batch.motif.sufi-omar-khayyam-sufistic-quatrains-gutenberg-l2843-l2895
---
record_id: batch.motif.sufi-omar-khayyam-sufistic-quatrains-gutenberg-l2843-l2895
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/sufistic-quatrains-omar-khayyam.md
passage_locator:
label: XXVIII. / XXIX. / XXXI. / XXXII.; lines 2843-2895
start: '2843'
end: '2895'
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: Section XXXII presents a closed door without a key, a veil or curtain that
cannot be seen through or passed behind, and brief talk of 'me and thee' that
ends with neither remaining. Editorial notes link this quatrain to Persian quatrains
about the unknowable secret of Eternity, the Curtain, Fate, and Destiny. Section
XXXIII personifies earth, seas, and heaven as unable to answer; an appended Attar
story explains the sea's blue mourning robe and boiling as grief over separation
from the Friend.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The speaker describes a door for which no key is found.
category: object
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The speaker describes a veil or curtain through which one cannot see or behind
which one cannot pass.
category: object
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: obs:3
text: The passage states that there is brief talk of 'me and thee' before neither
remains.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: The editorial notes connect the quatrain with verses about the secret of Eternity,
a riddle, Fate, and Destiny being unknowable.
category: other
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: Earth, the seas, and rolling Heaven are described as unable to answer.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:6
text: The seas are described as mourning in flowing purple and being forlorn of
their Lord.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:7
text: In the Attar story, an observer asks the sea why it is blue, wears mourning,
and boils without fire.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:8
text: In the Attar story, the sea answers that it weeps for separation from the
Friend and wears blue because of sorrow.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: speaker of XXXII
description: A first-person voice who finds no key to the door and cannot see through
the veil.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: ME and THEE
description: A paired first-person and second-person relation named in the quatrain
and then said to be no more.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Earth
description: Earth is personified as unable to answer.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: seas
description: The seas are personified as mourning, blue or purple, and separated
from their Lord or Friend.
role_refs:
- role:3
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: rolling Heaven
description: Heaven is personified as unable to answer, with signs revealed and
hidden by Night and Morn.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: observer of spiritual things
description: A figure in the Attar story who approaches the sea and questions it.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Friend / Lord
description: The beloved figure from whom the sea is separated; called the Lord
in XXXIII and the Friend in the Attar story.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
roles:
- id: role:1
label: seeker before a barrier
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The speaker encounters a door without a key and a veil through which he cannot
see.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:2
label: subject-object pair that ceases
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The quatrain speaks of 'ME and THEE' and then states there is no more of
'THEE and ME.'
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: role:3
label: cosmic witnesses unable to answer
assigned_to:
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:5
basis: Earth, seas, and Heaven are each included among entities that do not answer.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:4
label: mourner separated from beloved
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The sea says it weeps for separation from the Friend and wears blue in sorrow.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:5
label: questioner of a personified sea
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: The observer approaches the sea and asks why it is blue, mourning, and boiling.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:6
label: absent beloved or divine addressee
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: The sea is described as forlorn of its Lord and separated from the Friend.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: door without key
literal_form: door lacking a key
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:2
label: veil or curtain
literal_form: veil / curtain concealing what cannot be seen or passed behind
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: sym:3
label: secret of Eternity / Fate / Destiny
literal_form: secret, riddle, and hidden knowledge named in editorially cited quatrains
associated_figures: []
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: sym:4
label: mourning sea
literal_form: blue or purple sea wearing a mourning robe and weeping
associated_figures:
- fig:4
- fig:7
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: sym:5
label: boiling without fire
literal_form: sea that boils though there is no fire
associated_figures:
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs:
- fire
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:6
label: Night and Morn
literal_form: sleeve of Night and Morn hiding and revealing Heaven's signs
associated_figures:
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Unopened door and impenetrable veil
summary: The speaker stands before a door without a key and a veil that cannot be
seen through; talk of 'me and thee' ends with the disappearance of both terms.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: scene:2
label: Cosmic silence before the question
summary: Earth, the mourning seas, and rolling Heaven are presented as unable to
answer.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: scene:3
label: Observer questions the mourning sea
summary: An observer asks the sea why it is blue, why it wears mourning, and why
it boils without fire; the sea answers that it mourns separation from the Friend.
figure_refs:
- fig:4
- fig:6
- fig:7
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: quest blocked by hidden divine secret
taxonomy_refs:
- mystical_quest
- wisdom
basis: The passage presents a speaker unable to unlock a door, see through a veil,
or know the secret of Eternity, Fate, or Destiny.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage frames the seeker as unable to attain knowledge rather than
completing a quest; taxonomy assignment is interpretive.
- id: motif:2
label: dissolution of self and other
taxonomy_refs:
- annihilation_union
basis: The quatrain's sequence moves from talk of 'ME and THEE' to 'no more of THEE
and ME.'
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage does not explicitly name union or annihilation; the motif
label rests on the phrasing of the ending.
- id: motif:3
label: mourning for separation from the Friend
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_beloved
basis: The sea is described as forlorn of its Lord and states that it weeps because
of separation from the Friend.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
confidence: high
cautions: The divine identity of the Friend is implied by the devotional language
and Sufi context but is not analytically expanded in the passage.
- id: motif:4
label: personified cosmos unable to answer
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: Earth, the seas, and rolling Heaven are personified as unable to answer a
question.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
confidence: medium
cautions: The specific question is not fully stated within the quatrain excerpt;
the motif is limited to cosmic silence and inability to answer.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: The passage explicitly says quatrain XXXII is mainly inspired by C. 387 and
also influenced by O. 29 and C. 193, all involving the Curtain and inaccessible
secrets.
claim_level: same_motif
target: Persian quatrains cited as C. 387, O. 29, and C. 193
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: high
limitations: The claim follows the editorial note; the source traditions and textual
relationships are not independently evaluated here.
- id: claim:2
claim: The passage explicitly links quatrain XXXIII with a story from Attar's Mantik
ut-tair in which the sea mourns separation from the Friend.
claim_level: same_motif
target: Ferid ud din Attar, Mantik ut-tair, story beginning at distich 972
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: high
limitations: The passage states textual inspiration but only provides a short translated
excerpt of the Attar story.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: quote
locator: lines 2843-2850; XXXII
quote_or_summary: "“There was the Door to which I found no Key; / There was the
Veil through which I might not see ... and then no more of THEE and ME.”"
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/sufistic-quatrains-omar-khayyam.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation used for evidence.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 2852-2862; note on C. 387
quote_or_summary: The note says the main inspiration is C. 387, where neither 'thou'
nor 'I' knows the secret of Eternity or can decipher the riddle; talk occurs behind
the Curtain, and when it falls neither remains.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/sufistic-quatrains-omar-khayyam.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 2864-2877; note on O. 29 and C. 193
quote_or_summary: The note cites related lines stating that no one can pass behind
the Curtain veiling the secret, no mind knows what is there, no one can pass behind
the Curtain of Fate, and no one is master of the Secret of Destiny.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/sufistic-quatrains-omar-khayyam.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:4
type: quote
locator: lines 2879-2884; XXXIII
quote_or_summary: "“Earth could not answer; nor the seas that mourn ... Nor rolling
Heaven, with all his Signs reveal'd / And hidden by the sleeve of Night and Morn.”"
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/sufistic-quatrains-omar-khayyam.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation used for evidence.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 2886-2895; Attar story excerpt
quote_or_summary: The editorial note says quatrain XXXIII was taken from Attar's
Mantik ut-tair. In the cited story, an observer asks the sea why it is blue, wears
mourning, and boils without fire; the sea replies that it weeps for separation
from the Friend and has made its robe blue from sorrow.
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 from the provided passage. Motif taxonomy
assignments are interpretive and should be reviewed, especially annihilation_union
and wisdom.
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: |-
Only the supplied passage and metadata were used. No external source verification was performed.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:sufi-omar-khayyam-sufistic-quatrains-gutenberg__l2843-l2895
passage_sha256=0398073ad918676005ef1360d62caf9fb0d87a61aa9b752e6c93cf03c6c27aa3