II.“...the Greater Covenant which every Manifestation of God makes with His followers...”
5.The Lord of the universe hath never raised up a prophet nor hath He sent down a Book unless He hath established His covenant with all men, calling for their acceptance of the next Revelation and of the next Book; inasmuch as the outpourings of His bounty are ceaseless and without limit.
“Selections from the Writings of the Báb” (Haifa: Bahá’í World Centre, 1976), p. 87
6.Abraham, on Him be peace, made a covenant concerning Moses and gave the glad-tidings of His coming. Moses made a covenant concerning the promised Christ, and announced the good news of His advent to the world. Christ made a covenant concerning the Paraclete and gave the tidings of His coming. The Prophet Muḥammad made a covenant concerning the Báb, and the Báb was the One promised by Muḥammad, for Muḥammad gave the tidings of His coming. The Báb made a Covenant concerning the Blessed Beauty, Bahá’u’lláh, and gave the glad-tidings of His coming for the Blessed Beauty was the One promised by the Báb. Bahá’u’lláh made a covenant concerning a Promised One Who will become manifest after one thousand or thousands of years. That Manifestation is Bahá’u’lláh’s Promised One, and will appear after a thousand or thousands of years. He, moreover, with His Supreme Pen, entered into a great Covenant and Testament with all the Bahá’ís whereby they were all commanded to follow the Centre of the Covenant after His ascension, and depart not, even to a hair’s breadth, from obeying Him.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, cf. “Bahá’í World Faith” (Wilmette: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1976), p. 358
7.This is the Day, O my Lord, which Thou didst announce unto all mankind as the Day whereon Thou wouldst reveal Thy Self, and shed Thy radiance, and shine brightly over all Thy creatures. Thou hast, moreover, entered into a covenant with them, in Thy Books, and Thy Scriptures, and Thy Scrolls, and Thy Tablets, concerning Him Who is the Day-Spring of Thy Revelation, and hast appointed the Bayán to be the Herald of this Most Great and all-glorious Manifestation, and this most resplendent and most sublime Appearance.
“Prayers and Meditations by Bahá’u’lláh” (Wilmette: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1979), p. 275
The Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh Concerning the Next Manifestation
8.Verily God will raise up Him Whom God shall make manifest, and after Him Whomsoever He willeth, even as He hath raised up prophets before the Point of the Bayán. He in truth hath power over all things.
9.Whoso layeth claim to a Revelation direct from God ... ere the expiration of a full thousand years, such a man is assuredly a lying imposter.... Should a man appear ... ere the lapse of a full thousand years—each year consisting of twelve months according to the Qur’án, and of nineteen months of nine-teen days each, according to the Bayán—and if such a man reveal to your eyes all the signs of God, unhesitatingly reject him!
Bahá’u’lláh, cited in “The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh - Selected Letters”, (Wilmette: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1974), p. 132
10.Centuries, ... nay, countless ages, must pass away ere the Day-Star of Truth shineth again in its midsummer splendour, or appeareth once more in the radiance of its vernal glory.... Concerning the Manifestations that will come down in the future “in the shadows of the clouds,” ... know, verily, that in so far as their relation to the Source of their inspiration is concerned, they are under the shadow of the Ancient Beauty. In their relation, however, to the age in which they appear, each and every one of them “doeth whatsoever He willeth.”
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, cited in “The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh - Selected Letters”, p. 167