Him Who will be sent down unto you after Me

Arrival of the Next Manifestation of God (not even another Guardian) to be after a 1000 or 1000's of years (from 1852)

Anyone appearing before a full 1000 years is a lying impostor

"Whoso layeth claim to a Revelation direct from God, ere the expiration of a full thousand years, such a man is assuredly a lying impostor. We pray God that He may graciously assist him to retract and repudiate such claim. Should he repent, God will, no doubt, forgive him. If, however, he persisteth in his error, God will, assuredly, send down one who will deal mercilessly with him. Terrible, indeed, is God in punishing! Whosoever interpreteth this verse otherwise than its obvious meaning is deprived of the Spirit of God and of His mercy which encompasseth all created things. Fear God, and follow not your idle fancies. Nay, rather, follow the bidding of your Lord, the Almighty, the All-Wise. Erelong shall clamorous voices be raised in most lands. Shun them, O My people, and follow not the iniquitous and evil-hearted. This is that of which We gave you forewarning when We were dwelling in 'Iráq, then later while in the Land of Mystery, and now from this Resplendent Spot."

(Bahá'u'lláh, Kitáb-i-Aqdas, par. 37)

Provisions of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas to remain inviolate for no less than a thousand years

"Unique and stupendous as was this Proclamation, it proved to be but a prelude to a still mightier revelation of the creative power of its Author, and to what may well rank as the most signal act of His ministry--the promulgation of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas. Alluded to in the Kitáb-i-Iqán; the principal repository of that Law which the Prophet Isaiah had anticipated, and which the writer of the Apocalypse had described as the "new heaven" and the "new earth," as "the Tabernacle of God," as the "Holy City," as the "Bride," the "New Jerusalem coming down from God," this "Most Holy Book," whose provisions must remain inviolate for no less than a thousand years, and whose system will embrace the entire planet, may well be regarded as the brightest emanation of the mind of Bahá'u'lláh, as the Mother Book of His Dispensation, and the Charter of His New World Order."

(Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 214; Also cited in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, p. 12)

"In it {the Kitáb-i-Aqdas} He {Bahá'u'lláh}...rules out the possibility of the appearance of another Manifestation ere the lapse of at least one thousand years."

(Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 214; Also cited in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, p. 14)

"It is a propitious moment for the publication of this first authorized translation into English of the Mother Book of His Revelation, His "Most Holy Book", the Book in which He sets forth the Laws of God for a Dispensation destined to endure for no less than a thousand years."

(Universal House of Justice, Introduction to the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, p. 1)

The date of the thousand years is to begin in 1852

"The Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh will last until the coming of the next Manifestation of God, Whose advent will not take place before at least "a full thousand years" will have elapsed. Bahá'u'lláh cautions against ascribing to "this verse" anything other than its "obvious meaning", and in one of His Tablets, He specifies that "each year" of this thousand year period consists of "twelve months according to the Qur'án, and of nineteen months of nineteen days each, according to the Bayán".

"The intimation of His Revelation to Bahá'u'lláh in the Síyáh-Chál of Tihrán, in October 1852, marks the birth of His Prophetic Mission and hence the commencement of the one thousand years or more that must elapse before the appearance of the next Manifestation of God."

(Notes to the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, note 62)

Discussion: The Islamic Calendar is lunar whereas the Badi calendar is solar. This is about 15 years difference.

No one can claim (again) even the station of Guardianship until after 1000 years

"My purpose is this, that ere the expiration of a thousand years, no one has the right to utter a single word, even to claim the station of Guardianship.

"The Most Holy Book is the Book to which all peoples shall refer, and in it the Laws of God have been revealed. Laws not mentioned in the Book should be referred to the decision of the Universal House of Justice..."

('Abdu'l-Bahá, Persian and Arabic Tablets, Vol. III, pp. 499-501: cited by the Universal House of Justice to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Netherlands, March 9, 1965: Wellspring of Guidance, p. 47; quoted in Lights of Guidance, no. 1058)

The Future Manifestation of God may come after a thousand or thousands of years

"Today, the most important affair is firmness in the Covenant, because firmness in the Covenant wards off differences. ....Bahá'u'lláh covenanted, not that I ('Abdu'l-Bahá) am the Promised One, but that 'Abdu'l-Bahá is the Expounder of the Book and the Centre of His Covenant, and that the Promised One of Bahá'u'lláh will appear after one thousand or thousands of years. This is the Covenant which Bahá'u'lláh made. If a person shall deviate, he is not acceptable at the Threshold of Bahá'u'lláh. In case of differences, 'Abdu'l-Bahá must be consulted. They must revolve around his good pleasure. After 'Abdu'l-Bahá, whenever the Universal House of Justice is organized it will ward off differences."

('Abdu'l-Bahá, cited in "Star of the West", vol. 4, No. 14 (November 1913), p. 237-38; in the Compilation on the Covenant, no. 13)

"O servant of God! We have noted what thou didst write to Jinab-i-Ibn-Abhar, and thy question regarding the verse: `Whoso layeth claim to a Revelation direct from God, ere the expiration of a full thousand years, such a man is assuredly a lying impostor.'

"The meaning of this is that any individual who, before the expiry of a full thousand years--years known and clearly established by common usage and requiring no interpretation-- should lay claim to a Revelation direct from God, even though he should reveal certain signs, that man is assuredly false and an impostor.

"This is not a reference to the Universal Manifestation, for it is clearly set forth in the Holy Writings that centuries, nay thousands of years, must pass on to completion, before a Manifestation like unto this Manifestation shall appear again.

"It is possible, however, that after the completion of a full thousand years, certain Holy Beings will be empowered to deliver a Revelation: this, however, will not be through a Universal Manifestation. Wherefore every day of the cycle of the Blessed Beauty is in reality equal to one year, and every year of it is equal to a thousand years.

"Consider, for example, the sun: its transit from one zodiacal sign to the next occurreth within a short period of time, yet only after a long period doth it attain the plenitude of its resplendency, its heat and glory, in the sign of Leo. It must first complete one full revolution through the other constellations before it will enter the sign of Leo again, to blaze out in its full splendour. In its other stations, it revealeth not the fullness of its heat and light.

"The substance is, that prior to the completion of a thousand years, no individual may presume to breathe a word. All must consider themselves to be of the order of subjects, submissive and obedient to the commandments of God and the laws of the House of Justice. Should any deviate by so much as a needle's point from the decrees of the Universal House of Justice, or falter in his compliance therewith, then is he of the outcast and rejected.

"As to the cycle of the Blessed Beauty--the times of the Greatest Name--this is not limited to a thousand or two thousand years....

"When it is said that the period of a thousand years beginneth with the Manifestation of the Blessed Beauty and every day thereof is a thousand years, the intent is a reference to the cycle of the Blessed Beauty, which in this context will extend over many ages into the unborn reaches of time."

(Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, sec. 33, pp. 67-68)

"Concerning the one thousand years as recorded in the Book: It signifieth the beginning of this Manifestation until the end of its predominance throughout the contingent world; because this Cause is great, its powers are growing and its signs are dazzling. It shall continue in elevation, exaltation, growth, promulgation and promotion until it shall reach the apex of its glory in one thousand years -- as the day of this Manifestation is one thousand years. Thou shalt see its conquering power, its manifest dominion, its eternal might and its everlasting glory."

('Abdu'l-Bahá, Tablets of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, pp. 659-660)

"WITH THE PASSING OF 'ABDU'L-BAHÁ, the Apostolic Age of the Cause reached its end. The Divine intervention that had begun seventy-seven years earlier on the night the Báb declared His mission to Mullá Husayn — and 'Abdu'l-Bahá Himself was born — had completed its work. It had been, in the words of Shoghi Effendi, "a period whose splendours no victories in this or any future age, however brilliant, can rival...." {The Bahá'í World, vol. XV (Haifa: Bahá'í World Centre, 1976), p. 132.} Ahead lay the thousand or thousands of years in which the potentialities that this creative force has planted in human consciousness will gradually unfold."

(Century of Light, p. 39)

"Finally during the cycle of the Blessed Perfection [BAHA'O'LLAH]—May My life be a sacrifice to His believers—all are beneath His shadow. He is the Unique and Peerless One till the next Manifestation. It is, however, not definite that it will be 1000 years; it may be 2000, or 10,000 or 20,000 years; but it is definite that for the coming 1000 years there will appear no Manifestation: for 1000 years there shall arise no Sun. . .

"The Blessed Perfection and the BAB are unique and peerless in this Dispensation, and until the next Manifestation. The belief, the opinion and the thoughts of all believers must revolve around this common Center. This oneness of belief must become fully realized so that in the future there may arise no differences. . .

"After the Departure of the Blessed Perfection and till the Appearance of the next Manifestation there is no other station save the Station of Servitude, pure and absolute. Not a servitude liable to interpretation; but an unconditional and unqualified servitude. This is the real fact. Whosoever expresses any other interpretation, I will not be pleased with him. This is my advice to you. This is my counsel to you. This is my desire. This is my good pleasure. This is my last request from all the believers of God! The balsam to my wound is servitude at the Holy Threshold. My Sadrat-el-Montaha is servitude at the Holy Threshold! My highest destination is servitude at the Holy Threshold! My Supreme Paradise is servitude at the Holy Threshold! My Spiritual Temple is servitude at the Holy Threshold! The Most Shining Crown is servitude at the Holy Threshold!"

(Diary of Mirza Ahmad Sohrab, January 17, 1914, in Star of the West, vol. 5, no. 5, p. 1)

Persecution to be faced by the Next Manifestation of God (and His eventual triumph)

Bahá'u'lláh's fears for Him Who will be sent down after Him

"I am not apprehensive for My own self," Bahá'u'lláh still more explicitly declares, "My fears are for Him Who will be sent down unto you after Me--Him Who will be invested with great sovereignty and mighty dominion." And again He writes in the Súratu'l-Haykal: "By those words which I have revealed, Myself is not intended, but rather He Who will come after Me. To it is witness God, the All-Knowing." "Deal not with Him," He adds, "as ye have dealt with Me."

(Shoghi Effendi, World Order of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 117)

He Who is to come after a thousand or more years will be subjected to persecutions but eventually triumph

"As to the meaning of the quotation, 'My fears are for Him Who will be sent down unto you after Me', this refers to the Manifestation Who is to come after a thousand or more years, Who like all previous Messengers of God will be subjected to persecutions, but will eventually triumph over them. For men of ill-will have been and will always continue to be in this world, unless mankind reaches a state of complete and absolute perfection--a condition which is not only improbable but actually impossible to attain. The fundamental difference, however, between this Dispensation and all previous ones is this, that in this Revelation the possibility of permanent schism between the followers of the Prophet has been prevented through the direct and explicit instructions providing for the necessary instruments designed to maintain the organic unity of the body of the faithful."

(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada, December 1, 1934, Bahá'í News, No. 89, p. 1, January 1935, in Directives from the Guardian, p. 42 and Lights of Guidance, no. 1562)

"Likewise didst thou ask whether, in this Bahá'í Dispensation, the spiritual will ultimately prevail. It is certain that spirituality will defeat materialism, that the heavenly will subdue the human, and that through divine education the masses of mankind generally will take great steps forward in all degrees of life--except for those who are blind and deaf and mute and dead. How can such as they understand the light? Though the sun's rays illumine every darkest corner of the globe, still the blind can have no share in the glory, and though the rain of heavenly mercy come down in torrents over all the earth, no shrub or flower will bloom from a barren land."

(Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, sec. 160, pp. 191-192)

The House of Justice to strive to recognize the Manifestation of God at that time

"There is nothing in the Writings to support the view that the opposition or persecution will be instigated or inflicted by the Universal House of Justice...."

"You can be sure that the Supreme Institution of the Faith, "under the care and protection of the Abhá Beauty, under the shelter and unerring guidance of His Holiness, the Exalted One", will exert every effort to recognize, when the time is ripe, the reality of the new Manifestation, and lead men to Him."

(On behalf of the Universal House of Justice, as posted at https://bahai-library.com/uhj_recognition_next_prophet )

The apex of its Revelation will be in one thousand years

"(Question: “When is the time of the millenium? Will I see it?)

"Concerning the one thousand years as recorded in the Book: It signifieth the beginning of this Manifestation until the end of its predominance throughout the contingent world; because this Cause is great, its powers are growing and its signs are dazzling. It shall continue in elevation, exaltation, growth, promulgation and promotion until it shall reach the apex of its glory in one thousand years—as the day of this Manifestation is one thousand years. Thou shalt see its conquering power, its manifest dominion, its eternal might and its everlasting glory."

(`Abdu'l-Bahá, Tablets of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, pp. 659-660)

See also

• Bahá'í Cycle
• Bahá'í Dispensation
• Future Manifestations of God