batch.motif.islamic-koran-rodwell-gutenberg-l11070-l11217
---
record_id: batch.motif.islamic-koran-rodwell-gutenberg-l11070-l11217
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
passage_locator:
label: PUBLIC SERVICES, / AND EMINENT LITERARY ATTAINMENTS, / THE TRANSLATOR. /
PREFACE; lines 11070-11217
start: '11070'
end: '11217'
translation: The Koran (Al-Qur'an), Rodwell translation
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: ''
summary: The passage recounts Moses traveling with an unnamed guide whose troubling
acts are later explained as mercifully purposed; then recounts Dhoulkarnain’s
journeys to the setting and rising of the sun, his judgment of peoples, his construction
of an iron-and-brass barrier against Gog and Magog between two mountains, and
an eschatological scene of the barrier’s dissolution, trumpet blast, gathering,
Hell, Paradise, and the inexhaustible words of God.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Moses promises patience and obedience if God pleases, while the guide instructs
him not to ask questions until an explanation is given.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The two travelers embark in a ship, and the guide damages it, prompting Moses
to object that the crew might drown.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: The guide kills a youth, and Moses objects that the youth was free from guilt
of blood.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: At a city where the travelers are refused hospitality, the guide sets upright
a wall that was about to fall.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:5
text: The guide explains that the damaged vessel belonged to poor men who worked
at sea and was protected from a king who seized ships by force.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:6
text: The guide explains that the slain youth’s parents were believers and that
another child better in virtue and filial piety was desired for them.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:7
text: The guide explains that the wall belonged to two orphan youths and concealed
their treasure, to be retrieved when they reached strength.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:8
text: Dhoulkarnain is given power on earth and follows routes to the setting and
rising of the sun.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:9
text: At the setting of the sun, Dhoulkarnain is told to chastise or generously
treat a nearby people, and he distinguishes between the impious and those who
believe and do right.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: obs:10
text: Between two mountains, a people ask Dhoulkarnain to build a rampart against
Gog and Magog, who waste the land.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: obs:11
text: Dhoulkarnain has blocks of iron set between the mountain sides, heated with
bellows and fire, and covered with molten brass, making a barrier Gog and Magog
cannot scale or dig through.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- id: obs:12
text: Dhoulkarnain says the barrier is a mercy from his Lord and will be turned
to dust when the Lord’s promise comes to pass.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:12
- id: obs:13
text: An eschatological day is described with Gog and Magog dashing like billows,
a trumpet blast, a gathering, Hell set before infidels, and Paradise for those
who believe and do right.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:13
- ev:14
- id: obs:14
text: The passage says that if the sea became ink to write the words of the Lord,
the sea would fail before the words of the Lord failed.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:15
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Moses
description: A traveler who follows the guide, promises patience, and repeatedly
questions the guide’s actions.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Unnamed guide
description: An unnamed companion of Moses who damages a ship, kills a youth, repairs
a wall, and later explains the hidden meaning of these acts.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Poor men who toiled upon the sea
description: Owners of the vessel damaged by the guide; they are described as poor
men working at sea.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: King who seized every ship by force
description: A king in the rear of the vessel owners who seized every ship by force.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Youth
description: A youth killed by the guide, whose parents are later described as believers.
role_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:6
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Believing parents of the youth
description: Parents of the slain youth; the guide says another child better in
virtue and filial piety was desired for them.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Two orphan youths
description: The owners of the wall and the treasure beneath it; their father was
righteous.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: Dhoulkarnain
description: A ruler whose power is established on earth, who journeys by routes,
judges peoples, and builds a barrier against Gog and Magog.
role_refs:
- role:3
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
- ev:10
- ev:11
- ev:12
- id: fig:9
name_or_label: People near the setting of the sun
description: A people found near the place where Dhoulkarnain sees the sun set in
a miry fount.
role_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
- id: fig:10
name_or_label: People at the rising of the sun
description: A people on whom Dhoulkarnain finds the sun rising and to whom no shelter
from it had been given.
role_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: fig:11
name_or_label: People between the two mountains
description: A people who scarcely understand a language and ask Dhoulkarnain for
protection against Gog and Magog.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: fig:12
name_or_label: Gog and Magog
description: A destructive group said to waste the land, unable to scale or dig
through Dhoulkarnain’s barrier until the promised time.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- ev:11
- ev:12
- ev:13
- id: fig:13
name_or_label: Infidels
description: Those whose eyes were veiled from warning, who treated signs and apostles
with scorn, and for whom Hell is prepared.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:13
- ev:14
- id: fig:14
name_or_label: Those who believe and do right
description: Those promised generous recompense and the gardens of Paradise.
role_refs:
- role:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- ev:14
roles:
- id: role:1
label: Questioning disciple or companion
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Moses follows the guide but repeatedly asks about actions he cannot patiently
await.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: role:2
label: Possessor of hidden interpretation
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The guide forbids questions until explanation and later reveals the meaning
of his actions, saying they were not done of his own will.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: role:3
label: Divinely strengthened ruler
assigned_to:
- fig:8
basis: Dhoulkarnain’s power is established on earth, and he says his Lord has strengthened
him.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:10
- id: role:4
label: Builder of protective barrier
assigned_to:
- fig:8
basis: Dhoulkarnain builds an iron-and-brass barrier between the people and Gog
and Magog.
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- ev:11
- id: role:5
label: Protected community seeking aid
assigned_to:
- fig:11
basis: The people between the mountains ask for a rampart against Gog and Magog.
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: role:6
label: Destructive adversarial collective
assigned_to:
- fig:12
basis: Gog and Magog are said to waste the land and later surge like billows.
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- ev:13
- id: role:7
label: Vulnerable beneficiaries
assigned_to:
- fig:3
- fig:6
- fig:7
basis: The poor vessel owners, believing parents, and orphan youths benefit from
actions whose purpose is explained afterward.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: role:8
label: Coercive royal threat
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The king is described as seizing every ship by force.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:9
label: Condemned unbelievers
assigned_to:
- fig:13
basis: They are associated with veiled eyes, scorn toward signs and apostles, and
Hell as reward.
evidence_refs:
- ev:13
- ev:14
- id: role:10
label: Righteous believers
assigned_to:
- fig:14
basis: They believe and do right, receiving generous recompense and Paradise.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- ev:14
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: Damaged vessel
literal_form: A ship staved in by the guide
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:5
- id: sym:2
label: Falling wall and hidden treasure
literal_form: A wall about to fall, set upright, with treasure beneath it
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:7
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:7
- id: sym:3
label: Setting sun in miry fount
literal_form: The sun found to set in a miry fount
associated_figures:
- fig:8
- fig:9
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: sym:4
label: Rising sun without shelter
literal_form: The sun rising on a people to whom no shelter from it had been given
associated_figures:
- fig:8
- fig:10
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: sym:5
label: Two mountains
literal_form: Two mountains between which Dhoulkarnain comes
associated_figures:
- fig:8
- fig:11
- fig:12
taxonomy_refs:
- mountain
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- ev:11
- id: sym:6
label: Iron-and-brass barrier
literal_form: Blocks of iron between mountain sides, heated and covered with molten
brass
associated_figures:
- fig:8
- fig:11
- fig:12
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- ev:12
- id: sym:7
label: Fire for forging
literal_form: Heat and fire produced with bellows to make the iron red hot
associated_figures:
- fig:8
taxonomy_refs:
- fire
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- id: sym:8
label: Barrier turned to dust
literal_form: The protective barrier turned to dust when the Lord’s promise comes
to pass
associated_figures:
- fig:8
- fig:12
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:12
- id: sym:9
label: Trumpet blast
literal_form: A blast on the trumpet before the gathered body
associated_figures:
- fig:12
- fig:13
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:13
- id: sym:10
label: Hell
literal_form: Hell set close before the infidels and prepared as their abode
associated_figures:
- fig:13
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:13
- ev:14
- id: sym:11
label: Gardens of Paradise
literal_form: Gardens of Paradise as the abode of those who believe and do right
associated_figures:
- fig:14
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:14
- id: sym:12
label: Sea as ink
literal_form: The sea imagined as ink for writing the words of the Lord
associated_figures: []
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:15
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Moses follows the guide under a rule of patient silence
summary: Moses promises patience, and the guide permits him to follow only if he
asks no questions until an account is given.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: The damaged ship
summary: The travelers embark in a ship; the guide damages it; Moses objects; the
later explanation says the damage protects poor owners from a ship-seizing king.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:5
- id: scene:3
label: The slain youth
summary: The guide kills a youth; Moses objects; the explanation concerns the youth’s
believing parents and a hoped-for better child in his place.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:5
- fig:6
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:6
- id: scene:4
label: The restored wall and protected treasure
summary: After a city refuses hospitality, the guide repairs a wall without payment;
he later explains that it preserves the treasure of two orphan youths until maturity.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:7
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:7
- id: scene:5
label: Dhoulkarnain at the west and east
summary: Dhoulkarnain follows routes to the setting and rising of the sun, encounters
peoples, and distinguishes punishment for the impious from recompense for believers.
figure_refs:
- fig:8
- fig:9
- fig:10
- fig:14
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
- id: scene:6
label: The barrier against Gog and Magog
summary: A people between two mountains ask for protection; Dhoulkarnain rejects
tribute, requests labor, and builds an iron-and-brass barrier that Gog and Magog
cannot cross or pierce.
figure_refs:
- fig:8
- fig:11
- fig:12
symbol_refs:
- sym:5
- sym:6
- sym:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- ev:11
- id: scene:7
label: The promised dissolution and final gathering
summary: Dhoulkarnain says the barrier will become dust when the Lord’s promise
comes; the passage then describes Gog and Magog surging, a trumpet blast, gathering,
Hell for infidels, and Paradise for believers.
figure_refs:
- fig:8
- fig:12
- fig:13
- fig:14
symbol_refs:
- sym:8
- sym:9
- sym:10
- sym:11
evidence_refs:
- ev:12
- ev:13
- ev:14
- id: scene:8
label: The inexhaustible words of the Lord
summary: The passage declares that even if the sea became ink, it would fail before
the Lord’s words failed, and concludes with monotheistic worship and righteous
work.
figure_refs: []
symbol_refs:
- sym:12
evidence_refs:
- ev:15
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: Hidden wisdom revealed after puzzling trials
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
- initiation
basis: Moses is instructed not to ask questions, fails to endure several troubling
acts, and only afterward receives explanations of their hidden meanings.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
confidence: high
cautions: The passage presents instruction through events, but it does not explicitly
call this an initiation.
- id: motif:2
label: Divinely empowered ruler orders the earth and protects a community
taxonomy_refs:
- culture_hero
- royal_legitimacy
basis: Dhoulkarnain’s power is established on earth; he travels by routes, judges
peoples, and builds a protective barrier for a threatened community.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
- ev:10
- ev:11
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage emphasizes divine empowerment and rulership; the broader culture-hero
label is an interpretive classification.
- id: motif:3
label: Boundary barrier restraining destructive peoples until an appointed time
taxonomy_refs:
- chaos
basis: Gog and Magog waste the land, are restrained behind a barrier, and later
surge like billows when the promised time arrives.
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- ev:11
- ev:12
- ev:13
confidence: medium
cautions: The taxonomy reference to chaos is approximate; the passage itself names
Gog and Magog rather than an abstract chaos force.
- id: motif:4
label: Final judgment with punishment and reward
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
- resurrection
basis: The passage describes trumpet blast, gathering, Hell for infidels, vain works
on the day of resurrection, and Paradise for believers.
evidence_refs:
- ev:13
- ev:14
confidence: high
cautions: No caution beyond the extraction’s dependence on this translated passage.
- id: motif:5
label: Inexhaustible divine speech
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The sea becoming ink is said to fail before the words of the Lord would fail.
evidence_refs:
- ev:15
confidence: medium
cautions: The available taxonomy has no exact category for divine speech; wisdom
is used only as a broad fit.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 11070-11075
quote_or_summary: Moses says he will be patient and obedient if God pleases; the
guide tells him not to ask about anything until an account is given.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 11076-11082
quote_or_summary: They embark in a ship; the guide staves it in; Moses asks whether
he has done it to drown the crew and calls it strange.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 11087-11093
quote_or_summary: They meet a youth, the guide slays him, and Moses objects that
he has killed one free from guilt of blood.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 11098-11105
quote_or_summary: They come to a city whose people refuse them food as guests; the
guide sets upright a wall that was about to fall, and Moses comments that payment
could have been taken.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 11106-11112
quote_or_summary: The guide says the vessel belonged to poor men working at sea
and was damaged because a king behind them seized every ship by force.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 11113-11118
quote_or_summary: The guide says the youth’s parents were believers, that trouble
by error and infidelity was feared, and that a better and more dutiful child was
desired in his place.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: lines 11119-11125
quote_or_summary: The guide says the wall belonged to two orphan youths, with treasure
beneath it, and that their righteous father and the Lord’s mercy were involved
in preserving it until their maturity.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:8
type: summary
locator: lines 11127-11145
quote_or_summary: Dhoulkarnain is introduced; his power is established on earth;
he follows routes to the setting of the sun in a miry fount and to the rising
of the sun upon a people without shelter from it.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:9
type: summary
locator: lines 11135-11141
quote_or_summary: At the western people, Dhoulkarnain is told either to chastise
or treat generously; he says the impious will be chastised, while believers who
do right will receive generous recompense and easy commands.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:10
type: summary
locator: lines 11149-11158
quote_or_summary: Dhoulkarnain comes between two mountains; the people there say
Gog and Magog waste the land and ask whether tribute may be paid so he will build
a rampart between them.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:11
type: summary
locator: lines 11159-11168
quote_or_summary: Dhoulkarnain asks for strenuous help, blocks of iron, bellows,
and molten brass; the barrier fills the mountain gap and cannot be scaled or dug
through by Gog and Magog.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:12
type: summary
locator: lines 11170-11174
quote_or_summary: Dhoulkarnain calls the barrier a mercy from his Lord and says
it will be turned to dust when the promise of his Lord comes to pass.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:13
type: summary
locator: lines 11176-11186
quote_or_summary: On that day they will dash like billows, a trumpet will be blown,
all will be gathered, and Hell will be set before infidels whose eyes were veiled
from warning.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:14
type: summary
locator: lines 11188-11202
quote_or_summary: Those who disbelieve in the signs and meeting of the Lord have
vain works and Hell as reward; those who believe and do right have the gardens
of Paradise forever.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:15
type: summary
locator: lines 11204-11213
quote_or_summary: The sea becoming ink would fail before the words of the Lord failed;
the speaker is only a man receiving revelation that God is one, calling for righteous
work and exclusive worship.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: uncertain
notes: Literal extraction is well supported by the supplied passage. Motif taxonomy
assignments are cautious because several available taxonomy labels are broad rather
than exact matches. No comparison claims were made because the passage itself
does not supply an explicit comparative frame beyond its own named figures and
events.
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: '2026-04-29'
notes: |-
Used only the supplied passage text and metadata. Footnote material after the main passage was not used for separate motif extraction except insofar as it is part of the provided text; no external identifications were added.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:islamic-koran-rodwell-gutenberg__l11070-l11217
passage_sha256=cf89e1823d71e923dad14b5e1035034eb3c94ba8f0b4e578b0e0ec146822d161