batch.motif.sufi-rumi-mesnevi-book-1-redhouse-gutenberg-l10932-l11012
---
record_id: batch.motif.sufi-rumi-mesnevi-book-1-redhouse-gutenberg-l10932-l11012
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
passage_locator:
label: PREFACE. / IN THE NAME OF GOD, / THE ALL-MERCIFUL, THE VERY-COMPASSIONATE.
/ VIII.; lines 10932-11012
start: '10932'
end: '11012'
translation: The Mesnevi
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: ''
summary: A wife pleads with her husband for pardon, renounces contention, and fears
separation. Her tears and supplication move him. The narrator reflects on love
between man and woman, citing scriptural and prophetic examples, and develops
images of fire, water, and a cauldron. The husband then repents, asks forgiveness,
and praises his wife's mercy and transforming power.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The woman asks pardon, renounces contention, professes repentance, and asks
that the word of separation be recalled.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The woman says she falls at her lord's feet with sword and winding-sheet,
and that death would be sweet if he decapitated her.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: The woman weeps and sighs; her tears are described as streams and as a shower
preceding lightning.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: Her weeping and supplication soften the husband's heart and stir pity in him.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:5
text: The narrator states that Adam's love for Eve survived the loss of Eden.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:6
text: 'The narrator compares fire, water, and a cauldron: water quenches fire, but
water boils when set over fire in a cauldron, and the cauldron acts like a veil
between lovers.'
category: object
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:7
text: The narrator states that fair woman is a ray from the sun of Truth.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:8
text: The husband feels contrition for what he has said and thinks he has hurt his
wife.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:9
text: The husband addresses his wife, admits shame and trespass, asks pardon, and
asks her not to take vengeance.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:10
text: The husband says confession and amendment can open God's sheepfold even to
an old infidel.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:11
text: The husband praises the wife's heart as full of pity, goodness, kindness,
and grace, and compares her influence to an elixir turning all to gold.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: the wife / woman
description: The woman who pleads for pardon, weeps, and is praised by the husband
as merciful and gracious.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: the husband / lord
description: The woman's husband, initially the addressee of her plea and later
repentant for his speech against her.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:6
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: God
description: Divine authority invoked in scriptural sayings and in the husband's
statement about God's sheepfold.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:6
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Adam
description: Named as loving Eve after the loss of Eden.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Eve
description: Named as the beloved of Adam after the loss of Eden.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: the Prophet
description: Cited as declaring women's power over sages and as calling to Humayra
to speak to him.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:5
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Humayra
description: Named in the quoted prophetic address, 'Humayra, speak to me.'
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
roles:
- id: role:1
label: supplicant seeking pardon
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: She asks pardon, renounces contention, and pleads against separation.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:2
label: repentant husband
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: He feels contrition, admits trespass, and asks forgiveness from his wife.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:3
label: divine source of decree and mercy
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: God is cited as decreeing and as opening the sheepfold to a sinner who confesses
and amends.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:6
- id: role:4
label: merciful and transforming beloved
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The husband praises her pity, goodness, kindness, grace, and elixir-like
transformative power.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:5
label: exemplary lovers in cited tradition
assigned_to:
- fig:4
- fig:5
- fig:7
basis: Adam and Eve are invoked as an example of enduring love, and Humayra is invoked
in the Prophet's address.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:6
label: prophetic authority
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: The Prophet is cited as an authority on the power of woman over sages and
older men.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: sword and winding-sheet
literal_form: Sword and burial shroud brought to the lord's feet in the woman's
speech.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:2
label: tears as streams and shower
literal_form: Tears rolling down in streams; a shower preceding lightning.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:3
label: lightning and breast-fire of pity
literal_form: Lightning flash lighting a fire in the husband's breast with pity.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs:
- fire
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:4
label: fire and water in a cauldron
literal_form: Fire, water, and cauldron used as an analogy for lovers kept apart
by a veil-like vessel.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs:
- fire
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:5
label: cauldron as veil
literal_form: The cauldron is described as a veil keeping the lovers apart.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:6
label: sun of Truth and ray
literal_form: Fair woman is called a ray from the sun of Truth.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:7
label: God's sheepfold
literal_form: God's sheepfold opens and takes in the confessing, amending sinner.
associated_figures:
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:8
label: elixir turning all to gold
literal_form: An elixir by which all turns instantly to gold.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Wife pleads for pardon
summary: The woman addresses her husband, confesses fault, asks pardon, renounces
contention, and begs him to withdraw the word of separation.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Tears move the husband's heart
summary: The woman's tears and sighs are described as overwhelming; her beauty and
entreaty exert a double influence, and pity is kindled in the husband's breast.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:3
label: Didactic reflection on love and woman
summary: The narrator cites divine, Adamic, and prophetic examples to describe the
power of woman and love over men.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:5
- fig:6
- fig:7
symbol_refs:
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:5
- id: scene:4
label: Fire, water, and cauldron analogy
summary: The narrator uses fire, water, and a cauldron to explain apparent and hidden
relations of power and attachment between husband and wife.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: scene:5
label: Husband repents and praises the wife
summary: The husband recognizes his fault, asks his wife for pardon, invokes God's
mercy for confessing sinners, and praises her grace as transformative.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:7
- sym:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: repentance and pardon between lovers
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Both the wife and then the husband confess fault and seek pardon within a
marital conflict.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: This is a passage-level relational and ethical motif rather than a named
taxonomy family in the supplied list.
- id: motif:2
label: beloved as merciful transforming power
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_beloved
basis: The wife is praised as full of pity, goodness, kindness, and grace, and her
influence is compared to an elixir that turns all to gold; the narrator also calls
fair woman a ray from the sun of Truth.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage applies elevated language to the wife/woman; whether this
is a fully mystical 'divine beloved' instance requires broader context beyond
the passage.
- id: motif:3
label: opposites of fire and water mediated by a vessel
taxonomy_refs:
- duality
basis: The narrator contrasts fire and water, their reversal of influence in a cauldron,
and the cauldron as a veil between lovers.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
confidence: medium
cautions: The available taxonomy has 'duality' but not a specific fire-water union
motif; assignment is based on explicit contrast of paired elements.
- id: motif:4
label: wisdom teaching through marital example
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The passage moves from the wife's plea and husband's repentance into general
instruction about love, humanity, bestiality, and the relation of man and woman.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
confidence: medium
cautions: The motif is didactic rather than narrative-only; the taxonomy assignment
is broad.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 10932-10946
quote_or_summary: The woman says she has sinned, professes faith, asks pardon, renounces
contention, and begs that the word of separation be recalled; she imagines falling
at her lord's feet with sword and winding-sheet.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 10947-10955
quote_or_summary: The woman's coaxing plea is followed by tears and sighs; her tears
are likened to streams and to a shower before lightning, and pity is kindled in
the husband's breast.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 10956-10969
quote_or_summary: The narrator reflects that supplication increases attraction,
cites divine wording about man dwelling with woman, says Adam's love for Eve survived
lost Eden, and invokes a prophetic address to Humayra.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:4
type: quote
locator: lines 10970-10975
quote_or_summary: "“Of fire and water, fire is quelled through water’s wet; / Still,
water boils through fire, when in a cauldron set.”"
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 10976-10985
quote_or_summary: The narrator says the Prophet declared woman has power over sages
and older men, contrasts humanity with bestial harshness, and calls fair woman
a ray from the sun of Truth.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 10986-11012
quote_or_summary: The husband repents for hurting his wife, admits shame and trespass,
asks pardon, invokes God's acceptance of a confessing sinner, and praises the
wife's mercy and elixir-like power.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: uncertain
notes: Literal passage structure and imagery are clear. Motif taxonomy assignments
are cautious because the passage is didactic and metaphorical, and no external
comparison is made within the passage.
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: '2026-04-29'
notes: |-
No comparison claims were added because the provided passage does not itself establish a comparison to another text, tradition, or motif family beyond internal scriptural and prophetic references.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:sufi-rumi-mesnevi-book-1-redhouse-gutenberg__l10932-l11012
passage_sha256=0a08a83cbb07d04429442234be5d92ed8ecb1946a4bd37a7a7a15fc34627d17b