Conflicting writings on when the Dispensation of the Bab ended, and when the count of one thousand years begins.

Chapter 2
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Conflicting writings on when the Dispensation of the Bab ended, and when the count of one thousand years begins. Last updated: August 27th, 2024.

In passage 1, below, by Shoghi Effendi, it says, "The Dispensation of the Báb ended when Bahá'u'lláh experienced the intimation of His mission in the Siyah-Chal". According to the passage, a Dispensation is, "The period of time during which the laws and teachings of a Prophet of God have spiritual authority." There were no Baha'i laws and teachings revealed and followed in 1852 when Baha'u'llah's station was intimated to him in the Siyah-Chal; which is being marked as the end of the Babi Dispensation, after about 8 years:

1)
DISPENSATION -- The period of time during which the laws and teachings of a Prophet of God have spiritual authority. For example, the Dispensation of Jesus Christ lasted until the beginning of the Muhammadan Dispensation, usually fixed at the year 622 A.D., the year Muhammad emigrated from Mecca to Medina. The Islamic Dispensation lasted until the advent of the Báb in 1844. The Dispensation of the Báb ended when Bahá'u'lláh experienced the intimation of His mission in the Siyah-Chal, the subterranean dungeon in Tehran in which He was imprisoned between August and December 1852. The Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh will last until the advent of the next Manifestation of God, which Bahá'u'lláh asserts will occur in no less than one thousand years.
-- Shoghi Effendi, This Decisive Hour, p. 156 (Glossary)
-- The Universal House of Justice, Messages 1963 to 1986, p. 739 (Glossary)

In passage 2, below, Shoghi Effendi interprets "the ascension of Baha'u'llah" in 1892, as the commencement of the "one thousand years" that must elapse before the appearance of the next Independent Prophet:

2)
Dearly-beloved brethren in 'Abdu'l-Bahá! With the ascension of Bahá'u'lláh the Day-Star [Independent Prophet] of Divine guidance which, as foretold by Shaykh Ahmad and Siyyid Kazim, had risen in Shiraz [as the Bab, who Declared His Prophetic Mission in Shiraz in 1844, the Day of Resurrection], and, while pursuing its westward course, had mounted its zenith in Adrianople [as Baha'u'llah, who Declared His Prophetic Mission in Baghdad in 1863, the Day of the Latter Resurrection], had finally sunk below the horizon of 'Akká, never to rise again ere the complete revolution of one thousand years. The setting of so effulgent an Orb brought to a definite termination the period of Divine Revelation -- the initial and most vitalizing stage in the Bahá'í era. Inaugurated by the Báb, culminating in Bahá'u'lláh, anticipated and extolled by the entire company of the Prophets of this great prophetic cycle, this period has, except for the short interval between the Báb's martyrdom and Bahá'u'lláh's shaking experiences in the Siyah-Chal of Tihran, been characterized by almost fifty years of continuous and progressive Revelation -- a period which by its duration and fecundity must be regarded as unparalleled in the entire field of the world's spiritual history.
-- Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 141

However, passage 3, below, from the notes of the Aqdas, which is presumably based on passage 1, says, "the commencement of the one thousand years or more that must elapse before the appearance of the next Manifestation of God [Independent Prophet]", is the year 1852, 40 years earlier; a clear deviation/conflict with passage 2 by Shoghi Effendi:

3)
62. Whoso layeth claim to a Revelation direct from God, ere the expiration of a full thousand years # 37
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 Bayan". The intimation of His Revelation to Bahá'u'lláh in the Siyah-Chal of Tihran, 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, The Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 195

Passage 4, by the Bab, indicates the dispensation of the Bab will last 19 years (i.e. until 1863, the "Day of the Latter Resurrection"):

4)
A SECOND TABLET ADDRESSED TO `HIM WHO WILL BE MADE MANIFEST'
May the glances of Him Whom God shall make manifest illumine this letter at the primary school.
He is the Most Glorious.
He is God, no God is there but Him, the Almighty, the Best Beloved. All that are in the heavens and on the earth and whatever lieth between them are His.
Verily He is the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.
This is a letter from God, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting, unto God, the Almighty, the Best Beloved, to affirm that the Bayán and such as bear allegiance to it are but a present from me unto Thee and to express my undoubting faith that there is no God but Thee, that the kingdoms of Creation and Revelation are Thine, that no one can attain anything save by Thy power and that He Whom Thou hast raised up is but Thy servant and Thy Testimony. I, indeed, beg to address Him Whom God shall make manifest, by Thy leave in these words: `Shouldst Thou dismiss the entire company of the followers of the Bayán in the Day of the Latter Resurrection by a mere sign of Thy finger even while still a suckling babe, Thou wouldst indeed be praised in Thy indication. And though no doubt is there about it, do Thou grant a respite of nineteen years as a token of Thy favour so that those who have embraced this Cause may be graciously rewarded by Thee. Thou art verily the Lord of grace abounding. Thou dost indeed suffice every created thing and causest it to be independent of all things, while nothing in the heavens or on the earth or that which lieth between them can ever suffice Thee.'
Verily Thou art the Self-Sufficient, the All-Knowing; Thou art indeed potent over all things.
-- The Báb, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 8

SEND down Thy blessings, O my God, upon the Tree of the Bayan, upon its root and its branch, its boughs, its leaves, its fruits and upon whatsoever it beareth or sheltereth. Cause this Tree then to be made into a magnificent Scroll to be offered to the presence of Him Whom Thou wilt make manifest on the Day of Judgement, that He may graciously allow the entire company of the followers of the Bayan to be restored to life and that He may, through His bounty, inaugurate a new creation.
-- The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 172

Passage 5, from the Tablet of the Holy Mariner, which was revealed in 1863, is a prophecy of the imminent Declaration of Baha'u'llah ("She [the Maid of Heaven, Baha'u'llah] then raised the call which no ear through all eternity hath ever heard"):

5)
Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious! Whereupon the maid of heaven looked out from her exalted chamber,
Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious! And with her brow signed to the Celestial Concourse,
Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious! Flooding with the light of her countenance the heaven and the earth,
[Baha'u'llah, the "maid of heaven", unveiling himself...]
Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious! And as the radiance of her beauty shone upon the people of dust,
Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious! All beings were shaken in their mortal graves.
Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious! She then raised the call which no ear through all eternity hath ever heard,
[Baha'u'llah, the new Independent Prophet, foretold by the Bab, declaring a new Dispensation...]
-- Bahá'u'lláh, Tablet of the Holy Mariner [revealed in 1863].

Passage 6 from the Tablet for the Feast of Ridvan, where it says, "the time of waiting is over, and the covenant hath come", also points to the Dispensation of Baha'u'llah starting when he declared his mission in 1863, in the Garden of Ridvan:

6)
O Sun of this earth [the Bab, the Independent Prophet of the Babi Dispensation], eclipse thy face, for the sun of eternity [Baha'u'llah, the new Independent Prophet of the Baha'i Dispensation] hath dawned in the luminous heaven.
Glory to Thee, O God, O Thou who art God, O Thou who alone art God!
...
O concourse of lovers, give out the glad tidings with all your heart, for the time of waiting is over, and the covenant hath come, and the Beloved hath shone in wondrous beauty.
Glory to Thee, O God, O Thou who art God, O Thou who alone art God!
-- Baha'u'llah, Tablet for the Feast of Ridvan (a provisional translation). [revealed in 1863].

In passage 7 it states, "the two Most Great Festivals" of the Baha'i calendar are the Declaration of Baha'u'llah in 1863 (the "Day of the Latter Resurrection") and the Declaration of the Bab in 1844 (the "Day of Resurrection"):

7)
138. All Feasts have attained their consummation in the two Most Great Festivals, and in the two other Festivals that fall on the twin days # 110
This passage establishes four great festivals of the Bahá'í year. The two designated by Bahá'u'lláh as "the two Most Great Festivals" are, first, the Festival of Ridvan, which commemorates Bahá'u'lláh's Declaration of His Prophetic Mission in the Garden of Ridvan in Baghdad during twelve days in April/May 1863 and is referred to by Him as "the King of Festivals" and, second, the Báb's Declaration, which occurred in May 1844 in Shiraz. The first, ninth and twelfth days of the Festival of Ridvan are Holy Days (Q and A 1), as is the day of the Declaration of the Báb.
-- Notes, The Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 224

As explained in passages #8 by the Bab and Baha'u'llah, the "Day of Resurrection" in this context is the Day of the appearance of a new Independent Prophet, who starts a new Dispensation and annuls the previous one; which is the year 1863 for the start of the Dispensation of Baha'u'llah:

8)
THE Day of Resurrection is a day on which the sun riseth and setteth like unto any other day. How oft hath the Day of Resurrection dawned, and the people of the land where it occurred did not learn of the event. Had they heard, they would not have believed, and thus they were not told!
When the Apostle of God [Muhammad] appeared, He did not announce unto the unbelievers that the Resurrection had come, for they could not bear the news. That Day is indeed an infinitely mighty Day, for in it the Divine Tree proclaimeth from eternity unto eternity, 'Verily, I am God. No God is there but Me'. Yet those who are veiled believe that He is one like unto them, and they refuse even to call Him a believer, although such a title in the realm of His heavenly Kingdom is conferred everlastingly upon the most insignificant follower of His previous Dispensation.
-- The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 78

And from the moment when the Tree of the Bayan appeared until it disappeareth is the Resurrection of the Apostle of God [Muhammad], as is divinely foretold in the Qur'án; the beginning of which was when two hours and eleven minutes had passed on the eve of the fifth of Jamadiyu'l-Avval, 1260 A.H.,[1] which is the year 1270 of the Declaration of the Mission of Muhammad. This was the beginning of the Day of Resurrection of the Qur'án, and until the disappearance of the Tree of divine Reality is the Resurrection of the Qur'án. The stage of perfection of everything is reached when its resurrection occurreth. The perfection of the religion of Islam was consummated at the beginning of this Revelation; and from the rise of this Revelation until its setting, the fruits of the Tree of Islam, whatever they are, will become apparent. The Resurrection of the Bayan will occur at the time of the appearance of Him Whom God shall make manifest [i.e. the beginning of the Dispensation of Baha'u'llah].
[1 22 May 1844 ]
-- The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 107

In like manner, strive thou to comprehend from these lucid, these powerful, conclusive, and unequivocal statements the meaning of the "cleaving of the heaven" -- one of the signs that must needs herald the coming of the last Hour, the Day of Resurrection. As He hath said: "When the heaven shall be cloven asunder."[1] By "heaven" is meant the heaven of divine Revelation, which is elevated with every Manifestation, and rent asunder with every subsequent one. By "cloven asunder" is meant that the former Dispensation is superseded and annulled. I swear by God! That this heaven being cloven asunder is, to the discerning, an act mightier than the cleaving of the skies!
-- Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 43

Strive, therefore, O my brother, to grasp the meaning of "Resurrection," and cleanse thine ears from the idle sayings of these rejected people. Shouldst thou step into the realm of complete detachment, thou wilt readily testify that no day is mightier than this Day, and that no resurrection more awful than this Resurrection can ever be conceived. One righteous work performed in this Day, equalleth all the virtuous acts which for myriads of centuries men have practised -- nay, We ask forgiveness of God for such a comparison! For verily the reward which such a deed deserveth is immensely beyond and above the estimate of men. Inasmuch as these undiscerning and wretched souls have failed to apprehend the true meaning of "Resurrection" and of the "attainment unto the divine Presence," they therefore have remained utterly deprived of the grace thereof. Although the sole and fundamental purpose of all learning, and the toil and labour thereof, is attainment unto, and the recognition of, this station, yet they are all immersed in the pursuit of their material studies. They deny themselves every moment of leisure, and utterly ignore Him, Who is the Essence of all learning, and the one Object of their quest! Methinks, their lips have never touched the cup of divine Knowledge, nor do they seem to have attained even a dewdrop of the showers of heavenly grace.
-- Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 141

Passage 9, below, from the Kitab-i-Iqan, revealed by Bahá’u’lláh in Baghdad in 1861/1862, also indicates they are still in the Dispensation of the Bab at the time ("in this day the Bayan"), consistent with the Dispensation of the Bab ending in 1863, following the Declaration of Baha'u'llah:

9)
... That city is none other than the Word of God revealed in every age and dispensation. In the days of Moses it was the Pentateuch; in the days of Jesus the Gospel; in the days of Muhammad the Messenger of God the Qur'án; in this day the Bayan; and in the dispensation of Him Whom God will make manifest His own Book -- the Book unto which all the Books of former Dispensations must needs be referred, the Book which standeth amongst them all transcendent and supreme. In these cities spiritual sustenance is bountifully provided, and incorruptible delights have been ordained. The food they bestow is the bread of heaven, and the Spirit they impart is God's imperishable blessing. Upon detached souls they bestow the gift of Unity, enrich the destitute, and offer the cup of knowledge unto them who wander in the wilderness of ignorance. All the guidance, the blessings, the learning, the understanding, the faith, and certitude, conferred upon all that is in heaven and on earth, are hidden and treasured within these Cities.
-- Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 198

... the Book of Certitude, which is indeed the cynosure of all books, and which streamed from the Pen of Glory in the early years of this Most Great Revelation. Blessed is he that hath beheld it and pondered its contents for the love of God, the Lord of creation.
-- Baha'u'llah, Tabernacle of Unity

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