batch.motif.sufi-rumi-mesnevi-book-1-redhouse-gutenberg-l14407-l14438
---
record_id: batch.motif.sufi-rumi-mesnevi-book-1-redhouse-gutenberg-l14407-l14438
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
passage_locator:
label: IN THE NAME OF GOD, / THE ALL-MERCIFUL, THE VERY-COMPASSIONATE. / VIII. /
XIII.; lines 14407-14438
start: '14407'
end: '14438'
translation: The Mesnevi
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: "“The sword of wisdom’s sharper than the finest steel; / Its words more efficacious
than an army’s wheel.”"
summary: The Prince of all Believers explains that he withheld violence after being
spat upon because his anger had mixed with zeal for God. The Magian chief is inwardly
illuminated, praises the prince as a just guide, asks to learn his creed, and
his household embraces Islam. The narrator concludes that wisdom averts death
and breaks fetters more effectively than weapons.
language: English
quote_policy: quoted
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The Prince of all Believers addresses the chief calmly after a brief contest.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The speaker says the chief spat upon him, arousing his anger and disrupting
his patience.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: The speaker says his zeal for God was partly mixed with personal anger.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: The speaker says the chief belongs to God and was fashioned by a divine hand,
so defacing God's work should occur only by God's decree.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: The Magian experiences light flashing on his heart and soul, and misbelief
is described as rolling away like fog.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:6
text: The Magian praises the prince as equitable, kin, brother, ray of light, and
guide.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:7
text: The Magian asks the prince to teach him the motto of his creed.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:8
text: Fifty members of the Magian's household embrace the law of Islam.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:9
text: The narrator says the hero's decisive wisdom averts death, breaks slavery's
fetters, and is sharper and more effective than steel or an army.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Prince of all Believers
description: A calm speaker in a contest who restrains violence after his anger
is aroused and is later praised as guide and source of light-derived instruction.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:8
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Magian chief
description: The chief and former opponent who spat on the prince, hears his explanation,
undergoes inward illumination, praises him, and asks to learn his creed.
role_refs:
- role:2
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: God
description: The divine being to whom the chief belongs, by whose hand he is fashioned,
and by whose decree defacement of God's work should occur.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Fifty members of the Magian's household
description: Members of the Magian's household, stock, and race who embrace Islam
with zealous love.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
roles:
- id: role:1
label: restrained combatant
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: He withholds destructive action because anger has mixed with zeal for God.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: role:2
label: former opponent
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: He spat upon the prince during the contest and is addressed afterward.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:3
label: spiritual guide
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The Magian asks him to teach the creed and calls him the guide he needs.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: role:4
label: converts
assigned_to:
- fig:2
- fig:4
basis: The Magian asks for instruction in the creed, and fifty of his household
embrace Islam.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: role:5
label: divine maker and authority
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The passage says the chief was fashioned by a divine hand, belongs to God,
and should only be defaced by God's decree.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: anger's fire
literal_form: fire used as an image for anger
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs:
- fire
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:2
label: divine light
literal_form: light, ray, beam, and Source of light imagery
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: sym:3
label: just balance
literal_form: balance and balance-bowl imagery for equity
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:4
label: glorious sea and pearls
literal_form: Sea casting pearls ashore
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:5
label: God's pitcher
literal_form: pitcher as image for God's work that should not be broken except by
God's decree
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:6
label: sword of wisdom
literal_form: sword compared with wisdom and steel
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Explanation after provocation
summary: The Prince of all Believers explains to the chief that the chief's spit
aroused anger in him, creating an improper mixture of zeal for God and personal
anger; therefore he does not act destructively against God's work except by divine
decree.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: scene:2
label: Illumination and request for guidance
summary: The Magian hears the explanation, experiences inner illumination, repudiates
his previous wrongfulness, praises the prince through images of balance, kinship,
light, sea, and pearls, and asks to learn his creed.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:3
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: scene:3
label: Household conversion and wisdom conclusion
summary: Fifty members of the Magian's household embrace Islam, and the narrator
concludes that the hero's wisdom averts death and breaks fetters more effectively
than weapons or armies.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: wisdom stronger than weapons
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The passage explicitly states that decisive wisdom averts death, breaks fetters,
and is sharper and more effective than steel or an army.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
confidence: high
cautions: This is a passage-level motif candidate; broader placement in the Mesnevi
requires review.
- id: motif:2
label: restraint after provocation transforms an enemy
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The prince restrains action after being spat upon because anger would corrupt
zeal for God; the opponent then undergoes inward change and seeks instruction.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:6
confidence: medium
cautions: The label summarizes the local narrative pattern and is not a supplied
taxonomy ID.
- id: motif:3
label: spiritual conversion through just conduct
taxonomy_refs:
- initiation
basis: The Magian is moved by the prince's equitable conduct, asks to learn the
creed, and his household embraces Islam.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage shows conversion and instruction, but fuller initiation details
are not present.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: quote
locator: 14407-14411
quote_or_summary: The Prince of all Believers addresses the chief calmly and says
that when the chief spat upon him, his anger was aroused and his patience was
wrecked.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; brief summary used.
- id: ev:2
type: quote
locator: 14412-14414
quote_or_summary: "“Half warmed with zeal for God, half stirred with anger’s fire,
/ Unholy partnership was formed ’twixt truth and ire.”"
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; brief quotation used.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: 14415-14418
quote_or_summary: The prince says the chief was fashioned by a divine hand, belongs
to God, and that breaking God's pitcher requires seeing a stone of God by God's
decree.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary used.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: 14419-14421
quote_or_summary: The Magian hears; light flashes on his heart and soul, and clouds
of misbelief roll away like fog.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary used.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: 14422-14431
quote_or_summary: The Magian says he has sown wrongfulness, praises the prince as
a just balance, brother, ray lighting his path, and one deriving a beam from a
Source of light and billows from a glorious Sea.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary used.
- id: ev:6
type: quote
locator: 14432-14433
quote_or_summary: "“Teach me to formulate the motto of thy creed; / For, henceforth
thou’rt my guide, of whom I stand in need.”"
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; brief quotation used.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: 14434-14435
quote_or_summary: Fifty members of the Magian's household, stock, and race embrace
the noble law of Islam with zealous love.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary used.
- id: ev:8
type: quote
locator: 14436-14438
quote_or_summary: The hero's decisive wisdom averts death and breaks slavery's fetters;
“The sword of wisdom’s sharper than the finest steel.”
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; brief quotation used.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: uncertain
notes: Literal narrative elements are clear in the supplied passage. Motif candidates
are limited to local evidence and available taxonomy references; no explicit cross-tradition
comparison is made in 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: |-
Used only the supplied passage and metadata; no external identification of the Prince of all Believers was added.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:sufi-rumi-mesnevi-book-1-redhouse-gutenberg__l14407-l14438
passage_sha256=a8fbad6bb505ce4e08c1859f6035b6d71b717521a0a459cf8efb1d8b22b8a011