batch.motif.sufi-mystics-and-saints-of-islam-field-gutenberg-l2496-l2579
---
record_id: batch.motif.sufi-mystics-and-saints-of-islam-field-gutenberg-l2496-l2579
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mystics-and-saints-of-islam-field.md
passage_locator:
label: CHAPTER VII / CHAPTER VIII / CHAPTER IX / CHAPTER X; lines 2496-2579
start: '2496'
end: '2579'
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 describes Avicenna balancing political service with philosophical
work, declining renewed office to complete the Shifa, being imprisoned and liberated,
and composing the mystical allegory Hay ibn Yokdhan. It then summarizes the allegory:
the narrator meets an ageless old man named Hay ibn Yokdhan, born in Jerusalem,
who travels all regions under his Father''s direction and holds the keys of the
sciences. The passage explains this old man as active Intelligence and interprets
the narrative as an account of the soul in the body seeking knowledge, aided by
logic and hindered by imagination and other companions.'
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Avicenna continued philosophical studies while serving in affairs of state
at Hamadan.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: Avicenna began his exposition of Aristotle's philosophy, the Shifa, at the
Sultan's request.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: Avicenna declined Taj-ed-Dawla's request that he remain vizier, choosing to
complete the Shifa.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: Avicenna was imprisoned in a neighbouring fortress on suspicion of secret
correspondence with Ala-ed-Dawla and was liberated after four months when Ala-ed-Dawla
took Hamadan.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:5
text: During the Hamadan period, Avicenna completed the Shifa, several medical treatises,
and the mystical allegory Hay ibn Yokdhan.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:6
text: In the allegory, the narrator makes excursions with friends and meets an old
man who appears youthful despite advanced age.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:7
text: The old man says his name is Hay ibn Yokdhan, that he was born in Jerusalem,
and that his occupation is traversing all regions of the earth under his Father's
direction.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:8
text: The old man says his Father entrusted him with the keys of all sciences and
guided him to the utmost bounds of the universe.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:9
text: The passage interprets the narrator's sojourn as the soul's sojourn in the
body, guided by imagination and senses in examining what appears to it.
category: other
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:10
text: The passage interprets the old man as active Intelligence, free from material
grossness and yet in some way linked to the material world.
category: other
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:11
text: The passage interprets Hay as 'the Living' and ibn Yokdhan as 'Son of the
Waking,' deriving from a higher Being who is always awake.
category: other
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:12
text: The passage presents logic as a science that reveals what nature conceals
and points toward freedom from earthly entanglements and sensual propensities.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:13
text: The passage describes imagination as the narrator's nearest companion, a confused
babbler who mixes truth and falsehood but remains necessary.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Avicenna
description: Philosopher, statesman, vizier, author of the Shifa, medical treatises,
and Hay ibn Yokdhan in this account.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Shams-ed-Dawla
description: Sultan whose affairs of state Avicenna served; his death precedes Taj-ed-Dawla's
request.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Taj-ed-Dawla
description: Son and successor of Shams-ed-Dawla who requests Avicenna to retain
the post of vizier.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Ala-ed-Dawla
description: Governor of Ispahan, enemy of Taj-ed-Dawla, suspected correspondent
of Avicenna, and captor of Hamadan whose victory leads to Avicenna's liberation.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Narrator of Hay ibn Yokdhan
description: First-person figure who sojourns in a certain country, excursions with
friends, meets the old man, and asks him questions.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Friends of the narrator
description: Companions who accompany the narrator on excursions and are present
when the old man is met.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Hay ibn Yokdhan / the old man
description: An old man with youthful ardour, neither bent nor white-haired; he
says he was born in Jerusalem, traverses all regions, follows his Father's direction,
and holds the keys of all sciences. The passage explains him as active Intelligence.
role_refs:
- role:8
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: Father of Hay ibn Yokdhan
description: Named by Hay as the one whose direction he follows; the explanation
identifies this source as a higher Being who is always awake and needs no repose.
role_refs:
- role:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:7
- id: fig:9
name_or_label: Imagination
description: Interpreted as the narrator's nearest companion; described as confused,
mixing truth and falsehood, misleading yet necessary.
role_refs:
- role:11
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: fig:10
name_or_label: Logic
description: Personified or described as a science that discloses hidden things,
supports healing, and shows the way away from earthly and sensual entanglements.
role_refs:
- role:12
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
roles:
- id: role:1
label: philosopher-statesman
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The passage presents Avicenna as discharging the functions of statesman while
continuing philosophy.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:2
label: author of mystical allegory
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The passage states that Avicenna completed Hay ibn Yokdhan and calls it a
mystical allegory.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:3
label: sultan served by Avicenna
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Avicenna spends the day in the Sultan's service during his stay at Hamadan.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:4
label: successor requesting service
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Taj-ed-Dawla requests Avicenna to retain the post of vizier after Shams-ed-Dawla's
death.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: role:5
label: political rival whose victory liberates Avicenna
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: Ala-ed-Dawla is enemy of Taj-ed-Dawla and takes Hamadan, after which Avicenna
is liberated.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:6
label: seeker-narrator
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The narrator goes out with friends, encounters the old man, and questions
him about sciences.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: role:7
label: companions on excursion
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: The friends accompany the narrator to pleasant spots and are present in the
meeting.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:8
label: ageless guide
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: The old man appears aged yet youthful and answers questions about himself
and branches of science.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: role:9
label: active Intelligence
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: The passage explicitly interprets the old man as active Intelligence.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:10
label: higher waking source
assigned_to:
- fig:8
basis: The explanation says Hay derives from a higher Being who is always awake
and has no need of repose.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: role:11
label: ambiguous inner companion
assigned_to:
- fig:9
basis: Imagination is called the nearest companion, misleading through mixed truth
and falsehood, yet necessary.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: role:12
label: revealer and liberating discipline
assigned_to:
- fig:10
basis: Logic reveals hidden things and points toward freedom from earthly entanglements
and sensual propensities.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: keys of all sciences
literal_form: keys entrusted by the Father to Hay ibn Yokdhan
associated_figures:
- fig:7
- fig:8
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:2
label: Jerusalem birthplace
literal_form: holy city of Jerusalem, described in the explanation as free from
earthly stain
associated_figures:
- fig:7
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:7
- id: sym:3
label: ageless old man
literal_form: old man of advanced age who has juvenile ardour and is neither bent
nor white-haired
associated_figures:
- fig:7
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:4
label: physiognomy as logic
literal_form: the science of physiognomy, interpreted as logic judging the hidden
by outward manifestation
associated_figures:
- fig:7
- fig:10
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: sym:5
label: bad companions
literal_form: bad companions from which it is impossible to get free; the nearest
companion is identified as imagination
associated_figures:
- fig:5
- fig:9
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Avicenna combines public office and study
summary: At Hamadan, Avicenna serves the Sultan by day, conducts philosophical discussions
at night, and begins the Shifa.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Political disturbance, imprisonment, and liberation
summary: Avicenna declines continued office, is suspected of secret correspondence,
imprisoned in a fortress, and liberated after Ala-ed-Dawla takes Hamadan.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:3
label: Composition of Hay ibn Yokdhan
summary: Despite political misadventure, Avicenna completes major philosophical,
medical, and mystical works, including Hay ibn Yokdhan.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:4
label: Encounter with the ageless old man
summary: The narrator and friends meet an old man who appears youthful despite advanced
age and ask him about his identity and sciences.
figure_refs:
- fig:5
- fig:6
- fig:7
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: scene:5
label: The old man names his origin and mission
summary: Hay ibn Yokdhan identifies himself, says he was born in Jerusalem, follows
his Father's direction through all regions, and possesses the keys of all sciences.
figure_refs:
- fig:5
- fig:7
- fig:8
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: scene:6
label: Allegorical explanation of the encounter
summary: The passage explains the narrator as the soul in the body, the old man
as active Intelligence, and the Father as a higher waking Being.
figure_refs:
- fig:5
- fig:7
- fig:8
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: scene:7
label: Logic and imagination as inner disciplines and obstacles
summary: Logic is presented as revealing hidden matters and offering freedom from
earthly entanglements, while imagination is described as a necessary but unreliable
companion.
figure_refs:
- fig:9
- fig:10
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: mystical quest for hidden knowledge
taxonomy_refs:
- mystical_quest
- wisdom
basis: The allegory depicts the soul-like narrator seeking understanding, meeting
an ageless guide identified as active Intelligence, and receiving teaching about
logic as a route to hidden knowledge.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:8
confidence: high
cautions: The passage gives an abridged explanation rather than the full allegory.
- id: motif:2
label: supernatural or ageless wisdom guide
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: Hay ibn Yokdhan appears as an old man with youthful vigour, possesses keys
of the sciences, and is interpreted as active Intelligence.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: The figure is allegorical and philosophical rather than a narrative deity
or saint.
- id: motif:3
label: liberation from bodily and sensual entanglement through disciplined knowledge
taxonomy_refs:
- annihilation_union
- wisdom
basis: Logic is said to reveal concealed things and point the way to freedom from
earthly entanglements and sensual propensities.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage emphasizes intellectual and moral liberation; it does not
explicitly describe union or annihilation in this excerpt.
- id: motif:4
label: ambiguous inner companion as obstacle to knowledge
taxonomy_refs:
- duality
basis: Imagination is described as a close and necessary companion that mixes truth
with falsehood and can mislead the seeker.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage presents this as psychological allegory, not as an external
adversary.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 2496-2508
quote_or_summary: Avicenna studies and begins the Shifa while serving the Sultan
at Hamadan, spending days in state service and nights in philosophical discussion.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mystics-and-saints-of-islam-field.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from provided passage.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 2509-2521
quote_or_summary: Avicenna declines Taj-ed-Dawla's offer to remain vizier, is imprisoned
on suspicion of correspondence with Ala-ed-Dawla, and is liberated after four
months when Ala-ed-Dawla captures Hamadan.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mystics-and-saints-of-islam-field.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from provided passage.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 2521-2526
quote_or_summary: At Hamadan Avicenna completes the Shifa, several medical treatises,
and the mystical allegory Hay ibn Yokdhan, which the passage says shows the mystical
side of his philosophy.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mystics-and-saints-of-islam-field.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from provided passage.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 2528-2535
quote_or_summary: In the allegory, the narrator excursions with friends and meets
an old man whose advanced age contrasts with his youthful ardour and unbent, unwithered
appearance.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mystics-and-saints-of-islam-field.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from provided passage.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 2535-2544
quote_or_summary: The old man names himself Hay ibn Yokdhan, says he was born in
Jerusalem, travels all regions following his Father's direction, and has been
entrusted with the keys of all sciences.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mystics-and-saints-of-islam-field.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from provided passage.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 2546-2555
quote_or_summary: The explanation interprets the narrator's sojourn as the soul
in the body examining appearances under imagination and senses, and identifies
the old man as active Intelligence.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mystics-and-saints-of-islam-field.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from provided passage.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: lines 2555-2566
quote_or_summary: The explanation interprets Hay as 'the Living,' ibn Yokdhan as
'Son of the Waking,' Jerusalem as a holy city free from earthly stain, and the
Father as a higher Being always awake.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mystics-and-saints-of-islam-field.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from provided passage.
- id: ev:8
type: summary
locator: lines 2566-2573
quote_or_summary: The old man's discourse presents logic as judging the hidden by
outward manifestation, revealing what nature conceals, and guiding toward freedom
from earthly entanglements and sensual propensities.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mystics-and-saints-of-islam-field.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from provided passage.
- id: ev:9
type: summary
locator: lines 2574-2579
quote_or_summary: 'The old man describes imagination as the nearest companion: confused,
mixing truth and falsehood, sometimes misleading, but also necessary.'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mystics-and-saints-of-islam-field.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from provided passage.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: uncertain
notes: Historical and allegorical elements are explicit in the supplied passage.
Motif labels are limited to available taxonomy references and remain draft classifications.
No external comparison claims are made.
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 provided passage and metadata were used. Taxonomy references were applied only where supported by the passage.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:sufi-mystics-and-saints-of-islam-field-gutenberg__l2496-l2579
passage_sha256=98f53a205a66b93743a938dbb1220086369dfa1f2297df5346a4b139ce85e36c