batch.motif.sufi-omar-khayyam-sufistic-quatrains-gutenberg-l1363-l1392
---
record_id: batch.motif.sufi-omar-khayyam-sufistic-quatrains-gutenberg-l1363-l1392
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/sufistic-quatrains-omar-khayyam.md
passage_locator:
label: XLVI. / XLVII. / XLVIII. / XLIX.; lines 1363-1392
start: '1363'
end: '1392'
translation: The Sufistic Quatrains of Omar Khayyam
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: ''
summary: Four quatrains present human life under images of a chessboard moved by
Destiny, a ball struck by a Player, an irrevocable writing finger, and the sky
as an inverted bowl unable to help those beneath it.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The world is described as a chequer-board made of Nights and Days, on which
Destiny moves men as pieces.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: Destiny moves, mates, slays, and returns the pieces one by one to a closet.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: A ball does not ask questions but goes right or left according to the Player's
strike.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: A figure addressed as “Thee” is said to have been tossed down into the Field
by one who knows about it all.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:5
text: The Moving Finger writes and then moves on; piety, wit, and tears cannot cancel
or wash out its words.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:6
text: The sky is described as an inverted bowl under which people live and die while
crawling and confined.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:7
text: The addressee is told not to lift hands to the sky for help because it rolls
on impotently.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Destiny
description: Personified agent that plays with men as pieces on a chequer-board.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Men
description: Human beings represented as pieces moved, mated, slain, and put away.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: The Player / He
description: The one who strikes the ball and is also described as having tossed
the addressee into the field.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Thee / Thou
description: The addressed human figure, compared to a ball in the field and later
living under the sky.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: The Moving Finger
description: A writing agent whose written line or word cannot be canceled or washed
out.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: The Sky / It
description: An inverted bowl over human life, said to roll impotently on.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
roles:
- id: role:1
label: Controlling mover
assigned_to:
- fig:1
- fig:3
basis: Destiny moves men as pieces; the Player determines the ball's direction by
striking it.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: role:2
label: Moved or confined human
assigned_to:
- fig:2
- fig:4
basis: Men are pieces on the board, and the addressee is likened to a ball and to
one living beneath the bowl of the sky.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:4
- id: role:3
label: Irrevocable recorder
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The Moving Finger writes and cannot be recalled to cancel what it has written.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:4
label: Impotent cosmic enclosure
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: The sky is an inverted bowl under which people live and die, and it cannot
provide help.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: Chequer-board of Nights and Days
literal_form: Chequer-board
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:2
label: Pieces
literal_form: Game pieces representing men
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:3
label: Closet
literal_form: Closet where pieces are laid back one by one
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:4
label: Ball and Field
literal_form: Ball in a field
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:5
label: Moving Finger
literal_form: Writing finger
associated_figures:
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:6
label: Inverted Bowl of the Sky
literal_form: Inverted bowl identified with the sky
associated_figures:
- fig:4
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Destiny plays on the board of time
summary: Human beings are imagined as game pieces on a board of nights and days,
moved and removed by Destiny.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: The ball obeys the Player's strike
summary: A ball moves right or left according to the Player, while the addressee
is said to have been cast into the field by one who knows.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:3
label: The irreversible writing
summary: The Moving Finger writes and continues onward, beyond the power of piety,
wit, or tears to alter.
figure_refs:
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:4
label: Life beneath the inverted sky-bowl
summary: Human beings live and die under the sky imagined as an inverted bowl, which
is not to be petitioned for help because it is powerless.
figure_refs:
- fig:4
- fig:6
symbol_refs:
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: Human life governed by impersonal fate
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The passage repeatedly represents humans as objects moved by Destiny, a Player,
and an irrevocable writing agency.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
confidence: high
cautions: The available taxonomy does not include a specific fate or determinism
motif family; the wisdom reference is broad.
- id: motif:2
label: Cosmos as game board or field
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Life is figured as a chequer-board of nights and days and as a field into
which the addressee is tossed like a ball.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
confidence: high
cautions: This is a passage-level image rather than a supplied taxonomy category.
- id: motif:3
label: Irrevocable cosmic writing
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The Moving Finger writes and no piety, wit, or tears can alter what has been
written.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
confidence: high
cautions: The passage does not specify a named divine scribe or formal judgment
scene.
- id: motif:4
label: Sky as powerless enclosing vessel
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The sky is called an inverted bowl under which humans live and die, but it
is unable to help.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
confidence: medium
cautions: No available symbol taxonomy item directly matches sky or bowl.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: quote
locator: XLIX., lines 1363-1370
quote_or_summary: "“'Tis all a Chequer-board of Nights and Days / Where Destiny
with Men for Pieces plays” and then moves, mates, slays, and lays pieces back
in the closet."
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/sufistic-quatrains-omar-khayyam.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short excerpt used for extraction evidence.
- id: ev:2
type: quote
locator: L., lines 1371-1378
quote_or_summary: The ball makes no question, but goes right or left as the Player
strikes; the one who tossed “Thee” into the Field knows about it all.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/sufistic-quatrains-omar-khayyam.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short excerpt used for extraction evidence.
- id: ev:3
type: quote
locator: LI., lines 1379-1386
quote_or_summary: "“The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ, / Moves on”; piety,
wit, and tears cannot cancel or wash out what is written."
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/sufistic-quatrains-omar-khayyam.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short excerpt used for extraction evidence.
- id: ev:4
type: quote
locator: LII., lines 1387-1392
quote_or_summary: The sky is an “inverted Bowl” under which people live and die;
the addressee should not lift hands to it for help because it rolls on impotently.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/sufistic-quatrains-omar-khayyam.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short excerpt used for extraction evidence.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: uncertain
notes: Literal imagery is clear. Motif taxonomy mapping is limited because the supplied
taxonomy lacks a specific fate/determinism category.
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 itself does not explicitly support a comparison to another tradition or corpus.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:sufi-omar-khayyam-sufistic-quatrains-gutenberg__l1363-l1392
passage_sha256=ce7b5c04770cb64a7aabf3a604fabf5f1344729f4aa86ff349807078041408c2