\"The \'hundred lunar years,\' destined to immediately precede that blissful consummation (1335 days), announced by Daniel in that same chapter had commenced.\"
God Passes By, pg. 151

This passage indicates that the Guardian expected a\"consummation\" to begin in 1379 A.H. (Islamic calendar) and end after 1335 more days. This \"blissful consummation\" would then extend between the years 1959 and 1963. That is to say:

1863 AD/1279 AH: Declaration of Baha\'u\'llah\'s mission 1959 AD/1379 AH: 100 year (lunar) anniversary of Baha\'u\'llah\'s mission 1959-1963 AD: \"that blissful consummation\"

I have not been informed of what significant event actually occurred in 1959.

The passage in the \"corrected\" 1970 edition of \"Baha\'u\'llah and the New Era\" states:

Now concerning the verse in Daniel, the interpretation whereof thou didst ask, namely, \"Blessed is he who cometh unto the thousand, three hundred and thirty-five days.\" These days must be reckoned as solar and not lunar years. For according to this calculation a century will have elapsed from the dawn of the Sun of Truth, then will the teachings of God be firmly established upon the earth, and the divine light shall flood the world from the East even unto the West. Then, on that day, will the faithful rejoice!\"
(Esslemont, Baha\'u\'llah and the New Era, 1970 Edition, pg. 250)

This interpretation of Daniel agrees with the Guardian\'s result (1963),but differs from the Guardian\'s math. \'Abdu\'l-Baha, in this passage, incorrectly uses solar years to come to 1963 (1957 is the result), and rejects the use of lunar years, which the Guardian used along with literal days. Note that, in verifying \'Abdu\'l-Baha\'s target of 1963, Shoghi Effendi used calculations that \'Abdu\'l-Baha ruled out.

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