Paris Talks
Paris Talks by 'Abdu'l-Baha CONTENTS Baha'i Terms of Use PART I THE DUTY OF KINDNESS AND SYMPATHY TOWARDS STRANGERS AND FOREIGNERS THE POWER AND VALUE OF TRUE THOUGHT DEPEND UPON ITS MANIFESTATION IN ACTION GOD IS THE GREAT COMPASSIONATE PHYSICIAN WHO ALONE GIVES TRUE HEALING THE NEED FOR UNION BETWEEN THE PEOPLES OF THE EAST AND WEST GOD COMPREHENDS ALL: HE CANNOT BE COMPREHENDED THE PITIFUL CAUSES OF WAR, AND THE DUTY OF EVERYONE TO STRIVE FOR PEACE THE SUN OF TRUTH THE LIGHT OF TRUTH IS NOW SHINING UPON THE EAST AND WEST THE UNIVERSAL LOVE THE IMPRISONMENT OF 'ABDU'L-BAHA GOD'S GREATEST GIFT TO MAN
fascinates the gaze. It is a coping formed not of dead
stone, but of living vultures. These birds, on the occasion
of my visit, had settled themselves side by side in perfect
order and in a complete circle around the parapets of the
towers, with their heads pointing inwards, and so lazily did
they sit there, and so motionless was their whole mien, that
except for their color, they might have been carved out of
the stonework.
No one is allowed to enter the towers except the corpse-bearers, nor is
any one permitted within thirty feet of the immediate precincts. A model
was shown Mr. Williams, and from it he drew up this description:
Imagine a round column or massive cylinder, 12 or 14 feet
high and at least 40 feet in diameter, built throughout of
solid stone except in the center, where a well, 5 or 6 feet
across, leads down to an excavation under the masonry,
containing four drains at right angles to each other,
terminated by holes filled with charcoal. Round the upper
surface of this solid circular cylinder, and completely
hiding the interior from view, is a stone parapet, 10 or 12
feet in height. This it is which, when viewed from the
outside, appears to form one piece with the solid
stone-work, and being, like it, covered with chunam, gives
the whole the appearance of a low tower. The upper surface
of the solid stone column is divided into 72 compartments,
Paris Talks by 'Abdu'l-Baha CONTENTS Baha'i Terms of Use PART I THE DUTY OF KINDNESS AND SYMPATHY TOWARDS STRANGERS AND FOREIGNERS THE POWER AND VALUE OF TRUE THOUGHT DEPEND UPON ITS MANIFESTATION IN ACTION GOD IS THE GREAT COMPASSIONATE PHYSICIAN WHO ALONE GIVES TRUE HEALING THE NEED FOR UNION BETWEEN THE PEOPLES OF THE EAST AND WEST GOD COMPREHENDS ALL: HE CANNOT BE COMPREHENDED THE PITIFUL CAUSES OF WAR, AND THE DUTY OF EVERYONE TO STRIVE FOR PEACE THE SUN OF TRUTH THE LIGHT OF TRUTH IS NOW SHINING UPON THE EAST AND WEST THE UNIVERSAL LOVE THE IMPRISONMENT OF 'ABDU'L-BAHA GOD'S GREATEST GIFT TO MAN