batch.motif.persian-sadi-gulistan-ross-gutenberg-l2131-l2236
---
record_id: batch.motif.persian-sadi-gulistan-ross-gutenberg-l2131-l2236
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/persian/project-gutenberg/gulistan-sadi-ross.md
passage_locator:
label: XXXVII / XXXIX / XLVIII / CHAPTER III; lines 2131-2236
start: '2131'
end: '2236'
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: 'The passage presents maxims and anecdotes on generosity, contentment,
wisdom, poverty, temperance, and restraint: liberality is praised above power;
contentment is described as true wealth; wisdom is contrasted with worldly rule;
a dervish refuses dependency; physicians explain health through moderation; and
uncontrolled appetite is warned against through analogy.'
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: A wise man is asked whether munificence or courage is preferable and answers
that one who has munificence has no need of courage.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: An inscription on Bahram-gor's tombstone states that liberality is stronger
than power and praises Hatim Tayi's enduring name for generosity.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: A mendicant from western Africa addresses shopkeepers at Aleppo and says that
equity among the wealthy and contentment among the poor would end importunity.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: The passage states that contentment makes one rich, patience is associated
with Lucman, and lack of patience is lack of wisdom.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:5
text: 'Two noble youths in Egypt follow different paths: one studies knowledge and
becomes wise, while the other accumulates wealth and becomes king of Egypt.'
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:6
text: The wise brother contrasts wisdom as the heritage of the prophets with the
kingdom of Egypt, associated in his speech with Pharaoh and Haman.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:7
text: A dervish in poverty patches his garment and says he prefers a dry crust and
coarse woollen frock to obligation to another.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:8
text: A physician sent by a Persian king to Mohammed's companions finds no patients
and is told that the tribe eats only when hungry and stops before satiety.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:9
text: A person repeatedly makes and breaks vows of abstinence, and a reverend gentleman
warns that excessive appetite will destroy him.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:10
text: Ardishir Babagan asks an Arabian physician how much food should be eaten daily,
and the physician says that what exceeds sufficiency must be supported by the
eater.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: wise man
description: A man asked to judge between munificence and courage.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Bahram-gor
description: A named figure whose tombstone bears an inscription about liberality
and power.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Hatim Tayi
description: A named figure whose lasting renown is attributed to generosity.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: mendicant from western Africa
description: A mendicant stationed among shopkeepers at Aleppo who speaks about
equity and contentment.
role_refs:
- role:4
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Lucman
description: A named exemplar associated with the treasure of patience.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: knowledge-seeking Egyptian brother
description: One of two noble Egyptian youths; he studies knowledge and becomes
the wisest man of his age.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: wealth-seeking Egyptian brother
description: One of two noble Egyptian youths; he accumulates wealth and becomes
king of Egypt.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: dervish
description: A poor dervish who patches his ragged garment and refuses to expose
his need to another.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:9
name_or_label: benevolent gentleman
description: A city gentleman described by another speaker as benevolent and willing
to aid religious independents.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:10
name_or_label: Persian king
description: A king who sends a skilful physician to attend Mohammed Mustafa.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:11
name_or_label: skilful physician
description: A physician sent to Mohammed's companions who receives an explanation
for their health.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:12
name_or_label: Mohammed Mustafa
description: The blessed prince of prophets who explains the Arabs' practice of
eating moderately.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:13
name_or_label: person breaking vows of abstinence
description: A person who repeatedly makes vows of abstinence and breaks them through
excess appetite.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: fig:14
name_or_label: reverend gentleman
description: A gentleman who warns that voraciousness will destroy the vow-breaking
person.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: fig:15
name_or_label: wolf whelp
description: A wolf whelp reared by a man, which when grown tears its patron and
master.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: fig:16
name_or_label: patron and master of the wolf
description: The man who rears the wolf whelp and is later torn by it.
role_refs:
- role:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: fig:17
name_or_label: Ardishir Babagan
description: A named ruler who asks an Arabian physician about the daily quantity
of food.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: fig:18
name_or_label: Arabian physician
description: A physician who answers Ardishir's question about the sufficient quantity
of food.
role_refs:
- role:7
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
roles:
- id: role:1
label: wisdom speaker
assigned_to:
- fig:1
- fig:4
- fig:12
- fig:14
- fig:18
basis: These figures deliver maxims, explanations, or warnings presented as instructive
speech.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: role:2
label: commemorated ruler
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Bahram-gor is named in connection with a tombstone inscription.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:3
label: generosity exemplar
assigned_to:
- fig:3
- fig:9
basis: Hatim Tayi is remembered for generosity, and the city gentleman is described
as benevolent and ready to relieve need.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:4
- id: role:4
label: contented poor figure
assigned_to:
- fig:4
- fig:8
basis: The mendicant speaks in praise of contentment, and the dervish accepts poverty
rather than dependency.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- id: role:5
label: wisdom exemplar
assigned_to:
- fig:5
- fig:6
basis: Lucman is associated with patience and wisdom, and the knowledge-seeking
brother becomes the wisest man of his age.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: role:6
label: ruler or wealth-holder
assigned_to:
- fig:7
- fig:10
- fig:17
basis: These figures are described as kings or as holding sovereignty.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:5
- ev:7
- id: role:7
label: medical advisor
assigned_to:
- fig:11
- fig:18
basis: Both figures are physicians whose knowledge concerns health, medicine, or
diet.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:7
- id: role:8
label: unrestrained appetite figure
assigned_to:
- fig:13
basis: The person repeatedly breaks vows of abstinence and is described as eating
to excess.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:9
label: destructive dependent
assigned_to:
- fig:15
basis: The wolf whelp is raised by a man and later tears him when grown.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:10
label: destroyed patron
assigned_to:
- fig:16
basis: The patron and master is harmed by the wolf he reared.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: hand of liberality stronger than arm of power
literal_form: Hand of liberality and arm of power in the tombstone saying.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:2
label: alms as pruning that increases fruit
literal_form: Distributing a tithe in alms compared to a gardener pruning a vine
to increase grapes.
associated_figures: []
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:3
label: treasure of patience
literal_form: Patience described as a treasure chosen by Lucman.
associated_figures:
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:4
label: emmet and hornet contrast
literal_form: The wise brother calls himself an emmet trodden under foot rather
than a hornet that stings.
associated_figures:
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:5
label: flame of want and patched garment
literal_form: A dervish consuming in the flame of want while patching a ragged garment.
associated_figures:
- fig:8
taxonomy_refs:
- fire
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:6
label: dry crust and coarse woollen frock
literal_form: Dry crust of bread and coarse woollen frock used to express self-sufficient
poverty.
associated_figures:
- fig:8
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:7
label: hair, iron chain, and voraciousness
literal_form: A vow weaker than a hair and voraciousness strong enough to break
an iron chain.
associated_figures:
- fig:13
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:8
label: wolf whelp raised by master
literal_form: A wolf whelp that grows and tears the man who reared it.
associated_figures:
- fig:15
- fig:16
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:9
label: hundred dirams of food
literal_form: A hundred dirams' weight of food presented as sufficient daily nourishment.
associated_figures:
- fig:17
- fig:18
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Judgment between munificence and courage
summary: A wise man chooses munificence over courage, and the passage reinforces
the point with a tombstone inscription and praise of almsgiving.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Mendicant's speech on contentment
summary: A mendicant among Aleppo shopkeepers says that equity by the wealthy and
contentment by the poor would end importunity.
figure_refs:
- fig:4
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:3
label: Two Egyptian brothers choose wisdom and wealth
summary: One brother studies knowledge and becomes wise, while the other gains wealth
and kingship; the wise brother gives thanks for wisdom and lack of power to injure
others.
figure_refs:
- fig:6
- fig:7
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:4
label: Dervish refuses dependency
summary: A poor dervish is urged to seek help from a benevolent gentleman but says
it is better to die of want than reveal necessity to another.
figure_refs:
- fig:8
- fig:9
symbol_refs:
- sym:5
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: scene:5
label: Physician learns the cause of health
summary: A physician sent to Mohammed's companions finds no patients, and Mohammed
explains their health by their restrained eating practices.
figure_refs:
- fig:10
- fig:11
- fig:12
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: scene:6
label: Warning against broken abstinence
summary: A reverend gentleman warns a vow-breaking person that excessive appetite
will destroy him, followed by the example of a wolf raised by a man and later
turning on him.
figure_refs:
- fig:13
- fig:14
- fig:15
- fig:16
symbol_refs:
- sym:7
- sym:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: scene:7
label: Ardishir asks about sufficient food
summary: Ardishir asks a physician how much food is needed, and the physician answers
that only enough to support life is necessary, while excess becomes a burden.
figure_refs:
- fig:17
- fig:18
symbol_refs:
- sym:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: Generosity stronger than martial power
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The wise man and the tombstone inscription place munificence or liberality
above courage and power.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
confidence: high
cautions: This is framed as ethical instruction rather than mythic narrative.
- id: motif:2
label: Contentment as true wealth
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The mendicant's speech and the chapter heading present contentment as the
source of wealth and the end of importunity.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
confidence: high
cautions: The motif is proverbial and didactic.
- id: motif:3
label: Wisdom preferred to sovereignty and wealth
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The Egyptian brothers' contrast makes prophetic wisdom preferable to kingship
and worldly power.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
confidence: high
cautions: The passage uses religious-historical names rhetorically; it does not
narrate those figures' stories.
- id: motif:4
label: Voluntary poverty and refusal of dependency
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The dervish chooses patched clothing, coarse food, and independence over
asking a great person for relief.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
confidence: high
cautions: This is an ascetic ethical motif rather than an explicit initiatory quest.
- id: motif:5
label: Temperance preserves health
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The physician sent to Mohammed receives the explanation that restrained eating
accounts for the tribe's health.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
confidence: high
cautions: The motif appears in medical and moral instruction form.
- id: motif:6
label: Indulged appetite destroys its owner
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The vow-breaker's voraciousness is said to destroy him, and the wolf whelp
raised by a master illustrates a nurtured danger turning back on its patron.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: The wolf example is an analogy within a moral warning.
- id: motif:7
label: Sufficiency versus burdensome excess
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The Arabian physician tells Ardishir that enough food supports the person,
but excess must be supported by the person.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
confidence: high
cautions: The motif is aphoristic and dietary rather than narrative.
- id: motif:8
label: Almsgiving imagined as increase through reduction
taxonomy_refs:
- sacred_exchange
- wisdom
basis: The passage urges distributing a tithe in alms and compares it to pruning
a vine to increase grapes.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
confidence: medium
cautions: The exchange is moral and economic; the passage does not describe a ritual
transaction in detail.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: XLVIII; lines 2131-2141
quote_or_summary: A wise man prefers munificence to courage; a tombstone inscription
says liberality is stronger than power, praises Hatim Tayi's generosity, and urges
alms with a vine-pruning image.
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: CHAPTER III.I; lines 2142-2154
quote_or_summary: A mendicant at Aleppo speaks to shopkeepers about equity and contentment;
the passage says contentment makes one rich and links patience with Lucman and
wisdom.
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: CHAPTER III.II; lines 2155-2174
quote_or_summary: Two Egyptian brothers pursue knowledge and wealth respectively;
the wise brother contrasts prophetic wisdom with the kingdom of Egypt and says
he lacks means to injure others.
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: CHAPTER III.III; lines 2175-2200
quote_or_summary: A poor dervish patches his garment, values a dry crust and coarse
frock, and refuses to expose his need to a benevolent gentleman for aid.
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: CHAPTER III.IV; lines 2201-2221
quote_or_summary: A physician sent by a Persian king to Mohammed's companions finds
no one seeking medicine; Mohammed explains that they eat only when hungry and
stop before full appetite is gone.
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: CHAPTER III.V; lines 2222-2230
quote_or_summary: A man repeatedly breaks vows of abstinence; a reverend gentleman
warns that appetite will destroy him, followed by an example of a reared wolf
tearing its master.
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: CHAPTER III.VI; lines 2231-2236
quote_or_summary: Ardishir Babagan asks an Arabian physician about daily food; the
physician says a hundred dirams is sufficient and that excess becomes a burden.
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: high
notes: Extraction is based only on the supplied passage. Motif labels are cautious
because the passage is primarily didactic, proverbial, and ethical rather than
mythic narrative. No comparison claims were added beyond taxonomy tagging.
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: |-
No external sources or comparisons were used. Taxonomy references are limited to the provided available taxonomy list.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:persian-sadi-gulistan-ross-gutenberg__l2131-l2236
passage_sha256=850068cbb33a41b5ec8b44b3ff01706bdcc6d5f153d1cae114aabc2bb2bbbf04