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.”
(Chapter 3, ‘The Dawn-Breakers’)
