batch.motif.sufi-jami-persian-mystics-davis-gutenberg-l1840-l1864
---
record_id: batch.motif.sufi-jami-persian-mystics-davis-gutenberg-l1840-l1864
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/persian-mystics-jami-davis.md
passage_locator:
label: THIRD GARDEN / WISE MAXIMS / THE DOWNFALL OF THE MIGHTY / JUSTICE AND VIRTUE;
lines 1840-1864
start: '1840'
end: '1864'
translation: 'The Persian Mystics: Jámí'
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: ''
summary: 'Two brief anecdotes present moral speech before rulers: a prisoner persuades
the Khalifa to pardon him by contrasting justice with higher virtue, and a woman
brought before Hajaj refuses to look at him because she says God does not look
upon him.'
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: A culprit is brought before the Khalifa.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The Khalifa orders the punishment due for the transgression to be administered.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: The prisoner addresses the Khalifa as Commander of the Faithful and argues
that vengeance for crime is justice, while passing it over is virtue.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: The prisoner says the Prince of the Faithful should not descend from what
is higher to what is lower.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:5
text: The Khalifa is pleased with the prisoner's argument and condones the transgression.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: obs:6
text: A woman from a faction that had risen in arms against Hajaj is brought before
him.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:7
text: When Hajaj speaks to the woman, she looks down, fixes her eyes on the ground,
and neither replies nor glances at him.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:8
text: A person present asks why she looks away while the Amir is speaking.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:9
text: The woman replies that she is ashamed before God to look on a man upon whom
God does not look.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: the Khalifa
description: Ruler before whom a culprit is brought; he orders punishment and later
condones the transgression.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: culprit / prisoner
description: A transgressor brought before the Khalifa who argues for pardon by
contrasting justice and virtue.
role_refs:
- role:2
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: woman from the faction against Hajaj
description: A woman associated with an armed faction against Hajaj; when brought
before him, she keeps her gaze down and gives a religiously framed rebuke.
role_refs:
- role:3
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Hajaj
description: The Amir before whom the woman is brought; he speaks to her, but she
refuses to look at him.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: one who was present
description: An unnamed present person who asks the woman why she looks away while
the Amir speaks.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: God the Most High
description: Invoked by the woman as the divine authority before whom she is ashamed
and as one who does not look upon Hajaj.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
roles:
- id: role:1
label: ruler or judicial authority
assigned_to:
- fig:1
- fig:4
basis: The Khalifa orders punishment, and Hajaj is addressed as the Amir before
whom the woman is brought.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- id: role:2
label: accused transgressor
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The culprit/prisoner has a transgression for which punishment is ordered.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:3
label: member of opposing armed faction
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The woman is said to belong to a faction that had risen in arms against Hajaj.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:4
label: bystander interlocutor
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: An unnamed present person questions the woman about looking away.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:5
label: divine moral authority
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: The woman invokes God the Most High as the one before whom she is ashamed
and who does not look upon Hajaj.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:6
label: speaker of pointed moral speech
assigned_to:
- fig:2
- fig:3
basis: Both the prisoner and the woman deliver concise moral arguments before rulers.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: downcast gaze
literal_form: The woman looks down and fixes her eyes upon the ground instead of
looking at Hajaj.
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:2
label: divine refusal to look
literal_form: The woman's statement that God the Most High does not look upon Hajaj.
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Pardon after moral appeal
summary: A culprit is brought before the Khalifa, punishment is ordered, and the
prisoner persuades him to condone the transgression by saying that passing over
a crime is a higher virtue than vengeance.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: scene:2
label: Refusal to look at Hajaj
summary: A woman associated with a rebellious faction is brought before Hajaj; she
keeps her gaze on the ground and explains that she is ashamed before God to look
at one whom God does not look upon.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:5
- fig:6
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: Justice surpassed by mercy or virtue
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The prisoner states a moral hierarchy in which vengeance for crime is justice,
but passing over the crime is virtue; the Khalifa responds by pardoning him.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
confidence: high
cautions: The passage frames the point as a maxim rather than as a developed mythic
narrative.
- id: motif:2
label: Pointed wisdom speech before a ruler
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: Both anecdotes turn on a concise moral statement spoken by a vulnerable or
subordinate figure before a ruler or Amir.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
confidence: high
cautions: This is a literary wisdom-anecdote pattern; no broader cross-cultural
connection is established by the passage alone.
- id: motif:3
label: Ruler represented as forsaken by God
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
basis: The woman says she is ashamed before God to look upon a man upon whom God
does not look.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
confidence: medium
cautions: The statement is attributed to the woman; the passage does not independently
narrate a divine act or judgment.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: The two anecdotes function as wisdom-maxim narratives in which compact moral
speech reverses or challenges the power situation before a ruler.
claim_level: same_function
target: wisdom motif family / moral repartee before rulers
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The passage itself supports a functional comparison within wisdom literature,
but it does not provide evidence for historical contact, common inheritance, or
a specific external parallel.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 1840-1849
quote_or_summary: Under the heading 'Justice and Virtue,' a culprit is brought before
the Khalifa; punishment is ordered, but after the prisoner's argument the Khalifa
condones the transgression.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/persian-mystics-jami-davis.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from supplied passage.
- id: ev:2
type: quote
locator: lines 1843-1848
quote_or_summary: '"to take vengeance for a crime is justice, but to pass it over
is virtue"'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/persian-mystics-jami-davis.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation from supplied passage.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 1850-1862
quote_or_summary: A woman from a faction that had risen in arms against Hajaj is
brought before him; when he speaks, she looks down at the ground and does not
reply or glance at him; a bystander asks why she looks away while the Amir speaks.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/persian-mystics-jami-davis.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from supplied passage.
- id: ev:4
type: quote
locator: lines 1862-1864
quote_or_summary: '"I am ashamed before God the Most High, to look on a man, upon
whom God the Most High does not look."'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/persian-mystics-jami-davis.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation from supplied passage.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: medium
notes: Literal extraction is straightforward. Motif labels are limited to the supplied
taxonomy and the passage's wisdom-maxim context; broader comparative claims are
intentionally minimal.
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 external sources or unprovided parallels used.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:sufi-jami-persian-mystics-davis-gutenberg__l1840-l1864
passage_sha256=420bf5f7d99c2a4877237a2897035e1c8c24ece0bbf72addd142b70e936f3ced