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"And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth."[61] This dragon represents the Umayyads, who seized the reins of the religion of Muhammad; and the seven heads and seven crowns represent the seven dominions and kingdoms over which they came to rule: the Roman dominion in Syria; the Persian, the Arabian, and the Egyptian dominions; the dominion of Africa- that is, Tunisia, Morocco, and Algeria; the dominion of Andalusia, which is now Spain; and the dominion of the Turkish tribes of Transoxania. The Umayyads gained power over all these dominions. The ten horns represent the names of the Umayyad rulers, for, barring repetition, they are ten sovereigns, or ten names of chiefs and rulers. The first is Abú Sufyan and the last is Marvan. Some of their names have been repeated, including two Mu'aviyihs, three Yazíds, two Valíds, and two Marvans. If, however, these names are each counted only once, they number ten in total. These Umayyads- the first of whom was Abú Sufyan, the former chief of Mecca and founder of the dynasty, and the last of whom was Marvan- destroyed a third of the holy and sanctified souls who descended from the pure lineage of Muhammad and who were even as the stars of heaven. (13:6) com1 "And the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born."[62] This woman is the religion of God, as was before explained. The dragon's standing near her signifies that it was keeping watch to devour her child as soon as it had been delivered. This child was the promised Manifestation, Who is the offspring of the religion of Muhammad. The Umayyads were ever anxious to lay hold on the Promised One Who was to appear from the lineage of Muhammad, that they might destroy and annihilate Him, for they greatly feared His advent. And so wherever they found a descendant of Muhammad who was respected in the eyes of the people, they killed him. (13:7) com2 "And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron."[63] This glorious son is the promised Manifestation, Who was born of the religion of God and reared in the bosom of the divine teachings. The iron rod is a symbol of might and power- it is not a sword- and means that He will shepherd all the nations of the earth by virtue of His divine might and power. And by this son is meant the Bab. (13:8) com3 "And her child was caught up unto God, and to His throne."[64] This is a prophecy concerning the Bab, Who ascended to the Kingdom, the Throne of God, and the Seat of His sovereignty. Consider how closely this conforms to what indeed came to pass. (13:9) com4 "And the woman fled into the wilderness";[65] that is, the religion of God betook itself to the desert, meaning the vast desert of Hijaz and the Arabian Peninsula. (13:10) com5 "Where she hath a place prepared of God";[66] that is, the Arabian Peninsula became the home, the habitation, and the focal centre of the religion of God. (13:11) com6 "That they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days".[67] According to the terminology of the Bible, these 1,260 days mean 1,260 years, as was before explained. Thus for 1,260 years the religion of God was fostered in the vast desert of Arabia, until the Promised One appeared. After these 1,260 years that religion ceased to be in effect, for the fruit of that tree had been manifested and its result had been produced. (13:12) com7 Consider how closely the prophecies correspond one to another! The Book of Revelation fixes the advent of the Promised One after forty-two months. The Prophet Daniel specifies three times and a half, which is also forty-two months or 1,260 days. Another passage of the Revelation of John directly states 1,260 days, and it is explicitly indicated in the Bible that each day signifies one year. Nothing could be clearer than this agreement of the prophecies with each other. The Bab appeared in the year A.H. 1260 according to the calendar followed by all Muslims. There are no clearer prophecies than this in the Bible for any Manifestation. If one be fair, the agreement between the times indicated by these glorious Souls is the most conclusive proof and can in no wise be subject to any other interpretation. Blessed are the fair-minded who search after truth (13:13) When justice is lacking, however, the people challenge, dispute, and deny the obvious. Their conduct is like that of the Pharisees in the time of Christ, who would obstinately deny the interpretations and utterances He and His Apostles made, and who would wilfully obscure the truth before the ignorant masses, saying, "These prophecies do not apply to Jesus, but to the Promised One Who will erelong appear according to the conditions mentioned in the Torah"- among which being that He would be a king, sit upon the throne of David, enforce the law of the Torah, inaugurate the most great justice, and cause the wolf and the lamb to gather at the same spring. And thus did they veil the people from recognizing Christ
(13:14)
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