Comparative mythology corpus

batch.motif.sufi-rumi-mesnevi-book-1-redhouse-gutenberg-l2177-l2298

batch.motif.sufi-rumi-mesnevi-book-1-redhouse-gutenberg-l2177-l2298

---
record_id: batch.motif.sufi-rumi-mesnevi-book-1-redhouse-gutenberg-l2177-l2298
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
passage_locator:
  label: THE ACTS OF THE ADEPTS / CHAPTER I. / CHAPTER II. / CHAPTER III.; lines 2177-2298
  start: '2177'
  end: '2298'
  translation: The Mesnevi
  notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
    human review required.
canonical_text:
  quote: ''
  summary: 'A sequence of hagiographic episodes about Jelāl: a freed merchant returns
    to his teacher and is admonished toward lawful earning and contentment; Christian
    individuals and groups convert after encounters with Jelāl; a disciple privately
    wonders about miracles and receives a pebble that appears as a ruby; and a newly
    arrived learned sheykh is answered by Jelāl at a distance through an apostrophe
    and parable.'
  language: English
  quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
  text: After the Firengī prince recovers, the young merchant asks for freedom and
    leave to return home to his teacher.
  category: action
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:1
- id: obs:2
  text: The merchant recounts his disobedience, vision, and Jelāl’s assistance, after
    which the Firengī audience becomes believers in Jelāl without seeing him.
  category: sequence
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:1
- id: obs:3
  text: On returning, the merchant falls at Jelāl’s feet, kisses them, rubs his face
    on them, and weeps.
  category: action
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:2
- id: obs:4
  text: Jelāl tells the merchant to remain at home, earn lawfully, and take contentment
    as an exemplar after the hardships of sea, ship, captivity, and dungeon.
  category: speech
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:2
- id: obs:5
  text: Jelāl questions a Christian monk about whether the monk or his beard is older,
    then interprets the monk as spiritually immature.
  category: speech
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:3
- id: obs:6
  text: The monk renounces his rope girdle, professes Islam, and becomes a believer.
  category: action
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:3
- id: obs:7
  text: Jelāl’s disciples express aversion toward black-habited Christian priests
    or monks approaching from a distance.
  category: speech
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:4
- id: obs:8
  text: Jelāl describes the black-habited ones as walking in darkness and misbelief,
    but says they will become believers if the sun of righteousness rises on them.
  category: speech
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:4
- id: obs:9
  text: The approaching priests or monks bow to Jelāl, converse with him, and profess
    themselves Muslims.
  category: action
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:5
- id: obs:10
  text: At Husām’s country-seat, Jelāl and his friends hold a festival of holy music
    and dancing until near daybreak.
  category: setting
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:6
- id: obs:11
  text: A disciple privately reflects on miracles of prophets and saints and wonders
    whether Jelāl performs miracles quietly.
  category: action
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:7
- id: obs:12
  text: Jelāl calls the disciple by name, picks up a pebble, places it on the back
    of his hand, and gives it to him.
  category: action
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:8
- id: obs:13
  text: The disciple examines the pebble by moonlight and sees it as a clear, brilliant,
    large ruby.
  category: object
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:9
- id: obs:14
  text: Jelāl instructs the disciple to take the stone to the queen, who accepts it
    and gives silver and gifts in return.
  category: sequence
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:10
- id: obs:15
  text: A newly arrived learned sheykh is offended that Jelāl does not visit him and
    cites the adage that the newly arrived one is visited.
  category: speech
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:11
- id: obs:16
  text: Jelāl, while expounding in a country mosque, addresses the absent sheykh and
    says he himself is the newly arrived one whom others should visit.
  category: speech
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:11
- id: obs:17
  text: Jelāl gives a parable asking whether a man arriving from Bagdād or a man leaving
    his own house should pay the first visit.
  category: speech
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:12
figures:
- id: fig:1
  name_or_label: Firengī prince
  description: A prince who recovers health and grants the young merchant a request.
  role_refs:
  - role:1
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:1
- id: fig:2
  name_or_label: Young merchant
  description: A merchant who had disobeyed, endured sea travel, ship trouble, captivity,
    and dungeon darkness, then returned to Jelāl.
  role_refs:
  - role:2
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:1
  - ev:2
- id: fig:3
  name_or_label: Jelāl
  description: The teacher and central holy figure who admonishes, converts, interprets,
    performs or reveals a miracle, and answers an absent scholar.
  role_refs:
  - role:3
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:1
  - ev:2
  - ev:3
  - ev:5
  - ev:8
  - ev:11
  - ev:12
- id: fig:4
  name_or_label: Audience of Firengīs
  description: A group that becomes believers in Jelāl after hearing the merchant’s
    account, without seeing Jelāl.
  role_refs:
  - role:4
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:1
- id: fig:5
  name_or_label: Christian monk
  description: A monk who bows to Jelāl, answers the beard question, renounces his
    rope girdle, and professes Islam.
  role_refs:
  - role:4
  - role:5
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:3
- id: fig:6
  name_or_label: Black-habited Christian priests or monks
  description: A company coming from a distant place; they bow to Jelāl, converse
    with him, and profess themselves Muslims.
  role_refs:
  - role:4
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:4
  - ev:5
- id: fig:7
  name_or_label: Jelāl’s disciples and followers
  description: Followers who react to the black-habited group, bow and rejoice at
    Jelāl’s explanation, and attend the country-seat gathering.
  role_refs:
  - role:6
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:4
  - ev:5
  - ev:6
- id: fig:8
  name_or_label: Narrating disciple
  description: A disciple who observes Jelāl after the festival, thinks about miracles,
    receives the stone, and reports what happened.
  role_refs:
  - role:6
  - role:7
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:7
  - ev:8
  - ev:9
  - ev:10
- id: fig:9
  name_or_label: Queen
  description: A royal recipient who accepts the ruby, has it valued, and gives silver
    and gifts.
  role_refs:
  - role:8
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:10
- id: fig:10
  name_or_label: Newly arrived sheykh
  description: A learned sheykh of reputation who comes to Qonya and is offended that
    Jelāl does not visit him first.
  role_refs:
  - role:9
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:11
  - ev:12
roles:
- id: role:1
  label: recovered patron or releaser
  assigned_to:
  - fig:1
  basis: The recovered prince grants the merchant’s request for freedom and return.
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:1
- id: role:2
  label: returning disciple after hardship
  assigned_to:
  - fig:2
  basis: The merchant returns to Jelāl after disobedience, vision, travel, captivity,
    and dungeon hardship.
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:1
  - ev:2
- id: role:3
  label: saintly teacher and wonder-worker
  assigned_to:
  - fig:3
  basis: Jelāl admonishes disciples, occasions conversions, gives a pebble seen as
    a ruby, and addresses an absent sheykh.
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:2
  - ev:3
  - ev:5
  - ev:8
  - ev:9
  - ev:11
- id: role:4
  label: converts or new believers
  assigned_to:
  - fig:4
  - fig:5
  - fig:6
  basis: Each is described as becoming a believer or professing Islam after Jelāl-related
    events.
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:1
  - ev:3
  - ev:5
- id: role:5
  label: admonished monk
  assigned_to:
  - fig:5
  basis: The monk receives Jelāl’s rebuke concerning beard and maturity before renouncing
    his girdle.
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:3
- id: role:6
  label: disciples and witnesses
  assigned_to:
  - fig:7
  - fig:8
  basis: They accompany Jelāl, react to events, hear his speech, or witness reported
    miracles.
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:4
  - ev:5
  - ev:6
  - ev:9
- id: role:7
  label: miracle recipient
  assigned_to:
  - fig:8
  basis: The narrating disciple receives the pebble that he sees as a ruby.
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:8
  - ev:9
- id: role:8
  label: royal patron
  assigned_to:
  - fig:9
  basis: The queen accepts and values the ruby and gives silver and gifts.
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:10
- id: role:9
  label: offended learned rival
  assigned_to:
  - fig:10
  basis: The newly arrived sheykh objects publicly that Jelāl has not visited him.
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:11
symbols:
- id: sym:1
  label: feet of the teacher
  literal_form: Jelāl’s two feet, embraced and kissed by the merchant
  associated_figures:
  - fig:2
  - fig:3
  taxonomy_refs: []
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:2
- id: sym:2
  label: hardship places and conveyance
  literal_form: sea, ship, captivity, and dungeon
  associated_figures:
  - fig:2
  - fig:3
  taxonomy_refs:
  - water
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:2
- id: sym:3
  label: beard as sign of maturity in speech
  literal_form: the monk’s beard, said to be twenty years younger than the monk
  associated_figures:
  - fig:3
  - fig:5
  taxonomy_refs: []
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:3
- id: sym:4
  label: renounced rope girdle
  literal_form: the monk’s rope girdle, thrown away
  associated_figures:
  - fig:5
  taxonomy_refs: []
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:3
- id: sym:5
  label: black habit and darkness language
  literal_form: black garments and Jelāl’s language of darkness and misbelief
  associated_figures:
  - fig:3
  - fig:6
  - fig:7
  taxonomy_refs: []
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:4
  - ev:5
- id: sym:6
  label: light and sun of righteousness
  literal_form: the sun of righteousness, light, and darkness in Jelāl’s speech
  associated_figures:
  - fig:3
  - fig:6
  - fig:7
  taxonomy_refs: []
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:4
  - ev:5
- id: sym:7
  label: pebble or ruby
  literal_form: a pebble picked from the earth and seen by the disciple as a clear
    brilliant ruby
  associated_figures:
  - fig:3
  - fig:8
  - fig:9
  taxonomy_refs: []
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:8
  - ev:9
  - ev:10
- id: sym:8
  label: moonlight inspection
  literal_form: moonlight by which the disciple examines the stone
  associated_figures:
  - fig:8
  taxonomy_refs: []
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:9
scenes:
- id: scene:1
  label: Merchant released and returned to Jelāl
  summary: After the prince’s recovery, the merchant is freed, returns homeward, goes
    first to Jelāl, performs reverence, and receives instruction on lawful earning
    and contentment.
  figure_refs:
  - fig:1
  - fig:2
  - fig:3
  - fig:4
  symbol_refs:
  - sym:1
  - sym:2
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:1
  - ev:2
- id: scene:2
  label: Monk admonished through beard question
  summary: Jelāl meets a Christian monk, uses the monk’s beard to speak about immaturity,
    and the monk renounces his rope girdle and professes Islam.
  figure_refs:
  - fig:3
  - fig:5
  symbol_refs:
  - sym:3
  - sym:4
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:3
- id: scene:3
  label: Black-habited group and light-darkness teaching
  summary: Disciples disparage approaching black-habited Christian priests or monks;
    Jelāl reframes them in a speech using darkness, light, and righteousness, after
    which the group professes Islam.
  figure_refs:
  - fig:3
  - fig:6
  - fig:7
  symbol_refs:
  - sym:5
  - sym:6
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:4
  - ev:5
- id: scene:4
  label: Country-seat festival before the miracle
  summary: At Husām’s country-seat, Jelāl and companions hold holy music and dancing
    until near daybreak, then rest while the narrator remains awake watching Jelāl.
  figure_refs:
  - fig:3
  - fig:7
  - fig:8
  symbol_refs: []
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:6
  - ev:7
- id: scene:5
  label: Pebble revealed as ruby
  summary: After the narrator thinks about prophetic and saintly miracles, Jelāl calls
    him, gives him a pebble, and the disciple sees it as a magnificent ruby by moonlight.
  figure_refs:
  - fig:3
  - fig:8
  symbol_refs:
  - sym:7
  - sym:8
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:7
  - ev:8
  - ev:9
- id: scene:6
  label: Ruby taken to the queen
  summary: Jelāl instructs the disciple to take the stone to the queen; she accepts
    it, has it valued, and gives silver and gifts.
  figure_refs:
  - fig:3
  - fig:8
  - fig:9
  symbol_refs:
  - sym:7
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:10
- id: scene:7
  label: Absent sheykh answered by apostrophe and parable
  summary: A learned sheykh complains that Jelāl has not visited him; Jelāl, elsewhere
    in a country mosque, responds as if addressing him and then offers a parable about
    who should visit first.
  figure_refs:
  - fig:3
  - fig:7
  - fig:10
  symbol_refs: []
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:11
  - ev:12
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
  label: return to the teacher after ordeal
  taxonomy_refs:
  - return
  - initiation
  basis: The merchant returns to Jelāl after disobedience, vision, sea travel, ship
    commotion, captivity, and dungeon darkness, then receives moral instruction.
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:1
  - ev:2
  confidence: medium
  cautions: The passage presents this as a moral hagiographic episode rather than
    a full formal initiation narrative.
- id: motif:2
  label: conversion through saintly presence or speech
  taxonomy_refs:
  - wisdom
  basis: The Firengī audience believes after the merchant’s report, the monk converts
    after Jelāl’s rebuke, and the black-habited group professes Islam after conversing
    with Jelāl.
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:1
  - ev:3
  - ev:5
  confidence: high
  cautions: The motif is extracted from the passage’s religious viewpoint and should
    not be generalized beyond this text without comparison.
- id: motif:3
  label: light overcoming darkness as religious transformation
  taxonomy_refs:
  - duality
  basis: Jelāl describes the priests or monks as walking in darkness and says the
    sun of righteousness will make them believers; he later says God swallows darkness
    in light and light in darkness.
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:4
  - ev:5
  confidence: high
  cautions: The imagery is explicitly theological in the passage and may be polemical.
- id: motif:4
  label: hidden saintly miracle revealed to a doubting disciple
  taxonomy_refs:
  - wisdom
  basis: A disciple wonders whether Jelāl works miracles secretly; Jelāl immediately
    calls him, gives him a pebble, and the disciple sees it as a ruby.
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:7
  - ev:8
  - ev:9
  confidence: high
  cautions: The passage does not specify whether the event is transformation, revelation,
    or miraculous perception.
- id: motif:5
  label: saint outranking the learned newcomer
  taxonomy_refs:
  - wisdom
  basis: A prestigious newly arrived sheykh expects a visit, but Jelāl replies from
    afar that he is the true newly arrived one whom others should visit, then supports
    this with a parable.
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:11
  - ev:12
  confidence: medium
  cautions: The episode establishes authority through speech and distance-awareness,
    but the mechanics are not explained.
- id: motif:6
  label: sacred gift becoming worldly wealth
  taxonomy_refs:
  - sacred_exchange
  basis: The stone received from Jelāl is carried to the queen and exchanged for a
    large amount of silver and gifts that also benefit the fraternity.
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:8
  - ev:9
  - ev:10
  confidence: medium
  cautions: The exchange is mediated by a royal figure; the passage does not frame
    it explicitly as sacrifice or ritual exchange.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
  claim: The ruby episode can be cautiously compared by function to saintly and prophetic
    miracle traditions because the disciple explicitly frames his thought in terms
    of miracles performed by prophets and saints before Jelāl gives the stone.
  claim_level: same_function
  target: prophetic and saintly miracle traditions mentioned inside the passage
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:7
  - ev:8
  - ev:9
  counter_evidence_refs: []
  confidence: medium
  limitations: The passage provides only an internal comparison made by the disciple;
    it does not identify a specific external miracle story.
- id: claim:2
  claim: Jelāl’s light-and-darkness speech shares a conversion/guidance function with
    light-versus-darkness religious imagery because the passage links darkness with
    misbelief and light with becoming believers.
  claim_level: same_function
  target: light-versus-darkness guidance imagery within the passage’s religious discourse
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:4
  - ev:5
  counter_evidence_refs: []
  confidence: medium
  limitations: This is a functional comparison of imagery, not a claim of historical
    origin or dependence.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
  type: summary
  locator: lines 2177-2186
  quote_or_summary: The recovered Firengī prince invites the merchant to ask a wish;
    the merchant asks freedom and return to his teacher, recounts disobedience, vision,
    and Jelāl’s help, and the Firengī audience becomes believers in Jelāl without
    seeing him.
  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 2187-2201
  quote_or_summary: The merchant goes first to Jelāl, falls at his feet, kisses and
    rubs his face on them, weeps, and is told to remain home, earn lawfully, and take
    contentment as his exemplar after sea, ship, captivity, and dungeon hardships.
  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: Chapter 32, lines 2202-2214
  quote_or_summary: Jelāl meets a Christian monk, asks whether the monk or his beard
    is older, rebukes the monk as immature, and the monk renounces his rope girdle
    and professes Islam.
  source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
  rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:4
  type: summary
  locator: Chapter 33, lines 2215-2235
  quote_or_summary: Disciples express aversion toward black-habited Christian priests
    or monks; Jelāl calls them generous in relinquishing Islamic goods and says they
    walk in darkness and misbelief but will become believers if the sun of righteousness
    rises on them.
  source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
  rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:5
  type: summary
  locator: Chapter 33, lines 2236-2242
  quote_or_summary: The approaching priests or monks bow to Jelāl, converse with him,
    profess themselves true Muslims, and Jelāl tells the disciples that God swallows
    darkness in light and light in darkness, and makes a place for light in darkness.
  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: Chapter 34, lines 2243-2249
  quote_or_summary: Jelāl and his friends go to Husām’s country-seat and hold a festival
    of holy music and dancing until near daybreak, after which Jelāl stops to let
    the followers rest.
  source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
  rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:7
  type: summary
  locator: Chapter 34, lines 2250-2260
  quote_or_summary: The narrator stays awake observing Jelāl while others sleep and
    thinks about miracles of prophets and saints, wondering whether Jelāl works miracles
    but keeps them quiet.
  source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
  rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:8
  type: summary
  locator: Chapter 34, lines 2261-2267
  quote_or_summary: Jelāl calls the disciple by name, stoops, picks up a pebble, places
    it on the back of his hand, and gives it to the disciple as his portion with a
    Qur’anic citation.
  source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
  rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:9
  type: summary
  locator: Chapter 34, lines 2268-2276
  quote_or_summary: By moonlight the disciple sees the pebble as a large, clear, brilliant
    ruby; he is astonished, cries out, swoons, awakens the company, and later expresses
    contrition to Jelāl.
  source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
  rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:10
  type: summary
  locator: Chapter 34, lines 2277-2283
  quote_or_summary: Jelāl tells the disciple to take the stone to the queen and explain
    its origin; she accepts it, has it valued, gives him silver and gifts, and distributes
    presents to the fraternity.
  source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
  rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:11
  type: summary
  locator: Chapter 35, lines 2284-2294
  quote_or_summary: A learned sheykh arrives in Qonya and is offended Jelāl does not
    visit; while Jelāl is expounding in a country mosque, he suddenly addresses the
    sheykh as his brother and says Jelāl is the newly arrived one whom others should
    visit.
  source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
  rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:12
  type: summary
  locator: Chapter 35, lines 2295-2298
  quote_or_summary: Jelāl’s audience wonders who he addressed, and Jelāl gives a parable
    asking whether a man from Bagdād or one who merely went out from his house should
    pay the first visit.
  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: medium
  notes: The passage is clear at the episode level. Motif labels are cautious because
    the supplied taxonomy has broad categories and the passage is primarily hagiographic
    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: '2026-04-28'
notes: |-
  Used only the supplied passage and metadata; quotations were avoided in favor of concise public-domain summaries.
  batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
  custom_id=motif_extract:sufi-rumi-mesnevi-book-1-redhouse-gutenberg__l2177-l2298
  passage_sha256=5aa370cad11117f55a65e100677800e5ed350712c88a05a30e074b148771b6e6