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The
Baha'i Faith
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- Biblical Prophecies: 56 Literal Prophecies
- (Copyright 2007, Cynthia McDaniel)
-
 59 "Literal" Prophecies
and Their Fulfillment in Bahá'u'lláh
- + 9 "Spiritual" Prophecies Fulfilled by Christ,
and 4 Prophecies About or By Moses:
- Assertion: That all scripture should be fulfilled literally.
-
- RESPONSE: Throughout recorded time, humanity has thought
that scriptural prophecies should be fulfilled literally despite
evidence that they are often fulfilled spiritually or sometimes
literally AND spiritually. For example, Joseph said that “God”
would visit them. It took much persuading for Moses to be accepted.
When Jesus came, it was expected that the Messiah would be a
literal king and would deliver the people from their enemies.
Jesus did not do that literally and it was the primary reason
many Jews choose not to follow Jesus.
-
- Moses and Spiritual Fulfillment
- 1. And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will
hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die. And Moses said
unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and
that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not. And
the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick
darkness where God was. And the LORD said unto Moses, Thus thou
shalt say unto the children of Israel, Ye have seen that I have
talked with you from heaven. Exodus 20:19-22
-
- Did God talk with Moses literally? Was there a physical form
of God in the thick darkness? Yet the Scripture says that Moses
said: Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. Does
this refer to God, from heaven, talking to the people through
Moses? Does it say that God told Moses to say “Moses has
talked with you from heaven?” In any case, Someone is speaking
from heaven to the people. Thus, this is a spiritual fulfillment
and the similarity of this verse to others in later religions
will be important later.
-
- 2. And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die: and God will
surely visit you, and bring you out of this land unto the land
which he swear to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. And Joseph
took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely
visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence. Genesis
50:24-25
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- Joseph indicates that “God” will visit the people
and that they will carry his bones from Egypt. Here we have a
figurative message (“God” in the Person of Moses visits
the people) and a literal message (that the Hebrews would carry
the bones of Joseph from Egypt). Another way to look at it is
to acknowledge both the literal (carrying the physical bones
of Joseph) and the spiritual message (carrying the “bones”
of the teachings of Joseph (i.e., the religion that they lived
under) with them into the desert). In the spiritual message,
their religion had been stripped of all meaning except for the
basics and possibly the actions rather than the spiritual intent
of the actions of their religion.
-
- 3. And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not
believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The
LORD hath not appeared unto thee... That they may believe that
the LORD God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of
Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared unto thee… And
it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither
hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe
the voice of the latter sign… And the anger of the LORD
was kindled against Moses, and he said, Is not Aaron the Levite
thy brother? I know that he can speak well… And thou shalt
speak unto him, and put words in his mouth: and I will be with
thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall
do. And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people: and he shall
be, even he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt
be to him instead of God. Exodus 4:1-16
-
- Here is another interesting thing. Moses is complaining that
the people will not believe that He speaks for God and that He
doesn’t speak well. So God teaches Him signs and then appoints
Aaron as the Voice of Moses. He says that Moses will be “God"
unto Aaron. Does this fulfill the prophecy of Joseph that “God”
will visit the people? Is this a literal fulfillment or a spiritual
fulfillment?
-
- At the end of His own life, Moses promises:
-
- 4. The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from
the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me [Moses]; unto
him ye shall hearken; According to all that thou desiredst of
the LORD thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying,
Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, neither let
me see this great fire any more, that I die not. And the LORD
said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken.
I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like
unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak
unto them all that I shall command him. And it shall come to
pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he
shall speak in my name, I will require it of him. Deuteronomy
18: 15-20
-
- Christ and Spiritual Fulfillment:
- Here are nine (9) prophecies which Christians believe that
Christ fulfilled. Yet the fulfillment was not literal (i.e.,
physical), it was spiritual. For me, this is ample proof that
God fulfills prophecies spiritually as well as literally. It
is up to God to interpret them the way He wants to. It is up
to us to use our spiritual eyes and ears in understanding His
explanation "If ye will receive it", "he that
hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit sayth". (Revelation
2:7)
-
- The first two refer to the genealogy of the Messiah:
-
- 1. ..I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, one of
your own sons...I will establish his throne forever. I will be
his father, and he will be my son... I will set him over my house
and my kingdom forever; his throne will be established forever.
- I Chronicles 17:11-14 NIV
-
- 2. The Lord swore to David an oath which he will not break:
'A Prince of your own line will I set upon your throne.'
- Psalms 132:11 NEB
-
- Christ sat on no physical throne. He was not the physical
son of David.
-
- 3. But you, Bethlehem...out of you will come for me one who
will be ruler over Israel...
- Micah 5:2 NIV
-
- Matthew indicates that the prophecy of Micah that the Promised
One would be born in Bethleham WAS fulfilled by Jesus: "Where
is he that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star
in the east, and are come to worship him...And thou Bethlehem,
in the land of Judah, ...out of thee shall come a Governor, that
shall rule my people Israel." (Matthew 2:2) This
prophecy of place was literal. However, the implied promise of
a “ruler” was spiritual. Jesus was not a king in the
traditional sense with a scepter, robes, a physical throne, courtiers
who waited on him and an army of soldiers who could free the
Jews from the Romans.
-
- 4. Art thou a king then?...To this end was I Christ born...
John 18:37
-
- There is no literal fulfillment. Jesus sat on no throne while
he was here. He had no guards, no golden crown, no advisors,
no government, no kingdom, no trappings of traditional kingship.
He said: 'My kingdom does not belong to this world.' (John
18:36 NEB)
-
- 5. Yet He also said ...I have conquered the world. (Christ
in John 16:33 NEB)
-
- Not, of course, physically, but He certainly did conquer
the world spiritually and gave hope to millions.
-
- 6. So he promised: age after age he proclaimed by the lips
of his holy prophets, that he would deliver us the Jews from
our enemies... Luke 1:70-71 NEB
-
- Again, no literal fulfillment. Yet Christians believe that
those Jews who accepted Jesus as the Christ were delivered from
the enemies of spiritual oppression and confusion about where
to look for God.
-
- 7. He the Spirit of the Lord has sent me...to release the
oppressed... Christ Luke 4:18 NIV
-
- The acknowledgement of the fulfillment of the prophecy can
be found in Luke 1:68-69: "Praise to the God of Israel!
For he has turned to his people, saved them and set them free,
and has raised up a deliverer Jesus of victorious power from
the house of his servant David."
-
- Yet when He was crucified, the Romans still ruled the Jews,
they were not physically free. It was a spiritual fulfillment
because He freed the souls of those who believed in Him.
-
- 8. ...where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
II Corinthians 3:17
-
- This was also a spiritual fulfillment, not literal. He is
referring to the liberty gained through the knowledge of God,
in this case through Jesus.
-
- 9. Jesus was born physically on earth from the womb of Mary.
But note what Jesus says about where He came from:
-
- 10. I have come down from heaven... Christ John 6:38 NEB
-
- 11. He who comes from heaven bears witness to what he has
seen and heard, yet no one accepts his witness. John 3:31-32
NEB
-
- 12. No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came
from heaven--the Son of Man. Christ John 3:13 NIV
-
- The people interpreted these prophecies literally: "Surely,
this is Jesus son of Joseph; we know his father and mother. How
can he now say, "I have come down from heaven?" John
6:42 NEB What the people did not understand is that Christ
was sent from God (heaven) to the people.
-
- Bahá'u'lláh
& Spiritual Fulfillment:
- Bahá’u’lláh has done nothing different:
In this first set of scriptures, Bahá'u'lláh states
that He has come down from heaven “even as He came down
from it the first time.” This refers to the statements of
Christ saying that He “came from heaven” even though
everyone knew He came from Bethleham. The Prophets of God have
Their spiritual origin in God Who is in heaven:
-
- 1. "God is my witness! The Promised One Himself Bahá’u’lláh
hath come down from heaven, seated upon the crimson cloud with
the hosts of revelation on His right, and the angels of inspiration
on His left, and the Decree hath been fulfilled at the behest
of God, the Omnipotent, the Almighty. Bahá’u’lláh,
I Shall Come Again, p. 118
-
- 2. "He Bahá’u’lláh,, verily
hath again come down from heaven, even as He came down from it
the first time." Tablet to the Christians
-
- Notice again the statements regarding Christ's power:
-
- Praise to the God of Israel! for he has...raised up a deliverer
Jesus of victorious power... Luke 1: 68-69 NEB
-
- All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Matthew
28:18
-
- Was Jesus' power literal? I don't think that the Jews thought
so. They did not accept that His power was from God and was a
spiritual power. In their opinion, He had no power. Because He
had no army to remove the physical oppression that they endured,
they felt that He had no authority. Yet there is no question
today of His spiritual power...the power to forgive mankind's
sins, the power to resurrect a “dead” people who had
turned away from God. He revived those who turned to Him and
believed in Him, giving them "everlasting life."---not
in this world but in the spiritual kingdom of His Father.
-
- Baha’u’llah did not fulfill every prophecy literally,
but there are enough prophecies which He did fulfill literally
to satisfy me. I am also satisfied with the spiritual fulfillment
of some other prophecies because of His logical explanation of
them. That, of course, is only my own opinion.
-
- Bahá’u’lláh
and Literal Interpretations
- Bahá’u’lláh fulfills prophecies both
literally and spiritually just as Christ did. Certainly there
are too many to include here online, but there are books available
which outline them. One of the newest is "I Shall Come Again"
by Hushidar Motlagh, Ed.D., who is an Associate Professor at
the University at Central Michigan.
-
- He documents 59 Christian figures who discovered or proclaimed
1844 as the time of the second advent of Christ. One of the most
famous is William Miller who "fully depended on the Scriptures
as his guide and inspiration". He prepared his book on the
subject in 1836. Here is a summary of Miller’s main beliefs
in his own words with the biblical references on which they rest:
-
- 1-4. "I believe God has revealed the time. (Found in
Isa. 44:7,8, Dan 12:10; Amos 3:7; I Thess. 5:4)
-
- 5-8. "I believe many who are professors and preachers
will never believe or know the time until it comes upon them.”
(Jer 8:7; Matt 24:50; Jer 25:34-37)
-
- 9-15. "I believe the wise, they who are to shine as
the brightness of the firmament, (Dan. 12:3) will understand
the time.” (Eccl. 8:5; Dan 12:10; Matt 24:43-45; 25:6-10;
I Thess 5:4; I Peter 1:9-13)
-
- 16-17. "I believe the time can be known by all who desire
to understand and to be ready for his coming. And I am fully
convinced that sometime between March 21, 1843 and March 21,
1844, according to the JEWISH MODE OF COMPUTATION OF TIME, Christ
will come, and bring all his saints with him; and that then he
will award every man as his works shall be. (Matt. 16:27;
Rev 22:12, I Shall Come Again, p.204 (referencing Robert
Gale's "The Urgent Voice" Washington D.C. Review and
Herald, 1975, p. 119.))
-
- When the time came, Miller and thousands of others felt themselves
to be disappointed because they could not find the Beloved One
anywhere. However, the revelation of the Bab the forerunner of
Bahá’u’lláh and the Co-Founder of the
Baha'i Faith declared His mission on May 23, 1844 by the Christian
calendar. Based on the JEWISH COMPUTATION OF TIME, that date
was May 23, 1843, ten months before the closing of Miller's deadline.
If the Bab and Bahá’u’lláh were to fulfill
other prophecies, I would agree that this one was fulfilled also.
It IS in the right time period.
-
- Prophecies Of Time
- One way to prove the date is to prove, first, the date of
Christ's first advent. It is found in Daniel 9:24-27:
-
- 18. "Know therefore and understand, that from the going
forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto
the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and three score
and two weeks 7+62=69: The streets shall be built again and the
wall, even in troublous times. To decode the vision, we need
to know the length of 69 prophetic weeks and the starting point."
-
- 19. Ezekiel says: "I have appointed thee each day for
a year.” Ezekiel 4:6 See also Numbers 14:34; Genesis
29:27-28.
-
- Thus 69 weeks equals 69 x 7 = 483 prophetic days or 483 years.
-
- The temple was rebuilt in 7 prophetic weeks 7x7=49 years,
leaving 62 weeks 62x7=434 years until the Messiah. Jesus began
His mission when He was approximately 26 years old. Since the
Christian calendar begins with 1 A.D. not 0 A.D., that would
be 27 A.D. on the Christian calendar. Subtracting 26 from 483
gives 457 years or 457 B.C. Surprisingly, there was a decree
to rebuild the temple at that time, the third decree issued by
Artaxerexes Ezekiel 7. That decree was fulfilled by the fourth
in 444 B.C. issued by the same Artaxerexes.
-
- Daniel mentions another prophecy:
-
- 20. "Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and
upon thy holy city to finish the transgression and to make an
end of sins...and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to
anoint the most Holy." Daniel 9:24
-
- To anoint refers to Christ's title, The Anointed One Since
Messiah in Hebrew means anointed.
-
- Sixty-nine weeks 483 years have already been calculated.
One more week, the week of Christ's mission or 7 years remain
490 years. When He was crucified, He was 33 years old. From 1
A.D., that would have been in 34 A.D. Verifying that by subtracting
33 from 490 leaves us once again with 457 B.C.
-
- Would you agree, then that these prophecies are fulfilled
with the coming of Christ?
-
- 21. The second part of Daniel's vision concerns the second
advent. He says that that will be "Unto two thousand and
three hundred days, then shall the sanctuary be cleansed."
Daniel 8:14
-
- 2300 days = 2300 years. Starting from the same point as that
proved by Christ's advent, and subtracting 490 prophetic days
490 years from 2300 leaves 1843 years. As already stated, the
Christian calendar begins with 1 A.D. so one year needs to be
added. That comes to 1844 A.D. which is the time that Miller
identified and the time when the Bab declared His mission.
-
- There are other prophecies related to time explaining the
exact timing of Bahá’u’lláh's mission,
but I want to mention only one here. That is: While the duration
of the ministry in Christ's 1st coming was foretold in the difference
between 69 weeks and 70 weeks 1 week= 7 days = 7 years, the duration
of His 2nd coming is foretold in Micah 7:15:
-
- 22. "According to the days of thy coming out of the
land of Egypt will I show unto him marvelous things."
-
- God showed things to him, spoke to him and asked him to speak
to us for 40 years the time it took to come out of Egypt...see
Deuteronomy 1:3 and Deuteronomy 29:5 and Joshua
5:6. The time that God began speaking to Bahá’u’lláh
is well documented and occurred in a prison cell in Tehran, Persia.
Bahá’u’lláh was imprisoned from about
August 1852 until January 1853. He passed away in May 1892, 40
lunar years later.
-
- Prophecies of Place
- 23. "I will wait for the God of my salvation...In that
day also he shall come even to thee from Assyria..." Micah
7:7,12
-
- The Assyrian Empire at one time covered the entire area in
which both Daniel and Micah lived out their lives. The Assyrian
Empire includes Persia Iran from whence Bahá’u’lláh
came.
-
- 24. "And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came
from the way of the east." Ezekiel 43:2
-
- 25. "For as the lightning cometh out of the East...so
shall also the coming of the Son of man be." Matthew
24:27
-
- 26. Elam Persia would be a place of "vision" in
the latter days. Daniel 8:2
-
- 27. "And I will set my throne in Elam Persia...saith
the Lord." Jeremiah 49:38
-
- During the 1st coming, Jesus came from the north and west
of Jerusalem. Tehran, Iran Persia is, however, east of Jerusalem.
-
- 28. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich
in his death... Isaiah 53:9
-
- Bahá’u’lláh was buried in a rich
man's house which his son had procured for him. His family turned
away from Bahá’u’lláh's covenant with
them to turn to his eldest son for guidance. They lived in houses
next to his burial site. They were the "wicked" referred
to in this verse. Note that Isaiah begins by referring to the
“last days” in this chapter. So that even though Christ
was also buried in a grave owned by a rich man, he was not surrounded
with the wicked nor was it the right time.
-
- 29. ...he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days...
Isaiah 53:10
-
- Jesus certainly had no offspring and he was young when he
was killed. This refers to Baha’u’llah who did see
his seed (children) and He lived to be 75 (1817-1892).
-
- Micah told us where the Messiah would come from during his
first advent as well as during his second:
-
- First advent: But thou, Bethlehem...out of thee shall he
come forth...to be ruler in Israel... Micah 5:2 (JESUS)
-
- Second advent:
-
- 30. I will wait for the God of my salvation...In that day
he shall come even to thee from Assyria... Micah 7:7,12
-
- Bahá’u’lláh was born in Persia and
brought forth his message in Babylon after he was exiled there
fulfilling Micah 4:10.
-
- Micah 7 gives other prophecies about the Messenger expected
"in the last days".
-
- ...he shall come even to thee from Assyria, already shown
-
- 31. and from the fortified cities, --He was exiled first
to Constantinople and then to Akka in Israel
-
- 32. and from the fortress even to the river, --He went from
the prison where He was held for 2 years in Akka to an island
in a river called Na'mayn.
-
- 33. and from sea to sea -- On the way to Constantinople,
he made the last part of his journey by way of the Black Sea.
On his way to Akka, he made the last part of that journey by
way of the Mediterranean Sea.
-
- 34. and from mountain to mountain. --He withdrew prior to
beginning his public mission just as Jesus did to commune with
God in the Kurdistani Mountains near Baghdad. His first exiled
point When he returned to Baghdad, he announced his mission publicly
to the people. The second mountain was Mount Carmel in Israel
near Haifa.
-
- 35. Notwithstanding the land shall be desolate because of
them that dwell therein, for the fruit of their doings.-- The
land around Akka was so desolate that it was said that if a bird
flew over Akka, it would die.
-
- 36. Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thine heritage,
-- He fed His flock with his words of love
-
- 37. which dwell solitarily in the wood, in the midst of Carmel.
--When Bahá’u’lláh was released from
the Akka prison, he pitched his tent in a small wood on Carmel.
-
- 38. According to the days of thy coming out of the land of
Egypt will I shew unto him marvelous things. Micah 7:12-15
Already explained.
-
- Name Prophecies:
- 39. and thou shalt be called by a new name. Isaiah 62:2
-
- 40. The Lord God shall call his servants by another name
Isaiah 65:15
-
- 41. To him that overcome, I will give to eat of the hidden
manna and a white stone and in the stone a new name written.
Rev. 2:17
-
- Certainly, “Bahá’u’lláh”
and “Bahá'ís” are new names. Jesus said:
"I know thy works and thou has a name that thou livest and
art dead." Rev 3:1; see also Matt8:22--"let
the dead bury their dead" [or let the spiritually dead bury
the physically dead]. To me this says, don’t cling to the
name, because if you do, you will be dead in spirit.
-
- If the name “the Anointed one,” Christ, is given
in the Old Testament, why would not the name used during the
second coming also be revealed? I believe it is:
-
- 42. ..the excellency of Carmel and Sharon; they shall see
the Glory of the Lord Bahá’u’lláh. Isaiah
35:2 [This is a two-fold prophecy. It foretells the name
and also a place where He will appear. Bahá’u’lláh
means the Glory of God or Lord and He did walk on the side of
Mt. Carmel and on the plain of Sharon.]
-
- 43. And the Glory of the Lord shall be revealed. Isaiah
40:5
-
- 44. And I, John saw the holy city...new Jerusalem...and the
city had no need of the sun...for the Glory of God did lighten
it. Rev 21:2, 23
-
- 45. …the appearance of the likeness of the Glory of
the Lord. Ezekiel 1:28
-
- 46. ...the Glory of the God of Israel came from the east...
Ezekiel 43:2
-
- Action Prophecies:
- 47. ...thou shalt go forth out of the city, Micah 2:10
[On January 12, 1853, Bahá’u’lláh was
exiled from Persia and sent to Iraq under armed guard to the
valley of the Tigris and Euphrates. He lived in the section called
Karkh in old Baghdad on the site of old Babylon.
-
- 48. ... and thou shalt dwell in the field Micah 2:10
[He left the city on April 10, 1854 and went into the mountains
of Kurdistan where he remained for approximately 2 years "dwelling
in the field" and communing with God.]
-
- 49. and thou shalt go even to Babylon...Micah 2:10 [After
that time, he returned to Baghdad. He remained there until 1863
when the authorities became afraid that he was becoming too well
liked. Shortly before he was exiled again to Adrianople, he announced
publicly that He was the Redeemer foretold for the last days.]
-
- 50. I will give her ...the valley of Achor for a door of
hope and she shall sing... Hosea 2:15 [During his last
exile, Bahá’u’lláh was exiled to the
prison city, Akka, south of Haifa where he was imprisoned for
some time.]
-
- 51. For out of prison he cometh to reign... Ecclesiastics
4:14 [Bahá’u’lláh was allowed to
leave Akka late in his life and he settled in a mansion which
his son had been able to rent for him at a reasonable price.
It was there that a European met him.]
-
- 52. He shall cut off the spirit of princes: he is terrible
to the kings of the earth. Psalms 76:12
-
- Before 1844, there were many kings throughout Europe. Bahá’u’lláh
wrote messages to: Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria, Napoleon
III of France, Kaiser William I of Germany Czar Nicolaevitch
Alexander II of Russia, The Sultan Abdul-Aziz of Turkey, Nasirid-Din
Shah of Persia, and Queen Victoria of Britain. Of them all, Napoleon
threw down the first letter and said, "If this man is of
God, I am two Gods!" Bahá’u’lláh
sent him a second letter prophesizing his fall from power. Queen
Victoria said, "If this is of God, it will endure."
Bahá’u’lláh prophesized that she would
have a long and successful reign. The dynasty of Queen Victoria
is the only one which still remains today of those monarchies.
Doesn't this mean that the princes have been cut off? That the
thrones of those princes have been cast down?
-
- 53. He shall break in pieces mighty men without number...
Job 34:24 See above
-
- 54. I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient
of days did sit upon His throne... Daniel 7:9
-
- 55. ...a time and times and the dividing of time. Daniel
7:25 1 year + 2 years + 1/2 year= 360 days + 720 days + 180
days = 1260 days
-
- 56. ...for it is given unto the Gentiles and the holy city
shall they tread under foot forty and two months Rev 11:2
[42 months x 30 days=1260 days
-
- 57. and after three days and a half, the Spirit of life from
God entered into them...Rev 11:11 [3 days + 1/2 = 3 years
+ 1/2 year = 360 X 3 + 180 = 1260 days]
-
- 58. And I will give power unto my two witnesses and they
shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and three score days Rev
11:3 [1200 + 3X20=1260 days Calculating each day for a year
is 1260 years.]
-
- The two witnesses were Muhammad and His appointed successor,
Ali whose words were law for 1260 years, the age of the Islam.
The advent of the Baha'i Faith, in 1844 (Common Era) corresponds
to the year 1260 in the Islamic calendar.
-
- 59. And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from
God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great
fear fell upon them which saw them. Revelation 11:11
-
- For 3 ½ days, see #57. The Spirit of life renewed
God’s religion through God’s witnesses: Ali (The Báb)
and Mulla Husayn, once the era of Islam passed.
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