batch.motif.sufi-rumi-mesnevi-book-1-redhouse-gutenberg-l6651-l6753
---
record_id: batch.motif.sufi-rumi-mesnevi-book-1-redhouse-gutenberg-l6651-l6753
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
passage_locator:
label: OF QONYA. / PREFACE. / IN THE NAME OF GOD, / THE ALL-MERCIFUL, THE VERY-COMPASSIONATE.;
lines 6651-6753
start: '6651'
end: '6753'
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 first describes divine power transforming danger, hatred, and
ruin into healing, love, and hidden treasure. It then narrates a Vazir withdrawing
into solitude, causing his followers and twelve captains to plead for his return.
He refuses, instructing them to turn from outward senses and speech toward inward
hearing and communion with God. The disciples answer that they are weak, like
infants needing milk or unfledged birds, and depend on his voice and teaching.
He concludes that their prayers will not prevail and that he remains in solitude,
communing with God and resigned to divine will.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Divine agency is described as changing crafty wiles into good, poisons into
healing, hatred into love, thorns into roses, and ruin into a place of hidden
treasure.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The passage states that God safely carries a chosen friend through fire and
turns fear of death into peace of mind.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: The Vazir conceives another stratagem and withdraws from public life into
solitude for forty days or more.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: The followers grieve over the Vazir’s withdrawal and describe themselves as
a flock without a pastor, blind beggars without a staff, infants needing a feeder,
and orphans without a parent.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: obs:5
text: Twelve captains of legions intercede with the Vazir, while the disciples wail
and ask him to comfort them.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:6
text: The Vazir says his spirit is present with the disciples but that leaving the
hermitage is beyond his power.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:7
text: The Vazir instructs the disciples to stop their outward ears, cast out what
blinds their eyes, discard outward sense and thought, and hear God’s voice within.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:8
text: The Vazir contrasts outward speech and action with an inward man whose converse
is with infinitudes and the unseen.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:9
text: The Vazir says the soul is like Jesus walking on the sea, while the outer
man is a barren wilderness and the inner man sounds the depths of the Unseen.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:10
text: The Vazir says the Fount of Life cannot be found by spending life in pursuit
of mundane things and identifies life-rills with abnegation and self-denial.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: obs:11
text: The disciples argue that infants need milk before bread and that an unfledged
chick will fall prey if it tries to fly before its wings are ready.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: obs:12
text: The disciples say the Vazir’s voice stills howling spirits, turns each desert
into a garden, gives earth a foretaste of heaven, and turns cares into joy.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- id: obs:13
text: The Vazir rejects the disciples’ prayer, tells them to take his counsel, and
says he is communing with God and resigned to God’s will.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:12
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: God
description: Divine agent whose power transforms harm into benefit, whose voice
may be heard within, and with whom the Vazir communes.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:7
- ev:12
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: chosen friend
description: A chosen friend whom God safely carries through the fire.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: the Vazir
description: A religious teacher-like figure who withdraws into solitude, answers
his disciples, counsels inward hearing, and refuses to leave his hermitage.
role_refs:
- role:3
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:12
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: followers or disciples
description: People attached to the Vazir who grieve his absence, plead for his
return, and describe themselves as dependent on his teaching.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:10
- ev:11
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: twelve captains of legions
description: Twelve captains who intercede with the Vazir during his withdrawal.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: angels
description: Beings with whom communion is said to be forsaken when people keep
themselves awake with chitchat.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Jesus
description: 'Named in a simile: the soul is said to walk the sea like Jesus.'
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
roles:
- id: role:1
label: divine transformer and inward caller
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: God is described as turning poison, hatred, ruin, and fear into beneficial
states and as calling inwardly.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:7
- id: role:2
label: divinely protected friend
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The chosen friend is carried safely through fire by God.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:3
label: withdrawn spiritual teacher
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The Vazir withdraws into solitude and his followers describe needing his
teaching, voice, and guidance.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:11
- id: role:4
label: instructor in inward discipline
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The Vazir teaches the disciples to turn away from outward senses and hear
God’s voice within.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
- ev:9
- id: role:5
label: dependent disciples
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The followers call themselves a pastorless flock, blind beggars, infants,
orphans, and weak sufferers needing the Vazir’s presence and words.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:10
- id: role:6
label: intercessors
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The twelve captains make intercession with the Vazir.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:7
label: beings of spiritual communion
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: Communion with angels is contrasted with wakeful chitchat.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: role:8
label: exemplary sea-walker in simile
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: The soul is compared to Jesus walking the sea.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: fire
literal_form: Fire through which God carries a chosen friend safely.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs:
- fire
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:2
label: poison made healing
literal_form: Poisons receiving the gift to heal by divine power.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:3
label: thorns and roses
literal_form: Thorns yielding roses.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:4
label: treasure under ruin
literal_form: Treasures hidden beneath a ruin’s waste.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:5
label: hermitage or cell
literal_form: The place of the Vazir’s withdrawal from public life.
associated_figures:
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:6
- ev:12
- id: sym:6
label: pastorless flock
literal_form: The followers describe themselves as a flock without a pastor.
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:7
label: blind beggars without staff
literal_form: The followers describe themselves as blind beggars without a staff
to guide them.
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:8
label: infants and milk
literal_form: Infants needing mother’s milk before they are ready for bread.
associated_figures:
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs:
- milk
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: sym:9
label: unfledged chick
literal_form: A chick unprepared for flight and in danger if it attempts to fly
too early.
associated_figures:
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: sym:10
label: water imagery
literal_form: Fishes out of water, flowing stream, sea, Fount of Life, death’s billows,
and life-rills.
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:7
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:8
- ev:9
- id: sym:11
label: desert transformed into garden
literal_form: Each desert becomes a garden when the Vazir is the source of freshness.
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- id: sym:12
label: inner voice
literal_form: God’s voice heard within after outward sense and speech are set aside.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:3
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Divine reversal of harm
summary: The opening lines describe God transforming harmful or barren conditions
into healing, love, treasure, roses, safety, and peace.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
- sym:3
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: scene:2
label: The Vazir withdraws
summary: The Vazir conceives a new stratagem, leaves public life, and remains in
solitude for forty days or more while his followers miss his example, words, and
zeal.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:3
label: Disciples plead for the teacher’s return
summary: The followers and twelve captains plead with the Vazir, calling themselves
helpless without him and asking for comfort and renewed access to his words.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:6
- sym:7
- sym:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: scene:4
label: Teaching of inward hearing
summary: The Vazir refuses to leave the hermitage and instructs the disciples to
turn from outward senses and talk toward the inner voice of God, the unseen, and
self-denial.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:6
- fig:7
symbol_refs:
- sym:5
- sym:10
- sym:12
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
- ev:9
- id: scene:5
label: Disciples claim spiritual immaturity
summary: The disciples answer that they are too weak for the burden, comparing themselves
to infants needing milk and chicks not yet ready to fly, and praise the Vazir’s
presence as transforming desert, earth, and care.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:8
- sym:9
- sym:11
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- ev:11
- id: scene:6
label: Final refusal and resignation
summary: The Vazir says the disciples’ prayer is useless, asks them to heed his
counsel, and states that he remains in solitude communing with God and resigned
to divine will.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:12
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: Divine transformation of harm into benefit
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The passage repeatedly describes divine power turning poison, hatred, thorns,
ruin, fire, and fear of death into healing, love, roses, treasure, safety, and
peace.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
confidence: high
cautions: This motif label is descriptive; no supplied taxonomy family exactly names
this reversal pattern.
- id: motif:2
label: Withdrawal into solitude for communion with God
taxonomy_refs:
- mystical_quest
basis: The Vazir withdraws from public life into a cell or hermitage and later says
he is communing with God and resigned to divine will.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:6
- ev:12
confidence: high
cautions: The withdrawal is also called a stratagem, so the spiritual function may
be complicated by narrative context.
- id: motif:3
label: Inward hearing through rejection of outward sense
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
- mystical_quest
basis: The Vazir teaches the disciples to stop their ears to human speech, cast
out what blinds their eyes, discard outward sense and thought, and hear God’s
voice within.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
confidence: high
cautions: The passage presents this as instruction; the disciples’ acceptance is
not shown in this excerpt.
- id: motif:4
label: Disciples as helpless children or flock without guide
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The followers compare themselves to a pastorless flock, blind beggars, infants
needing a feeder, orphans, and immature creatures not ready for harder food or
flight.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:10
confidence: high
cautions: These are metaphors spoken by the disciples and may express their dependence
rather than the narrator’s endorsement.
- id: motif:5
label: Fount of Life and life-giving waters associated with self-denial
taxonomy_refs:
- mystical_quest
basis: The Vazir asks where the Fount of Life can be found if life is spent pursuing
mundane things, and names abnegation and self-denial as life-rills.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
confidence: medium
cautions: The Fount of Life is mentioned rhetorically and not narrated as an actual
journey in this passage.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: 6651-6660
quote_or_summary: God changes wiles into weal, poisons into healing, doubtful things
into confessed truth, hatred into love, ruin into hidden treasure, and thorns
into roses.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:2
type: quote
locator: 6655-6656
quote_or_summary: "“He safely carries through the fire His chosen friend”; fear
of death becomes peace of mind."
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: 6662-6669
quote_or_summary: The Vazir conceives another stratagem, withdraws from public life,
remains in a cell for forty days or more, and his followers mourn and miss his
example, words, and prayer.
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: 6670-6675
quote_or_summary: The followers say that without their teacher they are a flock
without a pastor, blind beggars without a staff, and infants needing a feeder
and tutor.
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: 6678-6691
quote_or_summary: Twelve captains intercede; the disciples wail that they are orphans,
beg for comfort, say their souls need his doctrine, and compare themselves to
fishes out of water needing the stream to flow.
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: 6676-6677
quote_or_summary: The Vazir answers that his spirit is present with them, but coming
out of the hermitage is beyond his power.
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: 6693-6700
quote_or_summary: The Vazir tells the disciples to stop their ears to human speech,
remove what blinds their eyes, discard outward sense and thought, and hear within
God’s call, “Come unto Me.”
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized with brief quoted phrase from public
domain text.
- id: ev:8
type: summary
locator: 6701-6708
quote_or_summary: The Vazir contrasts chitchat with communion with angels, outward
words and acts with the inward man’s converse with infinitudes, and says the soul,
like Jesus, walks the sea while the inner man sounds the Unseen.
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: 6709-6714
quote_or_summary: The Vazir says pursuit of mundane things leads across wastes,
hills, and ocean springs; he asks where the Fount of Life can be found and says
life-rills are abnegation and self-denial.
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: 6715-6728
quote_or_summary: The disciples say they cannot bear the burden, compare premature
teaching to feeding bread instead of mother’s milk to infants, and compare themselves
to an unfledged chick not ready for flight.
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: 6729-6740
quote_or_summary: The disciples say the Vazir’s voice stills howling spirits, his
words gladden their ears, each desert becomes a garden through him, his presence
makes earth a foretaste of heaven, and his presence turns care into joy.
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: 6743-6753
quote_or_summary: The Vazir says their prayer is of no avail, urges them to take
his counsel, says he will not come out of solitude, and states that he is communing
with God and resigned to God’s will.
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: uncertain
notes: Literal narrative and metaphors are clear in the passage. Motif labels are
cautious and descriptive; comparison claims are omitted because the passage does
not itself make an explicit cross-textual comparison.
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: |-
Only the supplied passage and metadata were used. Taxonomy references were limited to supplied motif families and symbol terms where directly supported.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:sufi-rumi-mesnevi-book-1-redhouse-gutenberg__l6651-l6753
passage_sha256=cf3412af35e27c40ebeee8935f49dabc502a84ed978b8574384606bab31b8e33