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