batch.motif.sufi-mystics-and-saints-of-islam-field-gutenberg-l1219-l1298
---
record_id: batch.motif.sufi-mystics-and-saints-of-islam-field-gutenberg-l1219-l1298
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mystics-and-saints-of-islam-field.md
passage_locator:
label: CHAPTER II / CHAPTER III / RABIA, THE WOMAN SUFI / CHAPTER IV; lines 1219-1298
start: '1219'
end: '1298'
translation: Mystics and Saints of Islam
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: ''
summary: 'The passage recounts several anecdotes about Ibrahim: a reunion with his
wife and son that ends with the son''s death after Ibrahim prays for help against
divided love; a prayer at the Kaaba answered by a divine Voice about sin and mercy;
an explanation that a mirror-vision of tomb, otherworldly road, and judge led
him to abandon kingship; sayings about marriage, poverty, and dervishhood; refusals
of gold; and a final scene in which Ibrahim cooks for companions who had eaten
and slept while plotting to teach him punctuality.'
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Ibrahim's wife and son seek him with a fakir, and the wife identifies Ibrahim
to the son as his father.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: Ibrahim questions his son about his religion, knowledge of the Koran, and
religious learning, and praises God after the son's replies.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: When Ibrahim prepares to leave, his wife and son try to stop him and weep.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:4
text: Ibrahim lifts his eyes to heaven and prays for divine help, after which his
son immediately dies.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:5
text: Ibrahim explains that paternal tenderness was aroused, that he heard a voice
challenge the coexistence of two loves in one heart, and that he prayed for either
his child's soul or his own to be taken if love for the child would cause divine
withdrawal.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:6
text: At the Kaaba during heavy rain, Ibrahim asks God to blot out his sins and
hears a Voice answer that many ask the same thing and that mercy requires sinners
to share in it.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:7
text: Ibrahim says that, while seated on his throne, he looked in a mirror and saw
an obscure tomb, a long road to the other world without provisions, and an upright
judge questioning him rigorously.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:8
text: Ibrahim says this vision caused rank and kingdom to lose value for him and
led him to abandon them.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:9
text: Ibrahim compares a married dervish to someone embarking on a vessel and a
dervish with children to someone drowning.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:10
text: Ibrahim tells a groaning dervish that he bought the dervish position at the
price of royalty and considers it a good bargain.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:11
text: Ibrahim refuses large gifts of gold and states that he possesses nothing,
asks nothing, and has found riches in the condition of a dervish.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:12
text: Ibrahim works for hire daily, spends his earnings on provisions for companions,
and returns only after evening devotions.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:13
text: When companions eat and sleep without waiting for him, Ibrahim assumes they
may be hungry, prepares dough, blows up the fire, and cooks supper for them.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Ibrahim
description: The central ascetic figure in the anecdotes; former holder of rank
and kingdom, father and husband, dervish, worker for hire, and provider for companions.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
- role:3
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Ibrahim's wife
description: She seeks Ibrahim with their son, identifies him as the son's father,
and weeps when he prepares to leave.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Ibrahim's son
description: He greets Ibrahim, answers questions about religion and religious learning,
weeps when Ibrahim prepares to leave, and dies after Ibrahim's prayer.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Fakir
description: The wife and son join this fakir and go to seek Ibrahim.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Voice / God / Lord
description: The divine addressee and speaker in Ibrahim's prayers; a Voice challenges
divided love and later answers at the Kaaba concerning sin and mercy.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Companions of Ibrahim
description: They ask about the meaning of the son's death and later wait for Ibrahim,
eat without him, sleep, and recognize his care when he cooks for them.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:7
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Unmarried dervish
description: A dervish who says he has no wife or children and receives Ibrahim's
saying about marriage and drowning.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: Groaning dervish
description: A dervish whose groaning prompts Ibrahim's saying that the dervish
position can be bought at the price of royalty.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:9
name_or_label: Rich man offering gold
description: A man who brings Ibrahim a thousand pieces of gold vowed as an offering
and is told that wealth-seeking makes him wretched.
role_refs:
- role:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: fig:10
name_or_label: Second gold offerer
description: Another person who offers Ibrahim a thousand pieces of gold, which
Ibrahim refuses.
role_refs:
- role:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: fig:11
name_or_label: Upright judge
description: A judge seen in Ibrahim's mirror-vision, questioning him so rigorously
that he cannot answer fittingly.
role_refs:
- role:11
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
roles:
- id: role:1
label: renunciant former ruler
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Ibrahim says he gave up rank and kingdom after a mirror-vision and later
says he bought dervishhood at the price of royalty.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:5
- id: role:2
label: father and husband
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The wife identifies Ibrahim as the son's father, and Ibrahim describes his
paternal tenderness.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:3
label: dervish / ascetic exemplar
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Ibrahim refuses wealth, claims possession of nothing, asks nothing, and describes
riches in dervishhood.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:4
label: family attachment
assigned_to:
- fig:2
- fig:3
basis: The wife and son seek Ibrahim, weep when he leaves, and the son becomes the
object of Ibrahim's stated paternal tenderness.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:5
label: guide or companion in search
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The wife and son join the fakir and go to seek Ibrahim.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:6
label: provider for companions
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Ibrahim works for hire, buys provisions for his companions, and cooks when
he thinks they may be hungry.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: role:7
label: divine interlocutor
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: Ibrahim prays to God and hears a Voice in the episode of his son and at the
Kaaba.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: role:8
label: community of companions
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: They accompany Ibrahim, question him, wait for him, and later become recipients
of his concern and cooking.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:7
- id: role:9
label: dervish interlocutor
assigned_to:
- fig:7
- fig:8
basis: Each dervish receives an instructional saying from Ibrahim.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: role:10
label: wealth donor
assigned_to:
- fig:9
- fig:10
basis: Both figures offer Ibrahim one thousand pieces of gold, which he refuses.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:11
label: afterlife judge in vision
assigned_to:
- fig:11
basis: The judge appears in Ibrahim's mirror-vision and questions him rigorously.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: Kaaba
literal_form: The Kaaba, found unoccupied during heavy rain and entered by Ibrahim
for prayer.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:2
label: ocean of mercy
literal_form: The Voice speaks of an ocean of divine mercy to be shared by sinners.
associated_figures:
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:3
label: mirror
literal_form: A mirror in which Ibrahim sees his last resting-place, the road to
the other world, and a judge.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:4
label: obscure tomb
literal_form: Ibrahim's last resting-place, seen as an obscure tomb with no one
to keep him company.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:5
label: road to the other world
literal_form: A long, even infinite, road for which Ibrahim has no provision.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:6
label: upright judge
literal_form: A judge who rigorously questions Ibrahim in the mirror-vision.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:11
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:7
label: vessel and drowning
literal_form: A vessel used as a comparison for a dervish marrying, and drowning
used as a comparison for having children.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:7
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:8
label: gold
literal_form: Two offers of one thousand pieces of gold that Ibrahim refuses.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:9
- fig:10
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:9
label: fire for cooking
literal_form: Ibrahim blows up the fire while preparing supper for his companions.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs:
- fire
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Family reunion and death of the son
summary: Ibrahim's wife and son find him; he greets and questions the son, prepares
to depart, prays for divine help, and the son dies. Ibrahim explains the event
as connected to the problem of divided love.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:5
- fig:6
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Prayer at the Kaaba
summary: Ibrahim enters the Kaaba during heavy rain, asks God to blot out his sins,
and hears a Voice respond with a statement about sinners sharing in divine mercy.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:3
label: Mirror-vision and abandonment of kingship
summary: Ibrahim describes seeing, in a mirror, a tomb, a long road to the other
world without provisions, and a rigorous judge; this makes rank and kingdom lose
value for him.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:11
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
- sym:4
- sym:5
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:4
label: Instruction on marriage and children
summary: Ibrahim asks a dervish whether he has wife and children, then compares
marriage to embarking on a vessel and children to drowning.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:7
symbol_refs:
- sym:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: scene:5
label: Dervishhood bought at the price of royalty
summary: Ibrahim tells a groaning dervish that the position of dervish can be bought
and that he bought it by giving up royalty.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:8
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: scene:6
label: Refusal of gold and reversal of poverty and riches
summary: Ibrahim refuses offerings of gold, calls wealth-seeking wretched, and says
he found riches in the condition of dervishhood.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:9
- fig:10
symbol_refs:
- sym:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: scene:7
label: Cooking for companions after their plot
summary: Ibrahim's companions eat and sleep without waiting for him, hoping to make
him come earlier; Ibrahim returns, thinks they may be hungry, and cooks for them.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:6
symbol_refs:
- sym:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: exclusive divine love over family attachment
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_beloved
basis: A Voice challenges Ibrahim's claim of attachment to God while his heart is
engaged with another person, and Ibrahim's prayer leads to the son's death.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
confidence: high
cautions: The passage presents this as a saintly anecdote about Ibrahim; broader
doctrinal conclusions should not be inferred from this extract alone.
- id: motif:2
label: vision of death and judgment prompting renunciation
taxonomy_refs:
- departure
- divine_judgment
- afterlife_journey_map
basis: Ibrahim sees a tomb, an otherworldly road without provisions, and a rigorous
judge in a mirror, then abandons rank and kingdom.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
confidence: high
cautions: The passage does not describe an actual journey to the afterlife, only
a vision or reflection reported by Ibrahim.
- id: motif:3
label: poverty as riches and kingship exchanged for dervishhood
taxonomy_refs:
- sacred_exchange
- wisdom
basis: Ibrahim says he bought the position of dervish at the price of royalty and
later refuses gold, stating that he found riches in dervishhood while others find
poverty in riches.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: The exchange is moral and ascetic rather than a literal ritual transaction.
- id: motif:4
label: domestic ties as peril for the ascetic
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Ibrahim compares a dervish who marries to one embarking on a vessel and a
dervish with children to one drowning.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
confidence: medium
cautions: This is a metaphorical saying within the passage and should not be equated
with salvific vessel motifs without additional evidence.
- id: motif:5
label: saintly forbearance and service to companions
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: When companions plot by eating and sleeping without him, Ibrahim responds
by assuming they may be hungry and cooking for them.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
confidence: medium
cautions: The motif is ethical and hagiographic; it is not strongly mythic in this
short passage.
- id: motif:6
label: divine mercy figured as an ocean
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: At the Kaaba, the Voice says that if everyone's sins were blotted out, there
would be no one to share in the ocean of divine mercy.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
confidence: medium
cautions: The ocean is a verbal image in divine speech, not a literal body of water
in the narrative.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 1219-1239
quote_or_summary: Ibrahim's wife and son find him; he questions the son about religion
and knowledge, tries to depart, prays for divine help, the son dies, and Ibrahim
explains that a Voice challenged him about two loves in one heart.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mystics-and-saints-of-islam-field.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from supplied passage.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 1239-1246
quote_or_summary: Ibrahim finds the Kaaba unoccupied in heavy rain, prays that his
sins be blotted out, and hears a Voice reply that if all sins were blotted out
there would be none to share in the ocean of divine mercy.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mystics-and-saints-of-islam-field.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from supplied passage.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 1246-1258
quote_or_summary: Ibrahim explains that he abandoned rank and kingdom after seeing
in a mirror an obscure tomb, a long road to the other world with no provisions,
and an upright judge questioning him rigorously.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mystics-and-saints-of-islam-field.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from supplied passage.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 1259-1264
quote_or_summary: Ibrahim asks a dervish whether he has wife and children and says
that a dervish who marries is like one embarking on a vessel, while one with children
is like one drowning.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mystics-and-saints-of-islam-field.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from supplied passage.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 1265-1269
quote_or_summary: Ibrahim tells a groaning dervish that the position of dervish
can be bought, and that he bought it at the price of royalty and considers it
a good bargain.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mystics-and-saints-of-islam-field.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from supplied passage.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 1270-1282
quote_or_summary: Ibrahim refuses two offerings of one thousand pieces of gold,
calls the wealth-seeking rich man wretched, and says he possesses nothing, asks
nothing, and has found riches in dervishhood.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mystics-and-saints-of-islam-field.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from supplied passage.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: lines 1283-1298
quote_or_summary: Ibrahim works for hire to buy provisions for companions, returns
late after devotions, finds them asleep after they deliberately ate without him,
and cooks for them because he thinks they may have gone to bed hungry.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mystics-and-saints-of-islam-field.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from supplied passage.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: uncertain
notes: Narrative details are explicit in the supplied passage. Motif labels are
cautious and limited to available taxonomy where directly supported. No comparison
claims were added because the passage itself does not compare this material to
another tradition or motif family beyond the extractive candidate motifs.
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; comparison_claims left empty as unsupported by the passage itself.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:sufi-mystics-and-saints-of-islam-field-gutenberg__l1219-l1298
passage_sha256=63daa3645872648ecb7bd80e655dbd57442a01a4f78ed7f02907d4b818e21231