batch.motif.sufi-omar-khayyam-sufistic-quatrains-gutenberg-l2774-l2823
---
record_id: batch.motif.sufi-omar-khayyam-sufistic-quatrains-gutenberg-l2774-l2823
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/sufistic-quatrains-omar-khayyam.md
passage_locator:
label: XXVI. / XXVII. / XXVIII. / XXIX.; lines 2774-2823
start: '2774'
end: '2823'
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: The passage presents quatrains and source notes about human beings coming
into existence without knowing why or whence, leaving without knowing whither,
and using wine to drown the memory or misery of this involuntary condition. Editorial
notes connect the quatrains to cited ruba'iyat and reference lists.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The speaker describes entering the universe without knowing why or whence.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The speaker compares the movement into existence to water flowing unwillingly.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: The speaker describes leaving the universe without knowing whither.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:4
text: The speaker compares departure to wind blowing along a waste or desert.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: A cited parallel says the speaker was brought into existence in confusion
and gains amazement from life.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:6
text: A cited parallel says coming, going, and being occur against the speaker's
will and without known purpose.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:7
text: A cited parallel compares a day of existence passing to water in a great river
and wind in the desert.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:8
text: A later quatrain asks whence the speaker was hurried here without asking and
whither hurried hence without asking.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:9
text: The quatrain says many cups of forbidden wine must drown the memory of that
insolence.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:10
text: A cited source passage says the speaker's coming was not in the speaker's
power at the Day of Creation and departure is fixed.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:11
text: The cited source addresses a nimble cup-bearer and calls for wine to wash
down the misery of the world.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:12
text: Another cited source says that, if the speaker had control, the speaker would
not have come or gone, and it would have been better not to have come, gone, or
lived.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:13
text: Editorial prose states that quatrain XXIX is inspired by cited materials and
that quatrain XXX originates in two ruba'iyat in O.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: speaker
description: First-person voice who speaks of involuntary coming, existence, departure,
ignorance of origin and destination, and wine as a response.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: cup-bearer
description: A nimble cup-bearer addressed in a cited source passage and asked to
rise and prepare wine.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
roles:
- id: role:1
label: unknowing existential speaker
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The speaker repeatedly says they do not know why, whence, or whither, and
cited parallels emphasize confusion and amazement at existence.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:4
- id: role:2
label: unwilling participant in coming and going
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The speaker's coming and going are described as without consent, not in the
speaker's power, fixed, or against the speaker's will.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: role:3
label: wine-server addressed for relief
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The cited source addresses the cup-bearer and requests wine to wash down
worldly misery.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: water
literal_form: Water flowing; water in a great river
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- id: sym:2
label: wind
literal_form: Wind blowing along the waste or in the desert
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- id: sym:3
label: forbidden wine
literal_form: Cups of forbidden wine; wine used to drown memory or wash down misery
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: sym:4
label: universe or world
literal_form: Universe entered and exited; world whose misery is washed down
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:5
- id: sym:5
label: Day of Creation
literal_form: Day of Creation named as the time when coming was not in the speaker's
power
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Unwilled entry and exit from the universe
summary: The speaker says they enter the universe without knowing why or whence,
move like unwilling water, and leave like wind without knowing whither.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Cited reflection on confusion, amazement, and purposeless coming and going
summary: A cited parallel says the speaker was brought into existence in confusion,
gains amazement from life, and does not know the purpose of coming, going, and
being.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:3
label: Passing existence compared to river water and desert wind
summary: A cited parallel describes another day passing from the speaker's existence
like water in a great river and wind in the desert.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:4
label: Wine against involuntary origin and departure
summary: The speaker asks why they were hurried here and away without being asked,
and says many cups of forbidden wine must drown the memory of the insolence.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: scene:5
label: Cited request to cup-bearer
summary: A cited source says the speaker's coming was not in their power and departure
is fixed, then addresses a cup-bearer and calls for wine to wash down worldly
misery.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: scene:6
label: Cited rejection of coming, going, and living
summary: Another cited source says the speaker would not have come or gone if they
had control and that it would have been better not to have come, gone, or lived.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: Unwilled coming into and going out of existence
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Multiple lines describe entry into existence and departure as involuntary,
not chosen, not controlled, or fixed.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:5
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: This is a passage-level philosophical pattern rather than a named taxonomy
motif in the supplied list.
- id: motif:2
label: Ignorance of origin, purpose, and destination
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The speaker repeatedly asks or states not knowing why, whence, whither, or
the purpose of coming, going, and being.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:4
confidence: medium
cautions: The taxonomy reference to wisdom is broad; the passage emphasizes questioning
and not-knowing rather than an explicit wisdom figure or teaching.
- id: motif:3
label: Life as flow of water and wind
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The passage compares existence, movement into and out of the universe, and
the passing of days to water flowing and wind blowing.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
confidence: high
cautions: Wind is not present in the supplied symbol taxonomy; water is a symbol
reference, but the motif itself is not named in the supplied motif-family list.
- id: motif:4
label: Wine as relief from existential misery or memory
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The passage says forbidden wine must drown memory, and a cited source calls
for wine to wash down the misery of the world.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
confidence: high
cautions: The passage does not explicitly define wine allegorically; extraction
remains at the literal-symbolic level.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: The passage itself states that quatrain XXIX is inspired by C. 235 and O.
20, and the cited materials share the pattern of involuntary existence, unknown
purpose, and water/wind imagery.
claim_level: same_motif
target: C. 235 and O. 20 as cited in the editorial notes
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:7
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: high
limitations: The claim is limited to the editorially cited parallels and does not
establish broader historical transmission beyond the passage's own source note.
- id: claim:2
claim: The passage itself states that quatrain XXX originates in two ruba'iyat in
O.; the cited O. 21 and O. 157 passages share the motif of lacking control over
coming and going, while O. 21 also shares wine as a response to worldly misery.
claim_level: same_motif
target: O. 21 and O. 157 as cited in the editorial notes
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:8
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: high
limitations: The claim follows the passage's editorial assertion and cited translations;
it does not independently verify manuscript or textual history.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 2774-2781, XXIX quatrain
quote_or_summary: The speaker enters the universe without knowing why or whence,
like water flowing unwillingly, and leaves like wind along the waste without knowing
whither.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/sufistic-quatrains-omar-khayyam.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 2784-2790, cited C. 235 / O. 20 material
quote_or_summary: A cited passage says the speaker was brought into existence in
confusion, gains only amazement from life, and does not know the purpose of coming,
going, and being.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/sufistic-quatrains-omar-khayyam.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:3
type: quote
locator: lines 2795-2796, cited O. 20 material
quote_or_summary: Like water in a great river and like wind in the desert, / Another
day passes out of the period of my existence.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/sufistic-quatrains-omar-khayyam.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 2804-2809, XXX quatrain
quote_or_summary: The quatrain asks whence the speaker was hurried here and whither
hurried away without being asked, and says many cups of forbidden wine must drown
the memory of the insolence.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/sufistic-quatrains-omar-khayyam.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 2813-2818, cited O. 21 material
quote_or_summary: A cited passage says the speaker's coming was not in their power
at the Day of Creation, departure is fixed, and the cup-bearer is told to bring
wine to wash down the misery of the world.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/sufistic-quatrains-omar-khayyam.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 2822-2827, cited O. 157 material
quote_or_summary: A cited passage says that if the speaker controlled the matter,
they would not have come or gone, and it would have been better not to have come,
gone, or lived.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/sufistic-quatrains-omar-khayyam.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: lines 2782-2783 and references following XXIX
quote_or_summary: The editorial note says the inspiration for quatrain XXIX is found
in C. 235 and O. 20, followed by reference lists.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/sufistic-quatrains-omar-khayyam.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:8
type: summary
locator: lines 2811-2812 and references following XXX
quote_or_summary: The editorial note says quatrain XXX owes its origin to two ruba'iyat
in O., identified as 21 and 151, with later references listing O. 21 and O. 157
in the supplied excerpt.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/sufistic-quatrains-omar-khayyam.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: high
notes: Literal extraction is straightforward. Motif labels are passage-level and
partly non-taxonomic. Comparison claims are confined to editorial source relationships
explicitly stated in the supplied passage.
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 used; all claims derive 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__l2774-l2823
passage_sha256=8fc4848623595141faec5bf3057038632d6fc40da52d873ebb6f6d359bbcf363