batch.motif.sufi-omar-khayyam-sufistic-quatrains-gutenberg-l4938-l4986
---
record_id: batch.motif.sufi-omar-khayyam-sufistic-quatrains-gutenberg-l4938-l4986
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/sufistic-quatrains-omar-khayyam.md
passage_locator:
label: STANZA / STANZA / STANZA / STANZA; lines 4938-4986
start: '4938'
end: '4986'
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 lists variant readings for several stanzas. Images include
the sky as an inverted bowl, human sin and forgiveness, a nearly extinguished
tongue whose ashes are kindled into living speech, human substance shaped from
common earth and returned to shapeless earth, a cup or vessel made by a maker
who may destroy it, silence after a question, and the unresolved question of which
is potter and which is pot.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The sky is described as an inverted bowl that rolls as impotently as human
beings.
category: object
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: A variant line contrasts pure gold with dross-allayed matter that was lent.
category: object
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: A stanza variant says the face of wretched man is black with sin and mentions
giving and taking forgiveness.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: A scarcely heard whisper gathers like the ashes of an almost extinguished
tongue, and the speaker's ear kindles it into living word.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:5
text: A speaker says their substance was taken from common earth, shaped, and may
be stamped back into shapeless earth.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:6
text: A speaker compares destruction of a made vessel to a peevish boy breaking
the cup from which he drank in joy.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:7
text: After one question, no one answers, and silence is said to speak.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:8
text: The dead and the living are associated with questions of what, why, and wherefore.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:9
text: An unnamed speaker asks which is the potter and which the pot.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: wretched Man
description: Humanity or a human figure described as having a face black with sin.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: He
description: A maker who subtly wrought the speaker into shape and who made the
vessel by free fancy.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: speaker from common earth
description: A first-person speaker whose substance was taken from common earth
and shaped.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: peevish Boy
description: A boy used in an analogy as someone who would not break a cup from
which he drank in joy.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: unnamed questioner
description: A figure who suddenly exclaims the question about which is potter and
which is pot.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: the Dead and the Living
description: Collective figures mentioned in relation to questions of what, why,
and wherefore.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
roles:
- id: role:1
label: sin-marked human
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The stanza variant says the face of wretched man is black with sin.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:2
label: maker of shape and vessel
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The figure called He is said to have wrought the speaker into shape and made
the vessel.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: role:3
label: formed earthen substance
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The speaker says their substance was taken from common earth and wrought
into shape.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:4
label: analogy figure for cup-breaking
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The peevish boy is invoked as someone who would not break the cup from which
he drank in joy.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:5
label: poser of potter-and-pot question
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: One figure suddenly asks which is the potter and which the pot.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: role:6
label: subjects of unresolved questioning
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: The dead and living are linked with questions of what, why, and wherefore.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: inverted bowl sky
literal_form: An inverted bowl called the sky
associated_figures: []
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:2
label: pure gold and dross
literal_form: Pure gold contrasted with dross-allayed matter
associated_figures: []
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:3
label: blackened face
literal_form: The face of wretched man black with sin
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:4
label: ashes of extinguished tongue
literal_form: Ashes of an almost extinguished tongue kindled into living word
associated_figures: []
taxonomy_refs:
- fire
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:5
label: common earth and shapeless earth
literal_form: Common earth shaped into substance and stamped back to shapeless earth
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:6
label: cup
literal_form: A cup from which a boy drank in joy
associated_figures:
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:7
label: vessel
literal_form: A vessel made by He and possibly destroyed afterward
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:8
label: potter and pot
literal_form: A potter and a pot posed as alternatives in a question
associated_figures:
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Sky as inverted bowl
summary: A variant describes the sky as an inverted bowl and says it rolls impotently
like humans.
figure_refs: []
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Whisper kindled into living word
summary: A scarcely heard whisper gathers like ashes of an almost extinguished tongue
and becomes living word through the speaker's ear.
figure_refs: []
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: scene:3
label: Earth shaped and returned to shapeless earth
summary: A speaker questions why substance taken from common earth and shaped would
be stamped back to shapeless earth.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: scene:4
label: Vessel made and possibly destroyed
summary: A speaker asks whether the maker who freely made the vessel would destroy
it, using the analogy of a boy and a cup.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:6
- sym:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: scene:5
label: Unanswered potter and pot question
summary: After silence, questions about the dead and living lead to the exclamation
asking which is the potter and which the pot.
figure_refs:
- fig:5
- fig:6
symbol_refs:
- sym:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: creator as maker of human vessel
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The passage describes a maker who shapes substance from earth, makes a vessel,
and is questioned as a possible destroyer of what he made.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:8
confidence: high
cautions: The passage is presented as variant readings and uses questions rather
than a continuous narrative.
- id: motif:2
label: return from formed life to shapeless earth
taxonomy_refs:
- death_rebirth
basis: The speaker describes substance taken from common earth, wrought into shape,
and stamped back to shapeless earth.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage supports return to earth; it does not explicitly describe
rebirth.
- id: motif:3
label: wisdom through unresolved questioning
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The passage centers on questions of what, why, wherefore, and the identity
of potter and pot, with no answer given.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
confidence: medium
cautions: The available excerpt gives questions and silence, not a stated doctrine
or resolution.
- id: motif:4
label: forgiveness and sin-marked humanity
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
basis: A stanza variant mentions the face of man black with sin and asks for forgiveness
to be given and taken.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
confidence: low
cautions: Judgment is not explicitly narrated; the taxonomy reference is based only
on sin and forgiveness language.
- id: motif:5
label: speech revived from ashes
taxonomy_refs:
- death_rebirth
basis: A whisper is compared to ashes of an almost extinguished tongue, kindled
into living word.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
confidence: medium
cautions: The motif is metaphorical and confined to speech, not an embodied resurrection.
- id: motif:6
label: cosmos as vessel
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The sky is called an inverted bowl and described as rolling impotently.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
confidence: medium
cautions: The image is brief and not developed into a full cosmological narrative
in this excerpt.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: quote
locator: lines 4938-4986; LXXII variant
quote_or_summary: "“that inverted Bowl we call The Sky” and “As impotently rolls
as you or I.”"
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/sufistic-quatrains-omar-khayyam.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation used for extraction evidence.
- id: ev:2
type: quote
locator: lines 4938-4986; LXXIX variant
quote_or_summary: "“Pure Gold for what he lent us dross-allay'd.”"
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/sufistic-quatrains-omar-khayyam.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation used for extraction evidence.
- id: ev:3
type: quote
locator: lines 4938-4986; LXXXI variant
quote_or_summary: "“For all the Sin the Face of wretched Man / Is black with--Man's
Forgiveness give--and take!”"
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/sufistic-quatrains-omar-khayyam.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation used for extraction evidence.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 4938-4986; LXXXIII variant
quote_or_summary: A scarcely heard whisper gathers like ashes of an almost extinguished
tongue, and the speaker's ear kindles it into living word.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/sufistic-quatrains-omar-khayyam.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized for extraction evidence.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 4938-4986; LXXXIV variant
quote_or_summary: The speaker says their substance was taken from common earth,
wrought into shape by He, and might be stamped back to shapeless earth.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/sufistic-quatrains-omar-khayyam.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized for extraction evidence.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 4938-4986; LXXXV variant
quote_or_summary: A speaker says a peevish boy would not break a cup from which
he drank in joy, then asks whether He who made the vessel by free fancy would
destroy it in rage.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/sufistic-quatrains-omar-khayyam.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized for extraction evidence.
- id: ev:7
type: quote
locator: lines 4938-4986; LXXXVI variant
quote_or_summary: "“None answer'd this, but after silence spake.”"
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/sufistic-quatrains-omar-khayyam.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation used for extraction evidence.
- id: ev:8
type: quote
locator: lines 4938-4986; LXXXVII variant
quote_or_summary: "“Thus with the Dead as with the Living, What? / And Why? ...
‘Which is the Potter, pray, and which the Pot?’”"
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/sufistic-quatrains-omar-khayyam.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation used for extraction evidence.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: uncertain
notes: Literal extraction is straightforward from the supplied stanza variants.
Motif labels are cautious because the passage is a set of edition variants rather
than a continuous narrative, and no explicit external comparison is made.
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 supplied passage text and metadata were used. Taxonomy references were limited to available lists and applied only where directly supportable.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:sufi-omar-khayyam-sufistic-quatrains-gutenberg__l4938-l4986
passage_sha256=0aef49cfa3a69e9bee70140f24c38902876cecf3c3ff304d81354e4a456d23f0