Book of Revelation - Chapter 18

Chapter 18

[¹I saw another angel come from heaven. This one had great power, and the earth was bright because of his glory. ²The angel shouted, “Fallen! Powerful Babylon has fallen and is now the home of demons. It is the den of every filthy spirit and of all unclean birds, and every dirty and hated animal (meaning the American military planes). ³Babylon’s evil and immoral wine has made all nations drunk. Every king on earth has slept with her, and every merchant on earth is rich because of her evil desires.”

⁴Then I heard another voice from heaven shout, “My people, you must escape from Babylon. Do not take part in her sins and share her punishment. ⁵Her sins are piled as high as heaven. God has remembered the evil she has done. ⁶Treat her as she has treated others. Make her pay double for what she has done. Make her drink twice as much of what she mixed for others. ⁷That woman honoured herself with a life of luxury. Reward her now with suffering and pain. “Deep in her heart Babylon said, ‘I am the queen! Never will I be a widow or know what it means to be sad.’ ⁸And so, in a single day she will suffer the pain of sorrow, hunger, and death. Fire will destroy her dead body, because her judge is the powerful Lord God.”

⁹Every king on earth who slept with her and shared in her luxury will mourn. They will weep, when they see the smoke from that fire. ¹⁰Her sufferings will frighten them, and they will stand at a distance and say, “Pity that great and powerful city! Pity Babylon! In a single hour her judgment has come.”

¹¹Every merchant on earth will mourn, because there is no one to buy their goods. ¹²There will not be anyone to buy their gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, scarlet cloth, sweet-smelling wood, fancy carvings of ivory and wood, as well as things made of bronze, iron, or marble. ¹³No one will buy their cinnamon, spices, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, olive oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle, sheep, horses, chariots, slaves, and other humans. ¹⁴Babylon, the things your heart desired have all escaped from you. Every luxury and all your glory will be lost forever. You will never get them back.

¹⁵The merchants had become rich because of her. But when they saw her sufferings, they were terrified. They stood at a distance, crying and mourning. ¹⁶Then they shouted, “Pity the great city of Babylon! She dressed in fine linen and wore purple and scarlet cloth. She had jewellery made of gold and precious stones and pearls. ¹⁷Yet in a single hour her riches disappeared.” Every ship captain and passenger and sailor stood at a distance, together with everyone who does business by travelling on the sea. ¹⁸When they saw the smoke from her fire, they shouted, “This was the greatest city ever!”

¹⁹They cried loudly, and in their sorrow they threw dust on their heads, as they said, “Pity the great city of Babylon! Everyone who sailed the seas became rich from her treasures. But in a single hour the city was destroyed. ²⁰The heavens should be happy with God’s people and apostles and prophets. God has punished her for them.” ²¹A powerful angel then picked up a huge stone and threw it into the sea. The angel said, “This is how the great city of Babylon will be thrown down, never to rise again. ²²The music of harps and singers and of flutes and trumpets will no longer be be heard. No workers will ever set up shop in that city, and the sound of grinding grain will be silenced forever. ²³Lamps will no longer shine anywhere in Babylon, and couples will never again say wedding vows there. Her merchants ruled the earth, and by her witchcraft she fooled all nations. ²⁴On the streets of Babylon, the blood of the prophets, saints and all those who were killed on the earth was found.”]

And Babylon refers to Iraq, because Babylon was the capital of Iraq at that time. So all massacres and trials happen in Iraq and on the land of Iraq.

And the destruction of Baghdad was mentioned by them pbut with the flags that come to Baghdad from the countries of the world and with the trials.

Imam Al-Sadiq pbuh said about Baghdad, ﴾“ … in the curse of Allah and His anger trials destroy Baghdad and leave it as a weak animal. Woe to it and to those who are in it. All the woe is from the yellow flags and the flags of the West and the flags moving to it from near and far.

I swear by Allah, He will send upon it sorts of torture as the ones sent upon the rest of the rebellious nations from the beginning of time until the end of it. And He will have torture sent upon it the like of which no eye has seen and no ear has heard. And the flood of its people is by none other than the sword. So woe to those who made it their home, as the resident in it stays due to his misery, and the one who leaves it does so by the mercy of Allah.

I swear by Allah, its people will be so deeply involved in this world until it is said, “Baghdad is the world. Its houses and mansions are heaven. Its girls are the fair ones. Its boys are the worthy boys.” It will be believed that Allah has not divided the sustenance of the believers except by Baghdad. In Baghdad shall appear lies upon Allah and His messenger pbuhap, and ruling by other than His book, false testimonials, intoxication, corruption, theft and bloodshed which exceeds all that in the world. Then Allah will destroy it by these trials and these banners, until a man would pass by it and say, “Here is where Baghdad used to be.”﴿^[9]

•