batch.motif.sufi-rumi-mesnevi-book-1-redhouse-gutenberg-l11014-l11121
---
record_id: batch.motif.sufi-rumi-mesnevi-book-1-redhouse-gutenberg-l11014-l11121
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 11014-11121
start: '11014'
end: '11121'
translation: The Mesnevi
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: ''
summary: The passage contrasts Moses and Pharaoh as parabolic figures under divine
power. Pharaoh prays secretly, reflects on divine decree, and is used to discuss
appearance, inner state, opposition, nonbeing, cosmological balance, and the repulsion
of Pharaoh-like souls by saints.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The passage opens by presenting Moses and Pharaoh as parabolic figures, with
Moses associated with faith and Pharaoh with sin.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: Moses is described as praying by day to the Lord of Hosts.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: Pharaoh is described as praying at midnight and attributing his condition
to a yoke imposed by God.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: Pharaoh compares Moses' illuminated countenance with his own darkened heart,
using images of day, moon, star, and eclipse.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: Pharaoh describes both himself and Moses as servants of God, and compares
God's wrath against him to an axe striking a tree.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:6
text: Pharaoh privately reflects that he is humble in secret but changes when he
meets Moses.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:7
text: 'The narrator develops a sequence of contrasts: colour and huelessness, oil
and water, rose and thorn, treasure and ruin, entity and nonentity.'
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: obs:8
text: A cosmological discussion compares the sky to an eggshell and the globe to
a yolk, then debates whether the earth is held by attraction or repulsion.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
- id: obs:9
text: The passage concludes by applying the idea of repulsion to Pharaohs of each
age, who are said to be fixed in error by repulsion from the souls of saints.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Moses
description: A parabolic figure associated with faith, prayer, divine illumination,
and Pharaoh's confrontation.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- ev:5
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Pharaoh
description: A parabolic figure associated with sin, secret prayer, complaint about
divine decree, eclipse imagery, and resistance to Moses.
role_refs:
- role:2
- role:3
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:5
- ev:10
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: God / Lord of Hosts / Almighty King
description: The divine addressee of prayer, described by Pharaoh as imposing the
yoke, enlightening Moses, darkening Pharaoh, and wielding power.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Saints / God's anointed ones
description: Figures whose souls repel the Pharaohs of each age and whose power
is compared to amber when chafed.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- ev:11
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Questioner
description: A speaker who asks how the globe rests within the surrounding spheres
without falling.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Wise man
description: A respondent who explains the globe's suspension by equal attraction
on all sides.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Caviller
description: A respondent who objects to attraction and proposes equal repulsion
instead.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
roles:
- id: role:1
label: praying faithful figure
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Moses is said to pray by day and to have faith described as right.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:2
label: secret suppliant and self-questioning ruler
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Pharaoh prays at midnight, complains of an imposed yoke, and reflects privately
on his own changeability.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:5
- id: role:3
label: servant of God
assigned_to:
- fig:1
- fig:2
basis: Pharaoh says that both he and Moses are servants of God, their King.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:4
label: repelled figure fixed in error
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The passage generalizes from Pharaoh to 'Pharaohs of each age' who are repelled
from saints and fixed in error.
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: role:5
label: divine sovereign and source of decree
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: God is addressed as Lord, King, omnipotent one, and the agent who enlightens,
darkens, commands, or decrees.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: role:6
label: repelling holy figures
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The souls of saints repel Pharaoh-like figures, and their concealed or exerted
power affects others.
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- ev:11
- id: role:7
label: cosmological questioner
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The questioner asks how the globe remains within the spheres without falling
or rising.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: role:8
label: cosmological explainer by attraction
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: The wise man answers that equal attraction on all sides keeps the globe poised.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: role:9
label: cosmological objector by repulsion
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: The caviller rejects attraction and proposes equal repulsion around the earth.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: yoke on the neck
literal_form: A yoke said by Pharaoh to have been placed on his neck by God.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:2
label: eclipsed moon or star
literal_form: Pharaoh's heart and star are compared to the moon darkened by eclipse.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:3
label: axe and tree boughs
literal_form: God's wrath is compared to a woodman's axe striking a tree; boughs
may be replanted, burned, or left to moulder.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs:
- tree
- fire
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:4
label: gilded base coin in fire
literal_form: A base coin gilded with gold reveals its baseness when cast into fire.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs:
- fire
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:5
label: water and oil
literal_form: Oil is said to originate from water, yet oil and water are described
as foes.
associated_figures: []
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:6
label: rose and thorn
literal_form: The rose springs from a thorn and thorns from the rose, yet the two
are in open warfare.
associated_figures: []
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:7
label: treasure and ruin
literal_form: The treasure is to be sought, while the ruin stands before the eyes;
apparent treasure is called vanity.
associated_figures: []
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: sym:8
label: sky as eggshell and globe as yolk
literal_form: The sky is compared to an eggshell and the globe within it to a yolk.
associated_figures:
- fig:5
- fig:6
- fig:7
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: sym:9
label: lamp, iron ball, and loadstone vault
literal_form: The globe is compared to a lamp hung in a dome and to an iron ball
held by a loadstone vault.
associated_figures:
- fig:5
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
- id: sym:10
label: amber and mote
literal_form: Saints are compared to amber which, when chafed, shows power over
the mote of another's existence.
associated_figures:
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Moses and Pharaoh introduced as parables
summary: The passage frames Moses and Pharaoh as paired parabolic figures, distinguishing
Moses' faith from Pharaoh's sin and mentioning Moses' prayer.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Pharaoh's midnight prayer
summary: Pharaoh addresses God at midnight, saying that God imposed a yoke on him,
enlightened Moses, and left him darkened and eclipsed.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: scene:3
label: Pharaoh's axe and bough complaint
summary: Pharaoh calls both himself and Moses God's servants and asks God to withhold
the axe of wrath, using the image of severed boughs.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: scene:4
label: Pharaoh's private self-reflection
summary: Pharaoh reflects that he prays humbly in secret but changes when he meets
Moses, comparing himself to a gilded base coin revealed by fire and to a field
made green or withered by decree.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: scene:5
label: Contraries from common origins
summary: The narrator discusses how colour arises from huelessness and how related
pairs such as oil and water or rose and thorn nevertheless appear in warfare.
figure_refs: []
symbol_refs:
- sym:5
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: scene:6
label: Treasure, ruin, entity, and nonentity
summary: The passage says the treasure must be sought, warns that apparent treasure
is vanity, and describes entity and nonentity as involved in contested relation.
figure_refs: []
symbol_refs:
- sym:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: scene:7
label: Cosmological debate of attraction and repulsion
summary: A questioner asks how the globe stays within surrounding spheres; a wise
man explains by attraction, while a caviller proposes repulsion.
figure_refs:
- fig:5
- fig:6
- fig:7
symbol_refs:
- sym:8
- sym:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
- id: scene:8
label: Repulsion from saints
summary: The narrator applies the repulsion model to spiritual life, saying Pharaohs
of each age are kept in error by repulsion from the souls of saints.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- ev:11
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: Opposed figures under one divine sovereignty
taxonomy_refs:
- duality
basis: Moses and Pharaoh are paired as opposites, yet Pharaoh says both are servants
of the same divine King.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:4
confidence: high
cautions: The passage presents the contrast doctrinally and parabolically rather
than as a full narrative episode.
- id: motif:2
label: Contraries arising from common source
taxonomy_refs:
- duality
- wisdom
basis: 'The passage repeatedly asks how opposed things arise from related or common
sources: colour from huelessness, oil from water, rose from thorn, and thorns
from rose.'
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: This is an abstract teaching motif rather than a discrete mythic action.
- id: motif:3
label: Hidden treasure in ruin
taxonomy_refs:
- mystical_quest
- wisdom
basis: The narrator says the treasure is to be sought and the ruin is before the
eyes, while warning against mistaking vanity for treasure.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage uses the image didactically; no literal quest action is narrated.
- id: motif:4
label: Cosmos as egglike enclosure
taxonomy_refs:
- cosmic_egg
basis: Philosophic opinion is summarized as the sky being an eggshell with the globe
inside it as yolk.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
confidence: medium
cautions: The image is presented as a cosmological analogy, not as a creation account.
- id: motif:5
label: Spiritual repulsion of the erring by holy figures
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
- duality
basis: The passage states that Pharaohs of each age are fixed in error by repulsion
from the souls of saints and have no portion in either world.
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
confidence: medium
cautions: The judgment is expressed through metaphysical analogy rather than a formal
judgment scene.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: quote
locator: lines 11014-11017
quote_or_summary: "“In Moses and in Pharaoh parables we see”; Moses' faith is called
right, Pharaoh's sin is named, and Moses prays by day to the Lord of Hosts."
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short excerpt used for extraction.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 11018-11022
quote_or_summary: At midnight Pharaoh laments his impious boasts and tells God that
a yoke has been laid on his neck.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized for extraction.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 11023-11030
quote_or_summary: Pharaoh says God enlightened Moses, left him groping blindly,
lit Moses' countenance like day, and darkened Pharaoh's heart like an eclipsed
moon.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized for extraction.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 11037-11048
quote_or_summary: Pharaoh says both he and Moses are servants of God the King, compares
divine wrath to a woodman's axe on a tree, and asks that the axe be withheld.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized for extraction.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 11049-11066
quote_or_summary: Pharaoh reflects that he prayed all night, is humble in secret,
changes when meeting Moses, and is like a gilded base coin revealed by fire or
a field made green or withered by command.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized for extraction.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 11073-11086
quote_or_summary: The narrator asks how colour rose from huelessness, why oil and
water are foes though oil originates from water, and why rose and thorn are in
warfare despite springing from one another.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized for extraction.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: lines 11087-11100
quote_or_summary: The passage says the treasure is to be sought, the ruin is before
the eyes, apparent treasure is vanity, and entity and nonentity are in a contested
relation.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized for extraction.
- id: ev:8
type: summary
locator: lines 11105-11112
quote_or_summary: Philosophic opinion is given that the sky is an eggshell and the
globe a yolk; a questioner asks how the ball rests within the spheres like a lamp
in a dome.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized for extraction.
- id: ev:9
type: summary
locator: lines 11113-11121
quote_or_summary: A wise man explains the globe's position by equal attraction,
as an iron ball held by a loadstone vault; a caviller counters that equal repulsion
holds the earth amid air.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized for extraction.
- id: ev:10
type: summary
locator: lines 11122-11129
quote_or_summary: The narrator says Pharaohs of each age are fixed in error by repulsion
from the souls of saints and are repelled from this world and the next.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized for extraction.
- id: ev:11
type: summary
locator: lines 11130-11137
quote_or_summary: God's anointed ones are compared to amber which shows power when
chafed; the mote of another's existence is forced to cower before them.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized for extraction.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: high
notes: Literal figures, images, and doctrinal contrasts are explicit. Motif labels
are cautious because much of the passage is metaphysical exposition rather than
narrative myth. No comparison claims were added because the passage does not itself
make a cross-textual or cross-traditional comparison beyond its own parabolic
framing.
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: |-
Line references follow the supplied passage locator; evidence locators are approximate subranges within the provided line span.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:sufi-rumi-mesnevi-book-1-redhouse-gutenberg__l11014-l11121
passage_sha256=79c2d639be1a8e7269f5a60e7cb7d308a2a18f7f21dd79b410d0a2a8bf429a6c