batch.motif.persian-sadi-gulistan-ross-gutenberg-l4602-l4643
---
record_id: batch.motif.persian-sadi-gulistan-ross-gutenberg-l4602-l4643
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/persian/project-gutenberg/gulistan-sadi-ross.md
passage_locator:
label: LXXXIV / LXXXV / LXXXVI / LXXXIX; lines 4602-4643
start: '4602'
end: '4643'
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 didactic aphorisms praises useful learning, self-sufficiency
over dependence on patrons, prudent reliance on tested guidance, humility in asking
questions, and patient restraint from premature questioning. It includes examples
involving Ghazali, a skilled physician, Lucman, and David miraculously shaping
iron like wax.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: A learned man without works is compared to a bee without honey, and a hornet
that gives no honey is told not to wound with its sting.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: A tattered garment of one’s own is said to be preferable to an honorable dress
presented by a sovereign.
category: object
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: Simple food produced by one’s own industry is said to be sweeter than delicate
food at a great man’s or village chief’s table.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: The passage says it is imprudent to take medicine on conjecture or to follow
a road except in the track of the caravan.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: Ghazali is asked how he reached a high pitch of knowledge, and he replies
that he felt no shame in asking others about what he did not know.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:6
text: The text compares inquiry in learning to putting one’s pulse in the care of
a skilled physician for health.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:7
text: The passage advises not to be hasty in questioning about something one may
later come to know, lest one’s consequence and respectability suffer.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:8
text: Lucman sees iron in David’s hands miraculously molded like wax and does not
ask how David did it, expecting to know it through his own wisdom.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: learned man without works
description: A learned person lacking works, compared to a bee without honey.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: harsh and ungenerous hornet
description: A hornet that yields no honey but can wound with its sting.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: sovereign
description: A ruler who presents an honorable dress.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: great man or village chief
description: A powerful host whose table offers delicate food, lamb, and bread sauce.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: traveler on a road
description: An implied person warned not to follow a road except in the track of
the caravan.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: caravan
description: A collective whose track marks the road to follow.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Imaam Mursheed Mohammed-bin-Mohammed Ghazali
description: A religious scholar asked how he attained a high degree of knowledge.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: others
description: People whom Ghazali asked when he was ignorant of something.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:9
name_or_label: skilled physician
description: A physician entrusted with the pulse in the passage’s analogy for sound
learning.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:10
name_or_label: Lucman
description: A wise figure who observes David molding iron and refrains from asking
how it is done.
role_refs:
- role:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: fig:11
name_or_label: David
description: A figure in whose hands iron is miraculously molded like wax.
role_refs:
- role:11
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
roles:
- id: role:1
label: ineffective learned person
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The person is learned but lacks works, like a bee without honey.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:2
label: harmful nonbenefactor
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The hornet yields no honey and is warned not to wound with its sting.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:3
label: royal patron
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The sovereign presents an honorable dress.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:4
label: elite host
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The great man or village chief provides delicate food at his table.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:5
label: one needing guidance
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The implied traveler is warned to follow the road only in the caravan’s track.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:6
label: guide by established path
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: The caravan’s track marks the safe route to follow.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:7
label: humble knower
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: Ghazali says he was not ashamed to ask others what he did not know.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:8
label: sources of instruction
assigned_to:
- fig:8
basis: They are the people from whom Ghazali asked about matters he did not know.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:9
label: expert healer
assigned_to:
- fig:9
basis: The skilled physician is entrusted with the pulse as a sign of reasoned pursuit
of health.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:10
label: restrained wise observer
assigned_to:
- fig:10
basis: Lucman observes David’s act but does not ask, relying on future knowledge
through wisdom.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: role:11
label: miracle worker
assigned_to:
- fig:11
basis: David miraculously molds iron like wax in his hands.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: bee without honey
literal_form: bee lacking honey
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:2
label: hornet sting
literal_form: sting of a harsh and ungenerous hornet
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:3
label: own tattered garment
literal_form: tattered garment belonging to oneself
associated_figures: []
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:4
label: sovereign’s dress
literal_form: honorable dress presented by the sovereign
associated_figures:
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:5
label: self-earned simple food
literal_form: salad and vinegar produced by one’s own industry
associated_figures: []
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:6
label: elite table food
literal_form: lamb and bread sauce at the table of the village chief
associated_figures:
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:7
label: medicine on conjecture
literal_form: medicine taken on conjecture
associated_figures: []
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:8
label: caravan track
literal_form: road followed in the track of the caravan
associated_figures:
- fig:5
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:9
label: pulse in a physician’s care
literal_form: pulse entrusted to a skilled physician
associated_figures:
- fig:9
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:10
label: iron molded like wax
literal_form: iron miraculously molded like wax in David’s hands
associated_figures:
- fig:10
- fig:11
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Useless learning compared to honeyless bee
summary: The aphorism compares a learned person without works to a bee without honey
and warns the unproductive hornet not to sting.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Self-sufficiency preferred to patronage
summary: The aphorism values one’s own tattered garment and simple self-produced
food above gifts and delicacies from powerful men.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
- sym:4
- sym:5
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:3
label: Prudence through tested guidance
summary: The aphorism rejects taking medicine by guesswork and recommends following
a road only by the caravan’s track.
figure_refs:
- fig:5
- fig:6
symbol_refs:
- sym:7
- sym:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:4
label: Ghazali’s humility in learning
summary: Ghazali explains that he reached knowledge by asking others without shame
when he was ignorant.
figure_refs:
- fig:7
- fig:8
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: scene:5
label: Inquiry compared to medical expertise
summary: The passage says asking what one does not know guides learning, just as
health is rational when the pulse is in the care of a skilled physician.
figure_refs:
- fig:9
symbol_refs:
- sym:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: scene:6
label: Lucman’s restraint before David’s miracle
summary: Lucman sees David miraculously molding iron like wax, but does not ask
how it is done because he expects to understand through his own wisdom.
figure_refs:
- fig:10
- fig:11
symbol_refs:
- sym:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: wisdom as practical action
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The passage presents learning without works as deficient, using the image
of a bee without honey.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
confidence: high
cautions: This is a didactic aphorism rather than a narrative mythic episode.
- id: motif:2
label: self-sufficiency over dependence on patrons
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The passage contrasts one’s own poor clothing and simple food favorably against
gifts and delicacies from the powerful.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
confidence: high
cautions: No broader mythological comparison is explicit in the passage.
- id: motif:3
label: wisdom through established guidance and expertise
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The passage advises against conjectural medicine, recommends following the
caravan track, and compares learning by inquiry to consulting a skilled physician.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:5
confidence: high
cautions: The motif is ethical and pedagogical; it does not imply a specific journey
myth.
- id: motif:4
label: humility in seeking knowledge
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: Ghazali says he attained knowledge by not being ashamed to ask others about
what he did not know.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
confidence: high
cautions: The example is biographical-didactic within the passage.
- id: motif:5
label: discerning when not to ask
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The passage balances the praise of inquiry with advice not to ask hastily,
illustrated by Lucman refraining from questioning David’s miraculous shaping of
iron.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage’s precise lesson depends on the contrast between beneficial
inquiry and premature questioning.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: LXXXVI; within lines 4602-4643
quote_or_summary: A learned man without works is likened to a bee without honey;
a hornet that yields no honey is told not to wound with its sting.
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: LXXXIX; within lines 4602-4643
quote_or_summary: One’s own tattered garment and self-produced salad and vinegar
are preferred to a sovereign’s dress and the lamb and bread sauce at a village
chief’s table.
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: XC; within lines 4602-4643
quote_or_summary: It is called contrary to prudence to take medicine on conjecture
or to follow a road except by the caravan’s track.
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: XCI; within lines 4602-4643
quote_or_summary: Ghazali is asked how he reached such knowledge and replies that
he was not ashamed to ask others whatever he did not know.
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: XCI; within lines 4602-4643
quote_or_summary: The text says health accords with reason when the pulse is entrusted
to a skilled physician, and that asking what one does not know guides the road
of learning.
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: XCII; within lines 4602-4643
quote_or_summary: The passage warns not to question hastily about what one may later
know, to avoid loss of consequence and respectability.
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: XCII; within lines 4602-4643
quote_or_summary: Lucman sees iron miraculously molded like wax in David’s hands,
but does not ask how it is done, expecting to know through his own wisdom.
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: The passage is aphoristic and didactic, so motif candidates are limited to
explicit wisdom patterns rather than narrative mythic structures. No passage-supported
cross-cultural comparison claims were added.
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. Available taxonomy reference applied only where directly supported: wisdom.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:persian-sadi-gulistan-ross-gutenberg__l4602-l4643
passage_sha256=1c5036007d85d2f3ad4fbf7437070a85082be2ea5a042554b242b6486c9b2e1a