batch.motif.sufi-rumi-mesnevi-book-1-redhouse-gutenberg-l14441-l14476
---
record_id: batch.motif.sufi-rumi-mesnevi-book-1-redhouse-gutenberg-l14441-l14476
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
passage_locator:
label: THE ALL-MERCIFUL, THE VERY-COMPASSIONATE. / VIII. / XIII. / XVII.; lines
14441-14476
start: '14441'
end: '14476'
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 presents a concluding reflection using images of sinful eating,
wheat, bread, thorn, camel, muddy water, spring, and divine purification to contrast
life-giving spiritual word with harmful materialized word and to counsel patient
waiting on God.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: A poor morsel tasted through sin and a grain of wheat are said to impair thought
and eclipse the mind.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: A green thorn eaten by a camel gives pleasure and nutriment, while the same
thorn when dry wounds the mouth of a starving beast and draws blood.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: The word of life is identified with the green, tender, juicy thorn; when it
becomes material, it is dry and hard.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: The addressed human flesh or human camel is described as biting at the material
word or hard dictum and finding it stone-like, wounding, and bloody.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:5
text: Words are said to be mixed with troubling thoughts of earth, making the water
muddy and requiring the spring to be closed.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:6
text: The speaker counsels waiting until the Lord makes the water clear and sweet,
purifies the inky stream, and adds patience to wish.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: speaker
description: The poetic voice giving admonition and counsel.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:6
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: human addressee
description: Addressed as poor flesh and as a human camel seeking food from the
word material.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: camel or starving beast
description: Animal figure that eats a thorn; nourished by the green thorn but wounded
by the dry thorn.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: the Lord / God
description: Divine figure who can make the muddy water clear and sweet and purify
the inky stream.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
roles:
- id: role:1
label: admonishing teacher
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The voice commands the addressee to shun the harmful material word and wait
contentedly.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:6
- id: role:2
label: vulnerable seeker of nourishment
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The addressee expects the living word but bites at the material word and
is wounded.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:3
label: eater of thorn
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The camel or beast is used to show the difference between nourishing green
thorn and injurious dry thorn.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:4
label: divine purifier
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The Lord is said to make the water clear and sweet and to purify the inky
stream.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: sinful morsel and grain of wheat
literal_form: A poor morsel and one grain of wheat tasted through sin.
associated_figures: []
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:2
label: eclipse of mind
literal_form: Sun of mind eclipsed and full moon dulled by dragon's tail.
associated_figures: []
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:3
label: bread of life and material bread
literal_form: Bread of life gives power; material bread excites distrusts and contentions.
associated_figures: []
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:4
label: green and dry thorn
literal_form: A thorn that is nourishing while green but wounding when dry.
associated_figures:
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: sym:5
label: material word as stone or weapon
literal_form: The hard dictum becomes horny, flinty, stone-like, wounding, and blood-drawing.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:6
label: muddy water, spring, and inky stream
literal_form: Muddy water, a spring to be closed, and an inky stream to be purified.
associated_figures:
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Sinful morsel dims thought
summary: A small act of sinful eating is described as freezing the fountain of thought
and eclipsing the mind.
figure_refs: []
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Thorn as nourishment or injury
summary: The passage contrasts a green thorn that nourishes a camel with a dry thorn
that wounds a starving beast.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:3
label: Materialized word wounds the seeker
summary: The word of life is likened to the green thorn, but the material word is
hard and injures the human addressee who bites it.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: scene:4
label: Muddy words await divine purification
summary: Words mixed with earthly thoughts are compared to muddy water; the speaker
counsels patient waiting for God to purify the stream.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: Sinful food obstructs spiritual understanding
taxonomy_refs:
- forbidden_knowledge
basis: A morsel tasted through sin and a grain of wheat are described as obscuring
thought and mind.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage is aphoristic and allusive; it does not narrate a full forbidden-food
myth within this excerpt.
- id: motif:2
label: Life-giving word versus harmful materialized word
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The word of life is nourishing like a green thorn, while the material word
becomes hard, stone-like, and wounding.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
confidence: high
cautions: This is an interpretive motif candidate based on the passage's explicit
metaphorical contrast.
- id: motif:3
label: Divine purification of muddied speech or thought
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: Words are said to be muddied by earthly thoughts, and the Lord is expected
to make the water clear and purify the stream.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
confidence: medium
cautions: The purification is expressed through metaphor rather than a narrated
ritual or mythic event.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: 14441-14476, XVII, opening lines
quote_or_summary: A sinful morsel and a grain of wheat are said to congeal thought,
eclipse the mind, and contrast bread of life with material bread.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain; source metadata allows full text use.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: 14441-14476, XVII, thorn and camel image
quote_or_summary: A green thorn gives a camel pleasure and nourishment, while a
dry thorn wounds a starving beast's mouth and draws blood.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain; source metadata allows full text use.
- id: ev:3
type: quote
locator: 14441-14476, XVII, word of life image
quote_or_summary: '"The word of life''s the green, the tender, juicy thorn."'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain; source metadata allows quotation.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: 14441-14476, XVII, human camel admonition
quote_or_summary: The addressee bites at the material word and hard dictum, finds
it flinty and wounding, and is told to shun it as a human camel.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain; source metadata allows full text use.
- id: ev:5
type: quote
locator: 14441-14476, XVII, muddy water image
quote_or_summary: '"The water''s muddy. Close the spring whence it comes forth."'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain; source metadata allows quotation.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: 14441-14476, XVII, closing counsel
quote_or_summary: The speaker counsels waiting until the Lord makes the water clear
and sweet, purifies the inky stream, and adds patience to wish.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain; source metadata allows full text use.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: uncertain
notes: Literal images and roles are clear, but motif-family assignments are interpretive
because the passage is didactic and metaphorical rather than a narrative myth.
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 passage itself does not explicitly support comparison to another text or tradition.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:sufi-rumi-mesnevi-book-1-redhouse-gutenberg__l14441-l14476
passage_sha256=2e454b0cefa65221b26bb5a152e5200632311e60a020feb9772d4d1b3764c6b9