batch.motif.sufi-omar-khayyam-sufistic-quatrains-gutenberg-l3728-l3750
---
record_id: batch.motif.sufi-omar-khayyam-sufistic-quatrains-gutenberg-l3728-l3750
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/sufistic-quatrains-omar-khayyam.md
passage_locator:
label: LXVIII. / LXIX. / LXXI. / LXXII.; lines 3728-3750
start: '3728'
end: '3750'
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: And that inverted Bowl they call the Sky, / Whereunder crawling coop'd we
live and die
summary: The passage depicts the sky or heavenly vault as an inverted bowl under
which humans live helplessly. It advises not to seek help from the sky or heavens,
because they are described as impotent or more helpless than humans; good and
bad qualities and happiness and misery are said not to be imputed to the heavens.
language: English
quote_policy: quoted
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The sky is described as an inverted bowl under which humans live and die.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The speaker tells the addressee not to lift hands to the sky for help.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: The sky is described as moving impotently, like the speaker and addressee.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:4
text: A source note compares the heavenly vault to a bowl fallen upside down.
category: object
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:5
text: The wise are described as having fallen helpless under the heavenly vault.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:6
text: Good and bad in human nature, and happiness and misery predestined for humans,
are said not to be imputed to the heavens.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:7
text: In the way of Wisdom, the heavens are described as a thousandfold more helpless
than the human addressee.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: humans under the sky
description: The passage refers to humans as living and dying under the inverted
bowl called the sky.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: the wise
description: The source note says all the wise have fallen helpless under the heavenly
vault.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: the sky or heavens
description: The sky or heavens are described as an inverted bowl or heavenly vault,
and as impotent or helpless.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
roles:
- id: role:1
label: helpless inhabitants beneath the heavenly vault
assigned_to:
- fig:1
- fig:2
basis: Humans live and die under the inverted bowl; the wise are said to have fallen
helpless beneath the heavenly vault.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: role:2
label: helpless celestial power
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The sky or heavens are addressed as an apparent source of help but described
as impotent and more helpless than humans.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: inverted bowl sky
literal_form: An inverted bowl or upside-down heavenly vault called the sky.
associated_figures:
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: sym:2
label: raised hands for help
literal_form: Hands lifted toward the sky for help, which the speaker says not to
do.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:3
label: way of Wisdom
literal_form: The phrase names a perspective from which the heavens are judged more
helpless than humans.
associated_figures: []
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Life beneath the inverted sky
summary: Humans are pictured as living and dying beneath an inverted bowl called
the sky, and the speaker denies that the sky can provide help.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: The heavenly vault and helpless wise
summary: The explanatory source note describes the heavenly vault as an upside-down
bowl under which the wise have fallen helpless.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:3
label: Refusal to blame the heavens
summary: A cited source says human nature and predestined happiness or misery should
not be imputed to the heavens, because the heavens are more helpless than humans
in the way of Wisdom.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: heaven as enclosing bowl
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The sky or heavenly vault is repeatedly described as an inverted or upside-down
bowl enclosing human life.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
confidence: high
cautions: This is a literal cosmological image in the passage; no supplied taxonomy
family directly names it.
- id: motif:2
label: helpless heavens cannot aid humans
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The speaker warns against seeking help from the sky and states that the heavens
are impotent or more helpless than humans.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
confidence: high
cautions: The passage supports a negative theological or anti-astrological claim,
but does not develop a narrative myth.
- id: motif:3
label: wisdom rejects blaming fate on the heavens
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The passage invokes the way of Wisdom to say that good and bad in human nature
and predestined happiness or misery should not be imputed to the heavens.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
confidence: medium
cautions: The taxonomy reference is supported by the explicit word Wisdom, but the
passage is aphoristic rather than narrative.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: quote
locator: lines 3728-3732
quote_or_summary: '"And that inverted Bowl they call the Sky, / Whereunder crawling
coop''d we live and die"; the speaker adds not to lift hands to it for help because
it moves 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.
- id: ev:2
type: quote
locator: source note after LXXII, O. 134 ll. 1-2
quote_or_summary: '"This heavenly vault is like a bowl fallen upside down, / Under
which all the wise have fallen helpless."'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/sufistic-quatrains-omar-khayyam.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short excerpt used for extraction.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: source note after LXXII, O. 41
quote_or_summary: Good and bad in human nature and predestined happiness and misery
are not to be imputed to the heavens; in the way of Wisdom, the heavens are said
to be far more helpless than the addressee.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/sufistic-quatrains-omar-khayyam.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized for extraction.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: uncertain
notes: Literal imagery and claims are clear in the supplied passage. Motif labels
are descriptive because the available taxonomy has no direct sky-bowl or helpless-heavens
category. No comparison claims were added because the passage itself does not
establish a comparison beyond internal source references.
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. The broader locator label mentions multiple quatrains, but only LXXII appears in the provided passage text.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:sufi-omar-khayyam-sufistic-quatrains-gutenberg__l3728-l3750
passage_sha256=ce95a37f47c14011e9ee658f75db1d85f86854552f951626363be60211aba968