Comparative mythology corpus

batch.motif.sufi-persian-mystics-rumi-davis-gutenberg-l1135-l1159

batch.motif.sufi-persian-mystics-rumi-davis-gutenberg-l1135-l1159

---
record_id: batch.motif.sufi-persian-mystics-rumi-davis-gutenberg-l1135-l1159
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/persian-mystics-rumi-davis.md
passage_locator:
  label: LOVE'S DESIRE / THE FINDING OF THE BELOVED / GOD ONLY / THE MOON-SOUL AND
    THE SEA; lines 1135-1159
  start: '1135'
  end: '1159'
  translation: 'The Persian Mystics: Jalálu''d-dín Rúmí'
  notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
    human review required.
canonical_text:
  quote: ''
  summary: The passage states that only God contemplates God's beauty, describes two
    lights becoming indistinguishable, then narrates a moon descending, carrying the
    speaker through the sky, dissolving the speaker's bodily self into soul, revealing
    the Eternal Theophany, merging the heavens in the moon, hiding the speaker's being
    in the sea, and transforming embodied foam-flecks into spirit in the Ocean.
  language: English
  quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
  text: The passage says that none but God has contemplated the beauty of God.
  category: speech
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:1
- id: obs:2
  text: An eye and a lamp are described as two individual lights that become indistinguishable
    when they come together.
  category: relationship
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:1
- id: obs:3
  text: A moon appears in the sky at morning-tide, descends, and gazes on the speaker.
  category: action
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:2
- id: obs:4
  text: The moon is compared to a falcon that snatches a bird while hunting, and it
    snatches the speaker up and courses over the sky.
  category: action
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:2
- id: obs:5
  text: The speaker looks at himself and sees himself no more.
  category: sequence
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:3
- id: obs:6
  text: The speaker's body becomes, by grace, even as soul within the moon.
  category: attribute
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:3
- id: obs:7
  text: While travelling in soul, the speaker sees nothing except the moon until the
    secret of the Eternal Theophany is revealed.
  category: sequence
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:3
- id: obs:8
  text: The nine spheres of heaven are all merged in the moon.
  category: setting
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:3
- id: obs:9
  text: The vessel of the speaker's being is completely hidden in the sea.
  category: object
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:4
- id: obs:10
  text: The sea breaks into waves, Wisdom rises again, and a voice is cast abroad.
  category: action
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:4
- id: obs:11
  text: At every foam-fleck of the sea, something takes figure and is bodied forth.
  category: action
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:5
- id: obs:12
  text: Every bodily foam-fleck that receives a sign from the sea melts and turns
    to spirit in the Ocean.
  category: sequence
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:5
figures:
- id: fig:1
  name_or_label: God
  description: The divine subject whose beauty is contemplated only by God.
  role_refs:
  - role:1
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:1
- id: fig:2
  name_or_label: Speaker
  description: The first-person experiencer who is gazed upon, snatched up by the
    moon, loses sight of himself, travels in soul, and has the vessel of his being
    hidden in the sea.
  role_refs:
  - role:2
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:2
  - ev:3
  - ev:4
- id: fig:3
  name_or_label: Moon
  description: A moon that appears, descends, gazes on the speaker, snatches him up,
    and contains or absorbs the speaker's transformed body and the nine spheres of
    heaven.
  role_refs:
  - role:3
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:2
  - ev:3
- id: fig:4
  name_or_label: Sea / Ocean
  description: The sea in which the vessel of the speaker's being is hidden; it breaks
    into waves and foam, gives signs to bodily foam-flecks, and is also called the
    Ocean where they turn to spirit.
  role_refs:
  - role:4
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:4
  - ev:5
- id: fig:5
  name_or_label: Wisdom
  description: Wisdom rises when the sea breaks into waves and casts abroad a voice.
  role_refs:
  - role:5
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:4
roles:
- id: role:1
  label: self-contemplating divine
  assigned_to:
  - fig:1
  basis: The passage states that only God has contemplated the beauty of God.
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:1
- id: role:2
  label: mystical experiencer
  assigned_to:
  - fig:2
  basis: The speaker undergoes ascent, self-loss, soul travel, and immersion or concealment
    in the sea.
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:2
  - ev:3
  - ev:4
- id: role:3
  label: descending and transporting celestial figure
  assigned_to:
  - fig:3
  basis: The moon descends from the sky, gazes on the speaker, snatches him up, and
    carries him over the sky.
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:2
- id: role:4
  label: transformative cosmic medium
  assigned_to:
  - fig:4
  basis: The speaker's being is hidden in the sea, and bodily foam-flecks receiving
    a sign from the sea melt and turn to spirit in the Ocean.
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:4
  - ev:5
- id: role:5
  label: personified revealer or announcer
  assigned_to:
  - fig:5
  basis: Wisdom rises from the sea's waves and casts abroad a voice.
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:4
symbols:
- id: sym:1
  label: two lights
  literal_form: eye and lamp as two lights
  associated_figures: []
  taxonomy_refs: []
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:1
- id: sym:2
  label: moon
  literal_form: moon appearing, descending, transporting, and containing the heavens
  associated_figures:
  - fig:3
  taxonomy_refs: []
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:2
  - ev:3
- id: sym:3
  label: falcon and bird simile
  literal_form: falcon snatching a bird at hunting time
  associated_figures:
  - fig:3
  - fig:2
  taxonomy_refs: []
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:2
- id: sym:4
  label: nine spheres of heaven
  literal_form: nine spheres of heaven merged in the moon
  associated_figures:
  - fig:3
  taxonomy_refs: []
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:3
- id: sym:5
  label: vessel of being
  literal_form: vessel of the speaker's being hidden in the sea
  associated_figures:
  - fig:2
  - fig:4
  taxonomy_refs: []
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:4
- id: sym:6
  label: sea / Ocean
  literal_form: sea, waves, foam-flecks, Ocean
  associated_figures:
  - fig:4
  taxonomy_refs:
  - water
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:4
  - ev:5
- id: sym:7
  label: foam-flecks of body
  literal_form: foam-flecks where something takes figure and bodied foam melts into
    spirit
  associated_figures:
  - fig:4
  taxonomy_refs:
  - water
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:5
scenes:
- id: scene:1
  label: God only and indistinguishable lights
  summary: The passage states that only God contemplates God's beauty and describes
    an eye and a lamp becoming indistinguishable as two lights joined together.
  figure_refs:
  - fig:1
  symbol_refs:
  - sym:1
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:1
- id: scene:2
  label: Moon descends and snatches the speaker
  summary: At morning-tide the moon appears, descends, gazes on the speaker, and snatches
    the speaker up like a falcon taking a bird, carrying him over the sky.
  figure_refs:
  - fig:2
  - fig:3
  symbol_refs:
  - sym:2
  - sym:3
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:2
- id: scene:3
  label: Self-loss and theophanic revelation in the moon
  summary: The speaker no longer sees himself; his body becomes as soul in the moon,
    he travels in soul, sees only the moon, receives revelation of the Eternal Theophany,
    and the nine spheres merge in the moon.
  figure_refs:
  - fig:2
  - fig:3
  symbol_refs:
  - sym:2
  - sym:4
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:3
- id: scene:4
  label: Being hidden in the sea and bodies changed to spirit
  summary: The speaker's being is hidden in the sea; the sea breaks into waves, Wisdom
    voices abroad, foam-flecks take form, and bodily foam-flecks that receive a sign
    from the sea melt and become spirit in the Ocean.
  figure_refs:
  - fig:2
  - fig:4
  - fig:5
  symbol_refs:
  - sym:5
  - sym:6
  - sym:7
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:4
  - ev:5
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
  label: mystical self-loss and union
  taxonomy_refs:
  - annihilation_union
  basis: The passage describes the speaker seeing himself no more, the body becoming
    as soul within the moon, and the vessel of being hidden in the sea.
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:3
  - ev:4
  confidence: high
  cautions: The passage uses poetic and mystical imagery; the exact doctrinal scope
    of union is not explained within the supplied lines.
- id: motif:2
  label: ascent or celestial transport by a heavenly body
  taxonomy_refs:
  - ascent
  basis: The moon descends, snatches the speaker up, and courses over the sky with
    him.
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:2
  confidence: high
  cautions: The passage does not describe a complete itinerary beyond movement over
    the sky and subsequent visionary transformation.
- id: motif:3
  label: divine beloved or theophanic focus
  taxonomy_refs:
  - divine_beloved
  basis: The passage centers on God's beauty, the moon as the only thing seen during
    soul travel, and the revelation of the Eternal Theophany.
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:1
  - ev:3
  confidence: medium
  cautions: The supplied lines do not explicitly name the moon as the beloved; the
    identification is based on its role as the sole visionary focus.
- id: motif:4
  label: spiritual transformation from body to spirit
  taxonomy_refs:
  - annihilation_union
  basis: The body becomes as soul, and bodily foam-flecks receiving a sign from the
    sea melt and turn to spirit in the Ocean.
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:3
  - ev:5
  confidence: high
  cautions: The passage presents the transformation symbolically through moon, sea,
    and foam imagery.
- id: motif:5
  label: mystical quest through vision and revelation
  taxonomy_refs:
  - mystical_quest
  basis: The speaker undergoes a visionary journey involving celestial transport,
    soul travel, and revelation of the secret of the Eternal Theophany.
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:2
  - ev:3
  confidence: medium
  cautions: The passage begins in medias res and does not describe an explicit quest
    departure or prior search.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
  type: quote
  locator: lines 1135-1139
  quote_or_summary: '"None but God has contemplated the beauty of God"; the eye and
    the lamp are two lights that become indistinguishable when joined.'
  source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/persian-mystics-rumi-davis.md
  rights_note: Public domain source; short excerpt used for evidence.
- id: ev:2
  type: summary
  locator: lines 1143-1147
  quote_or_summary: At morning-tide a moon appears, descends from the sky, gazes on
    the speaker, and, like a falcon snatching a bird, snatches the speaker up and
    courses over the sky.
  source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/persian-mystics-rumi-davis.md
  rights_note: Public domain source; summarized evidence.
- id: ev:3
  type: summary
  locator: lines 1148-1152
  quote_or_summary: The speaker sees himself no more; in the moon his body becomes
    by grace as soul; travelling in soul, he sees only the moon until the secret of
    the Eternal Theophany is revealed, and the nine spheres of heaven merge in the
    moon.
  source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/persian-mystics-rumi-davis.md
  rights_note: Public domain source; summarized evidence.
- id: ev:4
  type: summary
  locator: lines 1153-1155
  quote_or_summary: The vessel of the speaker's being is hidden in the sea; the sea
    breaks into waves, Wisdom rises again, and casts abroad a voice.
  source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/persian-mystics-rumi-davis.md
  rights_note: Public domain source; summarized evidence.
- id: ev:5
  type: summary
  locator: lines 1156-1159
  quote_or_summary: The sea foams; at every foam-fleck something takes figure and
    is bodied forth, and each bodily foam-fleck that receives a sign from the sea
    melts and turns to spirit in the Ocean.
  source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/persian-mystics-rumi-davis.md
  rights_note: Public domain source; summarized evidence.
confidence:
  extraction: high
  motif_candidates: medium
  comparison_claims: uncertain
  notes: Literal extraction is strong because the passage is self-contained and public-domain
    text is supplied. Motif taxonomy assignment is interpretive, especially for divine_beloved
    and mystical_quest. No external comparison claims were 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: |-
  Used only the supplied passage and metadata; comparison_claims left empty because the passage does not itself make a cross-textual comparison.
  batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
  custom_id=motif_extract:sufi-persian-mystics-rumi-davis-gutenberg__l1135-l1159
  passage_sha256=39fc270ad46ff43426215a91b8c77d7814f96d64af188bb36164b8e61dc6f9ed