batch.motif.sufi-rumi-mesnevi-book-1-redhouse-gutenberg-l11331-l11443
---
record_id: batch.motif.sufi-rumi-mesnevi-book-1-redhouse-gutenberg-l11331-l11443
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 11331-11443
start: '11331'
end: '11443'
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 teaches that created things and spiritual states have appointed
terms and differing effects according to ripeness, divine will, and the capacity
of the recipient. It interprets Solomon’s request for a unique kingdom as concern
over the dangers of rule. It then identifies a man-and-wife tale as a parable
of soul and flesh, contrasts outward religious signs with inward love for God,
and asks God for discernment to distinguish true signs from deceptive ones.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Plants, foods, gems, cress, and roses are described as having different appointed
periods for maturation or effect.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The passage compares a theme to something that can be venomous or healthful,
lethal or remedial, blasphemous or holy rapture, depending on God’s will.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: Unripe grape juice is described as sour, ripened fruit as sweet and fragrant,
fermented wine as unclean, and vinegar as wholesome.
category: object
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: A saint swallowing poison is said to find it wholesome, while a disciple tasting
it is said to die.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: Solomon prays that power and kingdom be granted solely to him and not to another
after him, and the passage explains this as concern over the dangers of rule.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:6
text: The incident of man and wife is explicitly described as a parable of each
person’s soul and flesh.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:7
text: The wife is associated with household furnishings and bodily gratification;
the man is associated with soul and wisdom.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:8
text: Forms of worship and fasting are presented as outward signs connected with
love for God.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:9
text: Gifts and small presents exchanged by friends are described as signs of affection
rather than the essence of love.
category: object
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:10
text: A hypocrite is described as fasting, worshipping, and praying so that he may
seem to be a man of God.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:11
text: Discernment is described as an inner gracious gift of God rather than a function
of the senses.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:12
text: Love for God is described as being lighted in the human heart, burning fiercely,
and requiring no external sign.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:13
text: The passage says sense must be gathered from material outward form and gives
tree and water as examples whose natures appear different.
category: object
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Lord / God
description: The divine being who appoints terms, whose will determines effects,
who grants discernment, and toward whom love is directed.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:6
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Solomon
description: A king who prays that power and kingdom be granted only to him and
whose sagacity is needed to guard against errors in empire.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Abaddon
description: Named parenthetically as one to whom Solomon does not ask the kingdom
to be given.
role_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Saint
description: A spiritually advanced person for whom swallowed poison becomes wholesome.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Disciple
description: A learner or follower for whom tasting the same poison brings death.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Man / husband
description: The male partner in the man-and-wife incident, interpreted as the soul
and wisdom.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Wife
description: The female partner in the man-and-wife incident, interpreted as the
flesh and associated with domestic goods and bodily wants.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: Soul
description: The inward principle associated with the man, wisdom, and love for
God.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:9
name_or_label: Flesh
description: The bodily principle associated with the wife, desire for gratification,
and alternating submission and ambition.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:10
name_or_label: Hypocrite
description: A person who fasts, worships, and prays to appear to be a man of God
while not being one.
role_refs:
- role:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
roles:
- id: role:1
label: Appointer of terms and effects
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The passage attributes appointed terms and variable remedial or lethal effects
to divine will.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: role:2
label: Giver of discernment and object of love
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The passage prays to the Lord for discernment and describes love for God
in the human heart.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:3
label: Cautious king and intercessor
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Solomon requests a unique kingdom and is explained as seeking protection
from the dangers of rule.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:4
label: Spiritually capable recipient
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The saint can swallow poison and have it prove wholesome.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:5
label: Unready recipient
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The disciple’s tasting of poison results in death.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:6
label: Emblem of soul and wisdom
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: The passage says the man is the soul and wisdom in the parable.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:7
label: Emblem of flesh
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: The passage says the wife is the flesh and links her to household and bodily
desires.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:8
label: Inward lover of God
assigned_to:
- fig:8
basis: The soul is described as seeking to muse upon its love for God.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:9
label: Bodily desire principle
assigned_to:
- fig:9
basis: The flesh is described as seeking gratification and sometimes becoming submissive
or ambitious.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:10
label: False religious performer
assigned_to:
- fig:10
basis: The hypocrite performs fasting and prayer only to seem a man of God.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: Appointed term
literal_form: Fixed term or ripening period assigned to plants, food, ruby, cress,
and rose
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:2
label: Life’s water
literal_form: Words described as a life-giving water or fountain
associated_figures: []
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:3
label: Grape transformations
literal_form: Unripe grape juice, ripe fruit, fermented wine, and vinegar
associated_figures: []
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:4
label: Poison as medicine or death
literal_form: Poison swallowed by a saint and tasted by a disciple
associated_figures:
- fig:4
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:5
label: Earthly empire as snare
literal_form: Power, kingdom, earth’s empire, and rule described as dangerous trial
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:6
label: Man and wife pair
literal_form: Husband and wife in conflict, interpreted as soul and flesh
associated_figures:
- fig:6
- fig:7
- fig:8
- fig:9
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:7
label: Household goods
literal_form: Bed, board, comfort, furniture, and household garniture
associated_figures:
- fig:7
- fig:9
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:8
label: Outward religious signs
literal_form: Worship, fasting, gifts, and little presents as visible signs
associated_figures: []
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:9
label: Intoxicating wine
literal_form: Wine whose vapors rise into the head and disturb the witness
associated_figures: []
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:10
label: Inner burning love
literal_form: Love for God lighted in the human heart and burning fiercely
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:8
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:11
label: Tree and water
literal_form: Tree and water used as examples of outward forms with apparently different
natures
associated_figures: []
taxonomy_refs:
- tree
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Ripening and appointed terms
summary: The passage observes that created things mature or act over different appointed
spans, from quickly grown cress to slowly coloring ruby and rose.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Variable effects of one substance
summary: A teaching is illustrated through grape products that shift from sourness
to sweetness, impurity, and wholesomeness.
figure_refs: []
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:3
label: Poison and spiritual capacity
summary: Poison has opposite outcomes for saint and disciple, becoming wholesome
for one and deadly for the other.
figure_refs:
- fig:4
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:4
label: Solomon’s restricted kingdom
summary: Solomon’s prayer for a unique kingdom is interpreted as protective caution
because earthly rule endangers life, faith, and inward self.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:1
symbol_refs:
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:5
label: Man and wife as soul and flesh
summary: The man-and-wife narrative is identified as a parable of the soul and flesh,
whose conflict arises from embodied existence.
figure_refs:
- fig:6
- fig:7
- fig:8
- fig:9
symbol_refs:
- sym:6
- sym:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: scene:6
label: Signs of love and false performance
summary: Worship, fasting, and gifts are treated as outward signs; a hypocrite may
imitate such signs to appear holy.
figure_refs:
- fig:10
symbol_refs:
- sym:8
- sym:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: scene:7
label: Discernment and love as its own sign
summary: The speaker prays for divine discernment, distinguishes inner judgment
from sense perception, and says love for God needs no external sign.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:8
symbol_refs:
- sym:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: scene:8
label: Outward form and meaning
summary: The passage notes that meaning must be gathered from material outward forms
and mentions tree and water as visibly different examples.
figure_refs: []
symbol_refs:
- sym:11
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: Ripening through appointed time
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The passage teaches through plant, fruit, and gem examples that things require
appointed terms before reaching proper state or effect.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
confidence: medium
cautions: The taxonomy reference is broad; the passage is didactic rather than narrative
myth.
- id: motif:2
label: Same substance as poison or remedy according to spiritual capacity
taxonomy_refs:
- initiation
- wisdom
basis: The passage states that poison can be wholesome to a saint but deadly to
a disciple, and that a teaching may be lethal or remedial by God’s will.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage gives moral-theological analogy, not an initiation rite in
explicit narrative form.
- id: motif:3
label: Dangerous sovereignty requiring divine wisdom
taxonomy_refs:
- royal_legitimacy
- wisdom
basis: Solomon’s unique kingdom is explained as dangerous unless accompanied by
sufficient power and sagacity to prevent misrule and spiritual peril.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage interprets a prayer about kingship; it does not narrate royal
consecration or succession.
- id: motif:4
label: Soul and flesh as warring pair
taxonomy_refs:
- duality
basis: The passage explicitly says the man and wife are a parable of soul and flesh,
existing together and continually at war in earthly life.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
confidence: high
cautions: The gendered emblems are passage-specific and should not be generalized
beyond the supplied text without review.
- id: motif:5
label: Outward signs versus inward reality
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: Worship, fasting, gifts, and other visible actions are treated as signs that
may be true or false, requiring inner divine discernment.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: This is a didactic pattern rather than a discrete mythic episode.
- id: motif:6
label: Divine love as self-evident inner fire
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_beloved
basis: Love for God is described as kindled in the heart, burning fiercely, and
requiring no external sign because love is its own sign.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
confidence: medium
cautions: The available symbol taxonomy includes fire, but the passage uses lighting
and burning imagery without naming fire directly.
- id: motif:7
label: Exchange of gifts as sign rather than essence of love
taxonomy_refs:
- sacred_exchange
basis: The passage says gifts and little presents exchanged by friends are outward
witnesses of affection, not love’s essence.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
confidence: low
cautions: The exchange is an analogy between friends, not explicitly a sacred transaction.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: The passage explicitly compares the man-and-wife narrative to an inner soul-flesh
pattern, assigning the man to soul and wisdom and the wife to flesh.
claim_level: same_function
target: soul-flesh duality pattern
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: high
limitations: This is an internal allegorical comparison within the passage, not
evidence of historical contact with another tradition.
- id: claim:2
claim: The passage’s treatment of fasting, worship, and gifts presents a general
pattern in which outward signs may indicate or counterfeit inward reality.
claim_level: same_function
target: outward sign versus inward truth pattern
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The passage supports the functional pattern but does not compare it
to a named external corpus or tradition.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: 11331-11343
quote_or_summary: Plants, food, ruby, cress, and rose are said to have fixed appointed
terms; the words of holy writ are likened to life’s water or a life-giving fount.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized from supplied passage.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: 11344-11360
quote_or_summary: A further theme may be venomous or healthful, lethal or remedial;
grape juice, ripe fruit, fermented wine, and vinegar illustrate changing qualities.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized from supplied passage.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: 11361-11372
quote_or_summary: A saint’s poison becomes wholesome while a disciple’s poison is
deadly; Solomon prays for a unique kingdom because earthly empire is dangerous
to life, faith, and inward self.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized from supplied passage.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: 11373-11382
quote_or_summary: The man-and-wife incident is said to be a parable of soul and
flesh; wife/flesh seeks household goods and gratification, while man/soul/wisdom
seeks love for God.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized from supplied passage.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: 11383-11391
quote_or_summary: Forms of worship, fasting, and exchanged gifts are outward signs
rather than the essence of love; a witness may be true or false, and a hypocrite
performs piety to seem godly.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized from supplied passage.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: 11392-11398
quote_or_summary: The speaker prays for discernment, calls it an inner gift of God,
and says love for God burns in the heart and is its own sign.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized from supplied passage.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: 11399-11443
quote_or_summary: The passage says meaning must be gathered from outward material
form, mentions tree and water as apparently different, and turns back to the Arab
and his wife.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized from supplied passage.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: medium
notes: Extraction is based only on the supplied passage. Motif labels are cautious
because the passage is primarily didactic and allegorical rather than a continuous
mythic narrative.
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 external sources or unstated comparisons were used. Available taxonomy refs were applied only where directly supported by the passage wording or explicit allegory.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:sufi-rumi-mesnevi-book-1-redhouse-gutenberg__l11331-l11443
passage_sha256=c23ce505e7cd079557795c19c24db06a6af8ae1c7f59660b807a5311f7ce5175