batch.motif.sufi-omar-khayyam-sufistic-quatrains-gutenberg-l15205-l15301
---
record_id: batch.motif.sufi-omar-khayyam-sufistic-quatrains-gutenberg-l15205-l15301
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/sufistic-quatrains-omar-khayyam.md
passage_locator:
label: QUATRAINS OF OMAR KHAYYAM / MONSIEUR J.B. NICOLAS / THE QUATRAINS OF KHAYYAM
/ THE QUATRAINS OF OMAR KHAYYAM; lines 15205-15301
start: '15205'
end: '15301'
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: A sequence of quatrains urges morning wine and the cupbearer over prayer,
tradition, and devotion; reflects on fallen kings, Hell and Paradise, divine reconstruction
of the world, prayer to God for benefits and drunken release from knowledge, the
speaker's dependence on wine, simple sufficiency without servitude, the unrivaled
value of wine under Venus and the moon, and the inability of even wise teachers
to progress beyond profound night before returning to death's sleep.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The speaker says it is time for morning wine and addresses a cupbearer, pointing
to the wine and the tavern.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The speaker asks whether such a moment could be for prayer and tells the cupbearer
to leave discourse on tradition and devotion and drink.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: The coming of an addressed idol is said to bring happiness, and the idol is
asked to chant and bring wine.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: The sequence of months is said to have overturned many potentates, including
figures compared to Djem and Kai.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:5
text: The speaker warns against coarseness among drinkers and bad reputation before
sages, then commands drinking wine.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:6
text: The speaker says that whether one drinks or not, one destined for the fire
of Hell would not know how to enter Paradise.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:7
text: The speaker wishes God would reconstruct the world and allow the speaker to
see Him at work.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:8
text: The speaker wishes God would blot the speaker's name from the register of
life or increase the joys of existence from His mysterious treasure.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:9
text: The speaker asks God to open the door of benefits and bring the speaker to
fortune without dependence on creatures.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:10
text: The speaker asks God to make the speaker drunk with wine until freed from
all knowledge and relieved of head torments.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:11
text: An addressed person is described as burned repeatedly, deserving life anew,
and worthy only of adding fuel to the fire of Hell.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:12
text: The addressed person is questioned for praying that the Divinity pardon Omar
and for asking God to show pity.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:13
text: The speaker says life is impossible without limpid wine and that the body
cannot be carried without the juice of the vine.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:14
text: The speaker imagines a delicious moment when the cupbearer says 'Another cup'
and the speaker lacks strength to take it.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:15
text: The speaker says a remaining breath of life is due to the cupbearer's care,
while discord still reigns among men.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:16
text: The speaker knows about the amount of wine left from the previous evening
but does not know the time left to live.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:17
text: A man with bread for two days and a drop of fresh water in a cracked pitcher
is presented as not needing to be commanded by or serve an equal.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: obs:18
text: Since Venus and the moon appeared in the sky, nothing below is said to be
preferable to ruby wine.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: obs:19
text: Wine-merchants are questioned for selling something said to be superior to
anything they could buy.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: obs:20
text: Knowledgeable and virtuous people, likened to torches for disciples, are said
not to have progressed beyond profound night; they leave fables and return to
death's long sleep.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: speaker
description: First-person voice addressing the cupbearer, God, and others; repeatedly
speaks of wine, life, knowledge, and death.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: cupbearer
description: Addressee asked to provide wine and later described as caring for the
speaker's remaining breath of life.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: idol
description: Addressed figure whose coming brings happiness and who is asked to
chant and bring wine.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: God / Divinity
description: Divine addressee asked to reconstruct the world, open benefits, bring
fortune, intoxicate the speaker, and show pardon or pity.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: drinkers
description: Group before whom the addressee is warned not to appear coarse.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: sages
description: Group before whom the addressee is warned not to acquire a bad reputation.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: potentates like Djem and Kai
description: Former rulers used as examples of those overturned by the sequence
of months.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: Omar
description: Named person for whom pardon is requested from the Divinity.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: fig:9
name_or_label: self-sufficient man
description: A man with bread for two days and fresh water in a cracked pitcher,
used in a question about command and service.
role_refs:
- role:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: fig:10
name_or_label: knowledgeable and virtuous teachers
description: People endowed with knowledge and virtue, compared to torches for their
disciples, yet unable to progress beyond profound night.
role_refs:
- role:11
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- id: fig:11
name_or_label: disciples
description: Followers for whom knowledgeable and virtuous people become like torches.
role_refs:
- role:12
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- id: fig:12
name_or_label: wine-merchants
description: Merchants who sell wine, questioned for how they could buy anything
superior to what they sell.
role_refs:
- role:13
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
roles:
- id: role:1
label: wine-seeking speaker
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The first-person voice repeatedly commands drinking and says life is impossible
without wine.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:7
- id: role:2
label: petitioner to God
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The speaker directly asks God for benefits, fortune, drunkenness, and relief.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: role:3
label: wine-provider and caretaker
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The cupbearer is asked to provide wine and is credited with preserving a
remaining breath of life.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:8
- id: role:4
label: happiness-bringing addressee
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The addressed idol's coming is said to bring happiness, and the idol is asked
to chant and bring wine.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:5
label: divine agent and judge
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: God is imagined reconstructing the world, holding benefits and treasure,
and being asked for pardon and pity.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: role:6
label: social witnesses
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: Drinkers are named as those before whom one should avoid coarseness.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:7
label: reputation witnesses
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: Sages are named as those before whom one should avoid a bad reputation.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:8
label: fallen rulers
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: Potentates like Djem and Kai are said to have been overturned upon the earth
by the months.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:9
label: person needing pardon
assigned_to:
- fig:8
basis: Omar is named as the person for whom pardon is requested from the Divinity.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:10
label: model of simple sufficiency
assigned_to:
- fig:9
basis: The man has enough bread and fresh water and is presented as not needing
to serve an equal.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: role:11
label: wise but limited teachers
assigned_to:
- fig:10
basis: They possess knowledge and virtue and guide disciples like torches, yet do
not progress beyond profound night.
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- id: role:12
label: guided learners
assigned_to:
- fig:11
basis: They are disciples for whom the wise become torches.
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- id: role:13
label: sellers of prized wine
assigned_to:
- fig:12
basis: They sell wine, which the passage calls preferable to anything below.
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: morning wine
literal_form: wine drunk in the morning at the tavern
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:2
label: tavern
literal_form: tavern named as the place where wine is present
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:3
label: fire of Hell
literal_form: fire associated with Hell and fuel
associated_figures:
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs:
- fire
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:6
- id: sym:4
label: Paradise
literal_form: Paradise contrasted with the fire of Hell
associated_figures: []
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:5
label: register of life
literal_form: register from which the speaker asks God to blot the speaker's name
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:6
label: mysterious treasure
literal_form: God's mysterious treasure from which joys might be increased
associated_figures:
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:7
label: door of benefits
literal_form: door of divine benefits requested to be opened
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:8
label: bread and cracked pitcher of water
literal_form: bread for two days and fresh water drawn into a cracked pitcher
associated_figures:
- fig:9
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: sym:9
label: Venus and the moon
literal_form: Venus and the moon appearing in the sky
associated_figures: []
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: sym:10
label: ruby wine
literal_form: wine described as ruby and preferable to anything below
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:12
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: sym:11
label: torches in profound night
literal_form: wise people as torches to disciples amid profound night
associated_figures:
- fig:10
- fig:11
taxonomy_refs:
- fire
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- id: sym:12
label: death's long sleep
literal_form: death described as a long sleep to which the wise return
associated_figures:
- fig:10
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: morning call to wine over prayer
summary: The speaker calls for morning wine at the tavern, addresses the cupbearer,
and rejects discourse on prayer, tradition, and devotion in favor of drinking.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: happy arrival and fallen potentates
summary: An idol-like addressee is asked to chant and bring wine, while the passage
recalls that the passing months have overturned rulers like Djem and Kai.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
- fig:7
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:3
label: drinking under threat of Hell and Paradise
summary: The speaker warns about reputation among drinkers and sages and says that
drinking or not drinking does not enable one destined for Hell's fire to enter
Paradise.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:5
- fig:6
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:4
label: petition for world reconstruction and altered life
summary: The speaker wishes God would reconstruct the world, erase the speaker from
the register of life, or increase the joys of existence from divine treasure.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:5
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: scene:5
label: petition for divine benefits and drunken release
summary: The speaker asks God to open benefits, grant fortune without dependence
on creatures, and make the speaker drunk enough to be freed from knowledge and
pain.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: scene:6
label: rebuke concerning pardon and Hell fire
summary: An addressed person is described as burned and fit for Hell's fire, then
rebuked for asking the Divinity to pardon Omar or show pity.
figure_refs:
- fig:4
- fig:8
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: scene:7
label: dependence on wine and cupbearer
summary: The speaker says wine makes life and bodily endurance possible, imagines
collapse before another cup, and credits the cupbearer with preserving a remaining
breath of life.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: scene:8
label: simple provision and refusal of servitude
summary: A man with bread and fresh water is presented as not needing to be commanded
by or serve an equal.
figure_refs:
- fig:9
symbol_refs:
- sym:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: scene:9
label: cosmic frame for wine's value
summary: Since Venus and the moon appeared, ruby wine is said to be preferable to
anything below, and wine-merchants are questioned for selling it.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:12
symbol_refs:
- sym:9
- sym:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: scene:10
label: wise teachers and death's sleep
summary: Knowledgeable and virtuous teachers are likened to torches for disciples,
yet they remain within profound night, leave fables, and return to death's long
sleep.
figure_refs:
- fig:10
- fig:11
symbol_refs:
- sym:11
- sym:12
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: wine as preferred response to mortality and uncertainty
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The passage repeatedly commands drinking wine while reflecting on fallen
rulers, unknown remaining life, and death's long sleep.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:8
- ev:11
confidence: medium
cautions: The taxonomy reference is broad; the passage's literal emphasis is wine
and mortality rather than a formally named wisdom tale.
- id: motif:2
label: divine judgment contrasted with human conduct
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
basis: The passage contrasts drinking with the fire of Hell and Paradise and raises
questions about divine pardon and pity.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: The passage questions judgment rather than narrating a completed judgment
scene.
- id: motif:3
label: petition for divine remaking of world and life
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The speaker wishes God would reconstruct the world, erase the speaker from
the register of life, or increase the joys of existence from a mysterious treasure.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
confidence: medium
cautions: No available taxonomy reference exactly matches world reconstruction without
adding unsupported details.
- id: motif:4
label: release from knowledge through intoxication
taxonomy_refs:
- annihilation_union
- mystical_quest
basis: The speaker asks God to make the speaker drunk with wine until freed from
all knowledge and relieved of head torments.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
confidence: low
cautions: The passage states drunken freedom from knowledge; any mystical union
reading is not explicit in the passage.
- id: motif:5
label: limits of sages and teachers before death
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: Even those endowed with knowledge and virtue, guiding disciples like torches,
are said not to progress beyond profound night and to return to death's long sleep.
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
confidence: high
cautions: This is a reflective motif rather than a narrative episode.
- id: motif:6
label: simple sufficiency as freedom from servitude
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: A man with bread for two days and fresh water in a cracked pitcher is presented
as not needing command or service under an equal.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
confidence: high
cautions: The passage gives this as an aphoristic question, not a developed story.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 15205-15211; quatrain 454
quote_or_summary: The speaker calls for morning wine, addresses the cupbearer, points
to wine and tavern, asks if the moment is for prayer, and tells the cupbearer
to leave tradition and devotion and drink.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/sufistic-quatrains-omar-khayyam.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from supplied passage.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 15213-15220; quatrain 455
quote_or_summary: An idol-like addressee whose coming brings happiness is asked
to chant and bring wine; the months of Tir and Di are said to have overturned
many potentates like Djem and Kai.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/sufistic-quatrains-omar-khayyam.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from supplied passage.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 15222-15228; quatrain 456
quote_or_summary: The speaker warns against coarseness before drinkers and bad reputation
before sages, urges wine, and says one belonging to Hell's fire would not know
how to enter Paradise whether drinking or not.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/sufistic-quatrains-omar-khayyam.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from supplied passage.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 15230-15236; quatrain 457
quote_or_summary: The speaker wishes God would reconstruct the world, allow the
speaker to see Him working, erase the speaker from the register of life, or increase
joys from His mysterious treasure.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/sufistic-quatrains-omar-khayyam.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from supplied passage.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 15238-15244; quatrain 458
quote_or_summary: The speaker asks God to open divine benefits, grant fortune without
dependence on creatures, and make the speaker drunk with wine until freed from
all knowledge and relieved of head torments.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/sufistic-quatrains-omar-khayyam.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from supplied passage.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 15246-15253; quatrain 459
quote_or_summary: An addressed person is described as repeatedly burned, deserving
life anew, and fit to add fuel to Hell's fire; the passage questions why that
person asks the Divinity to pardon Omar or show pity.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/sufistic-quatrains-omar-khayyam.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from supplied passage.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: lines 15255-15262; quatrain 460
quote_or_summary: The speaker says life is impossible without limpid wine, the body
is a burden without the vine's juice, and longs for the moment when the cupbearer
offers another cup while the speaker lacks strength to take it.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/sufistic-quatrains-omar-khayyam.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from supplied passage.
- id: ev:8
type: summary
locator: lines 15264-15271; quatrain 461
quote_or_summary: The speaker says only a breath of life remains due to the cupbearer's
care; discord remains among men; the speaker knows how much wine remains but not
how much life remains.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/sufistic-quatrains-omar-khayyam.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from supplied passage.
- id: ev:9
type: summary
locator: lines 15273-15279; quatrain 462
quote_or_summary: A man with bread enough for two days and a drop of fresh water
in a cracked pitcher is presented as having no reason to be commanded by or serve
an equal.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/sufistic-quatrains-omar-khayyam.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from supplied passage.
- id: ev:10
type: summary
locator: lines 15281-15287; quatrain 463
quote_or_summary: Since Venus and the moon appeared in the sky, nothing below is
said to be preferable to ruby wine; wine-merchants are questioned for selling
something superior to anything they might buy.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/sufistic-quatrains-omar-khayyam.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from supplied passage.
- id: ev:11
type: summary
locator: lines 15289-15301; quatrain 464
quote_or_summary: Those endowed with knowledge and virtue, who become like torches
to disciples, are said not to have progressed beyond profound night; they leave
fables and return to death's long sleep.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/sufistic-quatrains-omar-khayyam.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from supplied passage.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: uncertain
notes: Literal extraction is based directly on the supplied English passage. Motif
assignments are cautious because the quatrains are aphoristic and symbolic rather
than continuous narrative. No comparison claims were added because the passage
itself does not explicitly compare to another corpus or tradition.
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: |-
All evidence derived only from the supplied passage and metadata.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:sufi-omar-khayyam-sufistic-quatrains-gutenberg__l15205-l15301
passage_sha256=370f87c59869974927a6c31eae1305a7afa4d268dfd64ecd390e837fabb5f5cf