From the text of this
explicit and authoritative interpretation [by ‘Abdu’l-Baha] of so ancient a
prophecy [1] it is evident how necessary it is for every faithful follower of
the Faith to accept the divine origin and uphold the independent status of the
Muhammadan Dispensation. The validity of the Imamate is, moreover, implicitly
recognized in these same passages—that divinely-appointed institution of whose most distinguished
member the Báb Himself was a lineal descendant, and which continued for a
period of no less than two hundred and sixty years to be the chosen recipient
of the guidance of the Almighty and the repository of one of the two most
precious legacies of Islám.
- Shoghi Effendi (From a letter
dated February 8, 1934; ‘The Dispensation of Baha’u’llah’)
[1] A prophecy in
the “sacred books of the followers of Zoroaster”
