When speaking about "the time of the end", the scriptures mean the end of an era - the prophetic era. The Báb, who founded the Bábí religion in 1844, links this prophetic era with the one we are living in now: the era of fullfilment ushered by Bahá\'u'lláh [the Prophet-Founder of the Bahá\'í Faith. In this era mankind will grow to the unification of the world, the paradise-like condition prophecied by all world religions. But this change of conditions from the old to the new era will go through a period of painful "birth pangs" and that is what mankind experiences now. Ultimately, however, the future will be glorious, fullfilling all scriptures of old.
Alfons de Wert
