batch.motif.sufi-omar-khayyam-sufistic-quatrains-gutenberg-l4636-l4664
---
record_id: batch.motif.sufi-omar-khayyam-sufistic-quatrains-gutenberg-l4636-l4664
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/sufistic-quatrains-omar-khayyam.md
passage_locator:
label: LXXVII. / LXXXVI. / XCIX. / CVII.; lines 4636-4664
start: '4636'
end: '4664'
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 quatrain XCIX, where old acquaintances meet under
a blossoming branch after spring heat, followed by an editorial note linking it
to a story of Nizam ul-Mulk recorded by FitzGerald. It then presents quatrain
CVII, which says it would be better to cancel one unfortunate human soul from
the universe than add to a flood of anguish, followed by an editorial note linking
it to other numbered poems and a cited quatrain about the unchanging writing of
the Pen and the futility of grief.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Old acquaintances are imagined greeting one another under a branch leaning
over a wall and shedding blossoms.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The setting of the greeting includes vernal heat, a wall, a branch, and falling
blossoms.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: An editorial note states that quatrain XCIX is an elaboration founded upon
a story told by Nizam ul-Mulk and recorded by FitzGerald.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: Quatrain CVII states that canceling one luckless human soul from the scroll
of the universe would be better than enlarging a flood of anguish over time.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: An editorial note states that quatrain CVII was inspired by N. 457 and O.
54.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:6
text: The cited O. 54 says that what the Pen has written never changes, grief leads
to deep affliction, and even a lifetime of bloody tears does not increase one
drop beyond what it is.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Old Acquaintance
description: Old acquaintances who greet one another under the blossoming branch.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: luckless Human Soul
description: A single unfortunate human soul imagined as cancelable from the scroll
of the universe.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Pen
description: The Pen whose writing is said never to change in the cited quatrain.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
roles:
- id: role:1
label: reunited acquaintance
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The passage says old acquaintances greet old acquaintances under the branch.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:2
label: unfortunate soul
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The passage calls the figure a luckless human soul and contrasts its cancellation
with adding to anguish.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:3
label: writer of fixed decree
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The cited quatrain says what the Pen has written never changes.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: blossoming branch
literal_form: A branch leaning above a wall and shedding blossoms over head and
feet.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs:
- tree
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:2
label: wall
literal_form: A wall beneath the leaning branch.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:3
label: scroll of universe
literal_form: The Scroll of Universe from which a human soul might be canceled.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:4
label: flood of anguish
literal_form: A flood that grows drop by drop and rolls hoarser with anguish as
ages pass.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:5
label: unchanging pen-writing
literal_form: The writing of the Pen, which is said never to change.
associated_figures:
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:6
label: tears of blood
literal_form: Tears of blood wept through a whole life without increasing a drop
beyond what it is.
associated_figures: []
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: reunion under blossoms
summary: Old acquaintances greet one another in a spring setting under a blossoming
branch leaning over a wall.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: soul and flood of anguish
summary: The quatrain declares that canceling one luckless human soul from the universe
would be better than increasing the flood of anguish over the ages.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:3
label: fixed writing of the Pen
summary: The cited quatrain says that the Pen’s writing cannot change and that grief,
even bloody tears over a lifetime, cannot alter what is fixed.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:5
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: reunion beneath a flowering tree or branch
taxonomy_refs:
- return
basis: The quatrain imagines old acquaintances meeting and greeting under a blossom-shedding
branch.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage does not narrate a full return journey; the taxonomy reference
is based only on the reunion language.
- id: motif:2
label: cancellation of a soul to avert accumulated anguish
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The quatrain contrasts canceling one luckless human soul with adding drop
by drop to a flood of anguish.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
confidence: high
cautions: This is an ethical or metaphysical image rather than a developed narrative
episode.
- id: motif:3
label: irrevocable writing of fate
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The cited quatrain states that what the Pen has written never changes and
that grief cannot alter the fixed amount.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
confidence: high
cautions: The passage presents this as a cited parallel or source, not necessarily
as part of the main quatrain text itself.
- id: motif:4
label: grief as futile tears of blood
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The cited quatrain says that even weeping tears of blood through life does
not increase one drop beyond what it is.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
confidence: high
cautions: The image is confined to the cited O. 54 material included in the passage.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: The passage’s editorial note links quatrain XCIX to a story told by Nizam
ul-Mulk and recorded by FitzGerald.
claim_level: historical_contact
target: Nizam ul-Mulk story recorded by FitzGerald in the Introduction
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The passage does not reproduce the story, so the shared motif or narrative
details cannot be identified from this excerpt alone.
- id: claim:2
claim: The passage’s editorial note links quatrain CVII to N. 457 and O. 54 as sources
of inspiration.
claim_level: historical_contact
target: N. 457 and O. 54
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: Only O. 54 is quoted in this excerpt; N. 457 is named but not supplied,
limiting comparison.
- id: claim:3
claim: Quatrain CVII and the cited O. 54 share a concern with fixed measure or irreversible
decree, expressed through drops, anguish, and the unchanging writing of the Pen.
claim_level: same_function
target: Quatrain CVII and cited O. 54
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:5
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The relationship is based on the excerpted editorial linkage and thematic
overlap; the wider poems are not available here.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 4636-4641; XCIX
quote_or_summary: Quatrain XCIX asks where old acquaintances will meet after vernal
heat and describes them greeting beneath a branch leaning over a wall and shedding
blossoms.
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 4642-4645; editorial note after XCIX
quote_or_summary: The note says quatrain XCIX was interpolated after No. 91 of the
fourth edition and is an elaboration founded on a story told by Nizam ul-Mulk
and recorded by FitzGerald.
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 4647-4652; CVII
quote_or_summary: Quatrain CVII says it would be better to cancel one luckless human
soul from the scroll of the universe than to enlarge drop by drop a flood of anguish
rolling through the ages.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/sufistic-quatrains-omar-khayyam.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 4653-4656; editorial note after CVII
quote_or_summary: The note says quatrain CVII was interpolated after the quatrain
that became No. XCVIII and was inspired by N. 457 and O. 54.
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 4658-4663; cited O. 54
quote_or_summary: The cited quatrain states that what the Pen has written never
changes, that grief results in affliction, and that even a lifetime of bloody
tears does not increase a single drop beyond what it is.
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: medium
notes: Literal extraction is straightforward. Motif labels are cautious because
the excerpt is lyric and editorial rather than a full narrative. Comparison claims
are limited to explicit editorial relationships in the 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: |-
Only the supplied passage and metadata were used.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:sufi-omar-khayyam-sufistic-quatrains-gutenberg__l4636-l4664
passage_sha256=e48be5d0744888babda541c8bdff7a3bad145ac5de80657e15be3c70cd1df8cf