batch.motif.persian-sadi-gulistan-ross-gutenberg-l1457-l1565
---
record_id: batch.motif.persian-sadi-gulistan-ross-gutenberg-l1457-l1565
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/persian/project-gutenberg/gulistan-sadi-ross.md
passage_locator:
label: XXXVII / XXXVIII / XXXIX / CHAPTER II; lines 1457-1565
start: '1457'
end: '1565'
translation: The Persian Literature, Volume 2, The Gulistan
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: ''
summary: A sequence of moral anecdotes contrasts sincere wisdom with ostentatious
piety, judgmental religiosity, unreceptive and receptive hearers, endurance during
a Meccan desert journey, and gratitude to God amid suffering. The passage includes
examples involving dervishes, a hypocritical ascetic at a king’s table, a son’s
rebuke, a father’s correction of the narrator’s youthful pride, a sermon at Balbek,
a traveller moved to lamentation, a camel-driver urging survival, and a wounded
holy man thanking God that his affliction is not sin.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The speaker gives thanks to a majestic deity and says that a narration has
instructed him and may benefit others during their lives.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The speaker compares one indiscreet person in an assembly to a dog falling
into a cistern of rose-water and contaminating it.
category: object
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: A zahid, while a king’s guest, eats less than he wants and prays longer than
usual so others will think highly of his sanctity.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: The zahid returns home and asks for food; his son questions him and then tells
him to repeat his prayers as well, so that nothing done for a purpose is omitted.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: The passage warns the hypocrite about what his false display will purchase
on the day of need or day of judgment.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:6
text: In youth, the narrator remains awake beside his father with the Koran open
while surrounding company members sleep.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:7
text: The narrator criticizes the sleepers for not rising to pray; his father replies
that the narrator would have done better to sleep than to slander mankind’s failings.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:8
text: At the metropolitan mosque of Balbek, the narrator preaches to a congregation
described as cold, dead at heart, and unmoved toward mysticism.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:9
text: The preacher explains a Koranic text about God being nearer than the vein
of the neck and describes a beloved presence close to him while he remains estranged.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:10
text: A passing traveller enters the outer circle of the congregation, groans, and
the assembly joins in lamentation.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:11
text: In the desert of Mecca at night, the narrator becomes too drowsy to continue,
lies down, and asks the camel-driver to leave him.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:12
text: The camel-driver tells the narrator that holy Mecca lies ahead and a profane
robber behind; moving forward means escape, staying means death.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:13
text: On the sea-shore, a holy man wounded by a tiger suffers pain yet continually
thanks God.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:14
text: The wounded holy man says he is grateful because he is afflicted with misfortune
and not with sin.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Narrator / speaker
description: First-person speaker who offers thanksgiving, recalls youthful piety,
preaches at Balbek, and travels in the desert of Mecca.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:5
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:7
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Dervishes
description: Religious mendicants whose benefits the speaker says he is not forbidden,
though he is outwardly excluded from their society.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Indiscreet person in an assembly
description: A single indiscreet person whose presence may harm many prudent people
in an assembly.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Zahid
description: An ascetic guest of a king who publicly eats little and prays long,
then seeks food after returning home.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: King
description: Host at whose table the zahid performs sparing eating and prolonged
prayer.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Zahid’s son
description: A youth of shrewd understanding who exposes the practical motive behind
the zahid’s public behavior.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Narrator’s father
description: The narrator’s father corrects the narrator’s youthful criticism of
sleeping companions.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: Sleeping company
description: People sleeping while the narrator remains awake with the Koran.
role_refs:
- role:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:9
name_or_label: Balbek congregation
description: Congregation at the metropolitan mosque of Balbek, initially unreceptive
to the narrator’s sermon, later joining in lamentation after a traveller groans.
role_refs:
- role:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: fig:10
name_or_label: Passing traveller
description: A traveller who enters the outer circle of the congregation and responds
to the sermon with a groan.
role_refs:
- role:11
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: fig:11
name_or_label: Camel-driver
description: Companion in the Meccan desert who warns the narrator that going forward
means escape and staying means death.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: fig:12
name_or_label: Holy man wounded by a tiger
description: A holy man on the sea-shore, torn by a tiger, who suffers pain and
thanks God.
role_refs:
- role:12
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: fig:13
name_or_label: Tiger
description: Animal that has torn the holy man.
role_refs:
- role:13
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: fig:14
name_or_label: God / Most High / beloved friend
description: Divine figure thanked by the speaker and the wounded holy man, described
in sermon as nearer than the vein of the neck and as a beloved friend.
role_refs:
- role:14
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:5
- ev:8
roles:
- id: role:1
label: moral speaker or instructor
assigned_to:
- fig:1
- fig:6
- fig:7
basis: These figures deliver explicit moral correction, instruction, or admonition.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: role:2
label: religious community outside full social access
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The speaker says he receives the benefits of dervishes while appearing excluded
from their society.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:3
label: contaminating presence
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: One indiscreet person in an assembly is said to harm many prudent people.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:4
label: ostentatious ascetic
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The zahid changes eating and prayer behavior in public so observers will
form a high opinion of his sanctity.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:5
label: former prideful devotee
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: In youth the narrator boasts of wakeful piety and criticizes sleepers before
being corrected by his father.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:6
label: shrewd exposer of hypocrisy
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: The son recognizes that his father’s public piety was performed for a purpose
and exposes the inconsistency.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:7
label: corrective guide
assigned_to:
- fig:7
- fig:11
basis: The father corrects moral pride; the camel-driver corrects the narrator’s
wish to remain in the desert.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:7
- id: role:8
label: preacher
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The narrator says he was holding forth by way of admonition in the mosque
of Balbek.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:9
label: royal host
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The king hosts the zahid at table.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:10
label: unreceptive or passive audience
assigned_to:
- fig:8
- fig:9
basis: The sleeping company does not rise for prayer; the congregation is initially
unmoved by the sermon.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: role:11
label: receptive outsider
assigned_to:
- fig:10
basis: The passing traveller, initially outside the congregation, is moved by the
sermon and groans.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:12
label: grateful sufferer
assigned_to:
- fig:12
basis: The wounded holy man continues thanking God while suffering and says he is
afflicted with misfortune rather than sin.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: role:13
label: wounding animal
assigned_to:
- fig:13
basis: The tiger has torn the holy man.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: role:14
label: divine beloved and judge
assigned_to:
- fig:14
basis: God is thanked, described as near and as a beloved friend, and connected
with sin, death, and judgment language.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- ev:5
- ev:8
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: contaminated rose-water cistern
literal_form: cistern filled with rose-water into which a dog falls
associated_figures:
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:2
label: king’s table
literal_form: table at the king’s feast
associated_figures:
- fig:4
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: sym:3
label: day of judgment
literal_form: day of need or day of judgment
associated_figures:
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:4
label: open Koran on lap
literal_form: precious Koran held open on the narrator’s lap
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:7
- fig:8
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:5
label: veil of conceit
literal_form: veil drawn around the braggart’s own person
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:6
label: metropolitan mosque of Balbek
literal_form: mosque setting for admonitory sermon
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:9
- fig:10
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: sym:7
label: nearer than the vein of the neck
literal_form: Koranic image of divine nearness to the vein of the neck
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:14
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:8
label: beloved close yet alienated
literal_form: mistress or beloved lying on the bosom while the speaker is estranged
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:14
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:9
label: Meccan desert route
literal_form: night journey in the desert of Mecca with holy Mecca ahead and robber
behind
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:11
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: sym:10
label: acacia-thorn tree
literal_form: tree under which it is tempting to doze during the night journey
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs:
- tree
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: sym:11
label: tiger wound
literal_form: wound from being torn by a tiger
associated_figures:
- fig:12
- fig:13
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: sym:12
label: sea-shore suffering
literal_form: sea-shore location where the wounded holy man suffers
associated_figures:
- fig:12
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Thanksgiving and moral about harmful company
summary: The speaker thanks God for instruction from dervishes and states that one
indiscreet person can harm an assembly, illustrated by a dog contaminating rose-water.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:14
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Ascetic performance at the king’s feast
summary: A zahid eats less and prays longer in the king’s presence so others will
think him holy.
figure_refs:
- fig:4
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:3
label: Son exposes the zahid’s hypocrisy
summary: At home the zahid seeks food, and his son’s reply exposes that the public
fasting and prayers were performed for reputation; the passage adds a warning
about judgment.
figure_refs:
- fig:4
- fig:6
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:4
label: Father rebukes youthful religious pride
summary: The narrator boasts that sleepers neglect prayer, and his father says sleeping
would have been better than slandering others.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:7
- fig:8
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: scene:5
label: Sermon at Balbek on divine nearness
summary: The narrator preaches in Balbek to an unmoved congregation, expounding
a Koranic text about divine nearness through imagery of an intimate beloved from
whom the speaker remains estranged.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:9
- fig:14
symbol_refs:
- sym:6
- sym:7
- sym:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: scene:6
label: Traveller awakens communal lamentation
summary: A passing traveller enters the outer circle, groans in response to the
sermon, and the congregation joins in lamentation; the speaker comments that those
far off may be present in knowledge while those near may be distant in ignorance.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:9
- fig:10
symbol_refs:
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: scene:7
label: Choice on the Meccan desert road
summary: Exhausted in the Meccan desert, the narrator wants to stop, but the camel-driver
warns that Mecca is ahead and a robber behind, so forward motion brings escape
while staying brings death.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:11
symbol_refs:
- sym:9
- sym:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: scene:8
label: Wounded holy man gives thanks
summary: A holy man torn by a tiger suffers at the sea-shore but thanks God because
he has met misfortune rather than sin.
figure_refs:
- fig:12
- fig:13
- fig:14
symbol_refs:
- sym:11
- sym:12
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: moral instruction through exempla
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The passage is organized as short anecdotes whose events culminate in explicit
moral lessons or corrective sayings.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
confidence: high
cautions: This is a literary-wisdom pattern rather than a mythic narrative complex.
- id: motif:2
label: hypocritical piety exposed
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
- divine_judgment
basis: The zahid publicly performs piety for reputation, is exposed by his son,
and is warned about the day of judgment.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
confidence: high
cautions: The judgment motif is explicit but framed as ethical admonition, not as
a narrated divine trial.
- id: motif:3
label: rebuke of spiritual pride
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The narrator’s youthful criticism of sleepers is corrected by his father,
who says sleeping would be preferable to slandering others.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
confidence: high
cautions: No supernatural event accompanies the rebuke.
- id: motif:4
label: receptive outsider understands sacred speech
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
- mystical_quest
basis: A traveller at the edge of the congregation is moved by a sermon that the
nearby audience failed to receive; the speaker contrasts distance in place with
presence in knowledge.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
confidence: medium
cautions: The mystical-quest link rests on the sermon’s explicit movement toward
mysticism and divine nearness, not on a full quest narrative.
- id: motif:5
label: pilgrimage road as life-or-death choice
taxonomy_refs:
- departure
- mystical_quest
basis: On the Meccan desert route, the exhausted narrator must go forward toward
holy Mecca to escape death and danger behind him.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage presents a travel and pilgrimage admonition, not a complete
departure-return cycle.
- id: motif:6
label: gratitude in suffering rather than sin
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
- divine_judgment
basis: The wounded holy man thanks God because he suffers misfortune rather than
sin, valuing divine favor over bodily safety.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
confidence: high
cautions: The passage does not narrate a formal divine judgment scene.
- id: motif:7
label: divine beloved nearer than the self
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_beloved
- mystical_quest
basis: The sermon applies a Koranic statement of divine nearness and speaks of a
beloved or mistress closer than the speaker is to himself, though he remains alienated.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
confidence: medium
cautions: The beloved imagery appears in sermonic and mystical language; identification
with God is supported by context but should be reviewed.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: 1457-1470
quote_or_summary: The speaker thanks a majestic deity for instruction and gives
a moral that one indiscreet person may harm many prudent people, like a dog contaminating
a cistern of rose-water.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/persian/project-gutenberg/gulistan-sadi-ross.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: 1472-1481
quote_or_summary: A zahid at a king’s table eats less than his appetite and prays
longer than usual so that others will think highly of his sanctity.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/persian/project-gutenberg/gulistan-sadi-ross.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: 1482-1493
quote_or_summary: At home, the zahid seeks food; his shrewd son notes the inconsistency
and says he should repeat the prayers too. The passage warns the hypocrite about
the day of need or judgment.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/persian/project-gutenberg/gulistan-sadi-ross.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: 1495-1512
quote_or_summary: In youth the narrator stays awake beside his father with the Koran
open while others sleep, criticizes them, and is told by his father that sleep
would be better than slandering mankind’s failings.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/persian/project-gutenberg/gulistan-sadi-ross.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: 1516-1536
quote_or_summary: At Balbek’s mosque, the narrator preaches to an unmoved congregation,
expounding the Koranic line that God is nearer than the neck vein and speaking
of a beloved who is close while he is estranged.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/persian/project-gutenberg/gulistan-sadi-ross.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: 1537-1548
quote_or_summary: A passing traveller enters the outer circle, groans, and the assembly
joins in lamentation; the speaker says those far off may be present in knowledge
and those nearby distant in ignorance.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/persian/project-gutenberg/gulistan-sadi-ross.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: 1550-1561
quote_or_summary: In the desert of Mecca, the drowsy narrator lies down and asks
to be left; the camel-driver warns that Mecca is ahead, a robber behind, and staying
means death.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/persian/project-gutenberg/gulistan-sadi-ross.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:8
type: summary
locator: 1563-1565
quote_or_summary: On the sea-shore, a holy man torn by a tiger suffers long pain
but thanks God, saying he has met misfortune and not sin.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/persian/project-gutenberg/gulistan-sadi-ross.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: uncertain
notes: Literal extraction is strong because the passage is explicit. Motif assignment
is mostly ethical and devotional rather than mythic, so taxonomy links should
be reviewed. No comparison claims were added because the passage itself does not
compare to other traditions or corpus patterns.
reviewer_status:
status: needs_review
reviewer: ''
reviewed_at: ''
notes: Machine-generated draft from OpenAI Batch; not human-reviewed.
extracted_by: openai_batch:gpt-5.5
extracted_at: '2026-04-28'
notes: |-
Used only supplied passage text and metadata. Quotations were avoided in favor of concise public-domain summaries.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:persian-sadi-gulistan-ross-gutenberg__l1457-l1565
passage_sha256=924fd4e20378a245382529ebcbc2c5c143806f92c23ef497ce7fc57f1e474465