batch.motif.sufi-mystics-and-saints-of-islam-field-gutenberg-l3803-l3854
---
record_id: batch.motif.sufi-mystics-and-saints-of-islam-field-gutenberg-l3803-l3854
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mystics-and-saints-of-islam-field.md
passage_locator:
label: THE ANGEL GABRIEL AND THE INFIDEL. / THE CLAY OF WHICH MAN IS MADE. / THE
DEAD CRIMINAL. / ANECDOTE OF BAYAZID BASTAMI.; lines 3803-3854
start: '3803'
end: '3854'
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 Bayazid Bastami walking at night under a full moon
and asking why God''s audience-hall lacks worshippers; an inner voice answers
that access to the divine court is granted only to a rare few after long waiting.
It then recounts Attar''s late asceticism and death as a Mongol prisoner: after
refusing to value himself at a thousand pieces of silver and accepting a bag of
straw as his worth, he is killed by his captor.'
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Bayazid Bastami goes out of town at night and finds profound silence, a full
moon, and constellations in the sky.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: Bayazid asks the Lord why a sublime audience-hall has no crowds of worshippers.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: An inner voice replies that the King does not grant access to His Court to
everyone, and that only one in a million enters after waiting whole years.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: Fariduddin Attar is described as carrying asceticism so far in his later years
that he gave up composing poetry.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:5
text: During the Mongol invasion of Persia, Attar is taken prisoner by the Mongols
at the age of 110.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:6
text: One person offers a thousand pieces of silver as ransom for Attar, but Attar
says not to sell him so cheaply.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:7
text: Another person offers a bag of straw for Attar; Attar says he should be sold
for that because it is all he is worth.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:8
text: The Mongol captor kills Attar, and the narration says Attar thereby found
the death he desired.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Sheikh Bayazid Bastami
description: A sheikh who walks outside the town at night, addresses the Lord, and
receives an inner reply.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Inner voice / King
description: A voice answering Bayazid and describing the King’s restricted Court
and sanctuary.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Fariduddin Attar
description: A Sufi saint and ascetic, described as giving up poetry and later being
killed as a Mongol prisoner.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:8
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Mongol captor
description: A Mongol who captures Attar, considers ransom offers, and kills him
after being irritated.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:8
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: First ransom offerer
description: A person who offers a thousand pieces of silver as ransom for Attar.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Second ransom offerer
description: A person who offers a bag of straw for Attar.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
roles:
- id: role:1
label: night seeker and questioner
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Bayazid walks in the silent night and questions the Lord about the absence
of worshippers.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: role:2
label: divine or inward responder
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The inner voice answers with an image of the King’s Court and selective access.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:3
label: ascetic saint and willing victim
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Attar is described as an ascetic saint who devalues himself materially and
finds the death he desired.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: role:4
label: captor and killer
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The Mongol holds Attar prisoner, reacts to the failed bargain, and kills
him.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:8
- id: role:5
label: ransom offerer
assigned_to:
- fig:5
- fig:6
basis: One person offers silver for Attar, and another offers straw.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: full moon and constellated night
literal_form: Full moon, clear night, and constellations
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:2
label: divine court imagery
literal_form: Audience-hall, King’s Court, and sanctuary of splendour
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: sym:3
label: thousand pieces of silver
literal_form: A thousand pieces of silver offered as ransom
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:4
label: bag of straw
literal_form: A bag of straw offered for Attar
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Bayazid under the night sky
summary: Bayazid walks outside the town in silence under the full moon and constellations,
then asks why the divine audience-hall lacks worshippers.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: scene:2
label: Restricted access to the divine court
summary: An inner voice tells Bayazid that access to the King’s Court is rare and
granted only after long waiting.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:3
label: Attar’s ransom and death
summary: Attar, held by Mongols, refuses a high ransom valuation, accepts a bag
of straw as his worth, and is killed by his captor.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:5
- fig:6
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: rare admission to the divine court
taxonomy_refs:
- mystical_quest
- initiation
basis: The voice states that access to the King’s Court is not granted to everyone
and that only one in a million enters after years of waiting.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
confidence: medium
cautions: The taxonomy mapping is interpretive; the passage itself uses court imagery
for selective spiritual access rather than explicitly naming a quest or initiation.
- id: motif:2
label: ascetic self-devaluation before death
taxonomy_refs:
- sacrifice
basis: Attar rejects a high silver ransom, identifies a bag of straw as his worth,
and is killed, with the narration saying he found the death he desired.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage emphasizes Sufi indifference to external things; treating
the death as sacrifice is tentative because no ritual offering is described.
- id: motif:3
label: renunciation of worldly value
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The anecdote presents Attar’s conduct as illustrating Sufi indifference to
external things and shows him rejecting material valuation.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:6
- ev:7
confidence: medium
cautions: The motif label is derived from the prose explanation; the available taxonomy
only loosely captures this as wisdom.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 3803-3810
quote_or_summary: Bayazid leaves town at night; silence reigns, the full moon makes
the night clear as day, and constellations fill the sky.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mystics-and-saints-of-islam-field.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 3810-3813
quote_or_summary: Bayazid says his heart is pained and asks the Lord why such a
sublime audience-hall has no throngs of worshippers.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mystics-and-saints-of-islam-field.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 3813-3819
quote_or_summary: An inner voice tells Bayazid that the King does not grant access
to His Court to everyone; the careless and slumbering remain outside, and only
one in a million enters after years of waiting.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mystics-and-saints-of-islam-field.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 3823-3826
quote_or_summary: Attar’s later asceticism is described as reaching such a degree
that he stopped composing poetry; the story of his death is introduced as an example
of Sufi indifference to external things.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mystics-and-saints-of-islam-field.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 3826-3829
quote_or_summary: During the Mongol invasion of Persia under Jenghiz Khan, Attar,
aged 110, is taken prisoner by Mongols.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mystics-and-saints-of-islam-field.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 3829-3833
quote_or_summary: A person offers a thousand pieces of silver as ransom, but Attar
tells the captor not to sell him so cheaply because someone will give more.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mystics-and-saints-of-islam-field.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: lines 3833-3835
quote_or_summary: Another person offers a bag of straw, and Attar says to sell him
to that person because that is all he is worth.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mystics-and-saints-of-islam-field.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:8
type: summary
locator: lines 3835-3837
quote_or_summary: The Mongol, irritated by the loss of the first offer, kills Attar;
the narration says the saint thus found the death he desired.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mystics-and-saints-of-islam-field.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: high
notes: Literal extraction is direct from the supplied passage. Motif taxonomy assignments
are cautious because the passage is hagiographic and moralizing rather than explicitly
mythic.
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: |-
No comparison claims were added because the passage does not itself make a comparative claim beyond internal Sufi framing.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:sufi-mystics-and-saints-of-islam-field-gutenberg__l3803-l3854
passage_sha256=bb02a73f1cffffff5264d7bf34a795daa45648ae58b3f7c2cfd379ad48fb1c6e