Today a new upheaval has arrived;
it has drawn after it the chains of a thousand hearts.
Today a new religion has appeared, and the thousand-year era of Islam has come to an end, as we previously explained regarding the meaning of the “thousand-year head” represent the chain of previous Manifestations of God and also this is an allusion to the Blessed Sūrah al-Sajdah, verse 5:
“He directs the command from heaven to earth; then it ascends to Him in a Day whose measure is a thousand years of what you count.” (Qur’an 32:5)
God brings His command (Islam) down from heaven to earth, then it returns to Him on a Day which, according to your reckoning (the lunar Hijri calendar), is one thousand years.
The religion of Islam begins with the time of His Holiness Muhammad and reaches its completion with the passing of Imam Ḥasan al-ʿAskarī in the year 260 A.H. Exactly one thousand years later, in the year 1260 A.H., His Holiness the Báb declared His mission in Shiraz.
Today the sacks, full of sugar loaves,
have been torn wide open.
Today, in the storehouse of sugar, the sacks have been torn open. This is an allusion to the divine signs manifested in this Revelation, which are sweet like sugar. Bahá’u’lláh states in The Hidden Words:
“Hear My sweet words from My sugar-tongue,
and drink from My salt-lips the sacred, spiritual Salsabíl …”(The Hidden Words, Persian, no. 33)
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Once again that First One, with eighteen hearts,
has purchased that Joseph of beauty.
Here, Rumi is referring to two successive manifestations. The First One (His Holiness the Báb, the Primal Point), came before Bahá’u’lláh and heralded His appearance. The “eighteen hearts” refer to the Eighteen Letters of the Living—the first believers who independently recognized the Báb, whom He later sent to various regions to proclaim His Cause. “Joseph” (a symbol of beauty) here represents His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh. On the night of His declaration, the Báb revealed the commentary on the Sūrah of Joseph.
All night long the souls, in honor and good fortune,
have grazed among the narcissus and the jasmine.
So that, at the hour of awakening, every soul
has risen—swift, subtle, and leaping free.
The believers, with dignity and good fortune, benefit from the new divine teachings, and each one—swift and refined—becomes engaged in service to humanity. Bahá’u’lláh states:
Provisional translation:
“The lovers of the court of the Beloved and the confidants of the sanctuary of the Desired One are unafraid of afflictions and do not seek to avoid destiny. They are nourished from the ocean of resignation and drink from the river of Tasnīm. They would not exchange the pleasure of the Friend for both worlds, nor would they trade the decree of the Beloved for the expanse of placelessness. They drink the poison of trials as the water of life and swallow deadly venom like soul-bestowing honey, without hesitation. In barren and perilous deserts, they surge in remembrance of the Friend, and in destructive wastelands they are quick to sacrifice their lives. They have relinquished life itself and set their resolve upon the Beloved. They have closed their eyes to the world and opened them to the beauty of the Friend. They have no aim but the Beloved and seek no goal except the attainment of perfection. They soar on the wing of trust and fly with the pinion of supplication. In their eyes, a blood-shedding sword is dearer than heavenly silk, and a piercing arrow more cherished than a mother’s milk.”
—Bahá’u’lláh, “Shukr Shikan Shavand” (“They Break the Sugar”), The Ocean of Knowledge, p. 188
Publisher: National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of India, 1985
Today the fields of violets and tulips
have sprung forth from stone and clod.
That is, the lands of the believers’ hearts, which before faith were like stone and clod, are suddenly transformed into fertile and blessed ground. Bahá’u’lláh says regarding the Day of Manifestation:
“Likewise, comprehend the meaning of the transformation of the earth: that through the outpouring of the clouds of mercy from that heaven upon the hearts to which the rain of divine favor was bestowed, the lands of those hearts were changed into the earth of knowledge and wisdom… This is the meaning of the verse: ‘On the Day when the earth shall be changed into another earth’… and ‘The whole earth shall be but His handful on the Day of Resurrection, and the heavens shall be folded up in His right hand.’”
—Bahá’u’lláh, The Book of Certitude (Kitáb-i-Íqán), p. 179
Publisher: National Bahá’í Publications Trust of Germany, Hofheim, Germany
The tree has blossomed in winter;
in Bahman (November), the fruits have ripened.
All divine religions pass through four stages or seasons. First is spring, when the divine seedlings emerge from the soil and begin to grow, and the trees blossom. In summer, the fruits ripen; in autumn, they are harvested; and in winter come coldness and stagnation. Here, Rumi says that at the end of winter, with the advent of a new divine spring, the trees of the former religion blossom once again and prepare themselves to bear fruit.
It is as though God has created a new world
within the old world.
New religions arise from within earlier religions (the “old world”): just as Christianity emerged from the heart of the Mosaic faith, so too the Bahá’í Faith arose from within Islam.
Perhaps He may bestow grace upon that heart
which has long trembled in sorrow for Him.
Those who had sincerely awaited for many years the appearance of the Promised One of all mankind attained their heart’s desire. Bahá’u’lláh states:
O Ḥusayn! Consider the eagerness with which certain peoples and nations have anticipated the return of Imám Ḥusayn, whose coming, after the appearance of the Qá’im, hath been prophesied, in days past, by the chosen ones of God, exalted be His glory. These holy ones have, moreover, announced that when He Who is the Dayspring of the manifold grace of God manifesteth Himself, all the Prophets and Messengers, including the Qá’im, will gather together beneath the shadow of the sacred Standard which the Promised One will raise. That hour is now come. The world is illumined with the effulgent glory of His countenance. And yet, behold how far its peoples have strayed from His path! None have believed in Him except them who, through the power of the Lord of Names, have shattered the idols of their vain imaginings and corrupt desires and entered the city of certitude. The seal of the choice Wine of His Revelation hath, in this Day and in His Name, the Self-Sufficing, been broken. Its grace is being poured out upon men. Fill thy cup, and drink in, in His Name, the Most Holy, the All-Praised.
(Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh)
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Be silent, and behold the garden—
for today vision has been bestowed upon two authorities.
“For today vision has been bestowed upon two authorities” means that today two successive manifestations illuminate the world. Rumi repeatedly gave glad tidings of these two manifestations.