batch.motif.islamic-koran-rodwell-gutenberg-l16807-l16947
---
record_id: batch.motif.islamic-koran-rodwell-gutenberg-l16807-l16947
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 16807-16947
start: '16807'
end: '16947'
translation: The Koran (Al-Qur'an)
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: ''
summary: 'The passage recounts several prophet narratives: the people of Saleh hamstring
the she-camel and are struck by an earthquake; Lot denounces his people, is delivered
with his family except his wife, and the wicked receive a rain of punishment;
Shoaib calls Madian to worship God and honest dealings, is threatened with banishment,
and his opponents are destroyed by earthquake. The text then generalizes a pattern
of cities receiving prophets, rejecting signs, and being seized by divine punishment.
It continues with Moses confronting Pharaoh, showing the signs of the rod becoming
a serpent and the white hand, and defeating Pharaoh''s enchanters when his rod
devours their deceptive wonders.'
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The people hamstrung the she-camel, rebelled against their Lord's command,
and challenged Saleh to bring the threatened punishment.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: An earthquake overtook Saleh's people, and they were found dead on their faces
in their dwellings the next morning.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: Lot accused his people of committing a filthy deed and approaching men instead
of women lustfully.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: Lot's people answered by calling for Lot and his companions to be expelled
from the city.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:5
text: Lot and his family were delivered, except his wife, who lingered; a rain was
sent upon the wicked.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:6
text: Shoaib told Madian to worship God alone, give full measures and weights, not
take others' chattels, and not commit disorder on the earth.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:7
text: Shoaib's opponents threatened to banish him and his fellow believers unless
they returned to the opponents' religion.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:8
text: Shoaib declared trust in God and asked God to decide truthfully between him
and his people.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:9
text: An earthquake overtook the people who treated Shoaib as an impostor, and they
were found dead in their dwellings.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:10
text: The passage states that no prophet was sent to a city without its people being
afflicted with adversity and trouble so that they might humble themselves.
category: other
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:11
text: The passage says that if the cities' peoples had believed and feared God,
blessings from Heaven and Earth would have been opened to them, but they rejected
the signs and were punished.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:12
text: The passage says God can smite inheritors of the land for sins and seal their
hearts so they do not hear.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:13
text: The passage says most of the people were not found faithful to their covenant
and were found perverse.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:14
text: Moses told Pharaoh that he was an apostle from the Lord of the Worlds and
asked that the children of Israel be sent away with him.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:15
text: Moses threw down his rod, and it became a distinct serpent; he also drew forth
his hand, and it appeared white to the beholders.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: obs:16
text: Pharaoh's nobles described Moses as an expert enchanter who wanted to expel
them from their land.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: obs:17
text: Pharaoh's side summoned skilled enchanters, who asked about reward and were
promised nearness to Pharaoh if they prevailed.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: obs:18
text: The enchanters cast down their objects, enchanted the people's eyes, and frightened
them with a great enchantment.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- id: obs:19
text: Moses was instructed to throw down his rod, and it devoured the enchanters'
lying wonders; truth was strengthened and the enchanters were humiliated.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: God / Lord
description: The divine sender of prophets, giver of signs, deliverer, judge, and
punisher in the passage.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:6
- ev:8
- ev:11
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Saleh
description: A sent messenger who warned his people and later turned away from them
after their destruction.
role_refs:
- role:2
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Saleh's people
description: The group who hamstrung the she-camel, rebelled against their Lord's
command, challenged Saleh, and died in the earthquake.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: She-camel
description: The she-camel hamstrung by Saleh's people before their punishment.
role_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Lot
description: A prophet sent to his people who denounced their conduct and was delivered
with his family.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Lot's people
description: The people who rejected Lot's rebuke, called for expulsion, and received
the punitive rain.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Lot's family
description: Those delivered with Lot, except for his wife.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: Lot's wife
description: The exception among Lot's family, described as one of those who lingered.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:9
name_or_label: Shoaib
description: Madian's brother, a messenger who exhorted his people to worship God
and deal justly.
role_refs:
- role:2
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: fig:10
name_or_label: People of Madian
description: The community addressed by Shoaib, including opponents who treated
him as an impostor and perished.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: fig:11
name_or_label: Chiefs of Shoaib's people
description: Proud chiefs who threatened Shoaib and the believers with banishment
unless they returned to the chiefs' religion.
role_refs:
- role:3
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:12
name_or_label: Moses
description: An apostle sent with signs to Pharaoh and his nobles; he cast the rod
that became a serpent and devoured the enchanters' wonders.
role_refs:
- role:2
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
- ev:11
- id: fig:13
name_or_label: Pharaoh
description: The ruler addressed by Moses and the one who promised reward and nearness
to the enchanters if they prevailed.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:10
- id: fig:14
name_or_label: Pharaoh's nobles
description: Nobles who called Moses an expert enchanter and described him as a
threat to their land.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: fig:15
name_or_label: Children of Israel
description: The people Moses asks Pharaoh to send away with him.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: fig:16
name_or_label: Enchanters
description: Skilled magicians summoned to oppose Moses; they performed enchantment
but were defeated and humiliated.
role_refs:
- role:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- ev:11
- id: fig:17
name_or_label: Moses' brother
description: Mentioned by Pharaoh's side when they advise delaying Moses and his
brother.
role_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
roles:
- id: role:1
label: divine sender and judge
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: God sends prophets with signs, judges between parties, gives or withholds
blessings, and punishes rejecting peoples.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:6
- ev:8
- id: role:2
label: apostle or prophetic messenger
assigned_to:
- fig:2
- fig:5
- fig:9
- fig:12
basis: Saleh is called one of the Sent Ones; Lot and Shoaib are sent; Moses identifies
himself as an apostle.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:8
- id: role:3
label: rejecting or unbelieving community
assigned_to:
- fig:3
- fig:6
- fig:10
- fig:11
basis: These groups reject warnings, threaten messengers, or treat signs and messengers
as imposture before punishment.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: role:4
label: deliverer and punisher
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: God delivers Lot and his family while sending destructive rain, and sends
or allows earthquake and wrath against other groups.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: role:5
label: faithful counselor
assigned_to:
- fig:2
- fig:9
basis: Saleh and Shoaib each say they proclaimed divine messages and counseled their
people.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:5
- id: role:6
label: delivered group
assigned_to:
- fig:7
- fig:15
basis: Lot's family is delivered, and Moses asks that the children of Israel be
sent away with him.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:8
- id: role:7
label: exception among the delivered household
assigned_to:
- fig:8
basis: Lot's wife is singled out as excluded from the delivered family because she
lingered.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:8
label: ruling or elite opponent
assigned_to:
- fig:11
- fig:13
- fig:14
basis: Chiefs threaten Shoaib, while Pharaoh and his nobles oppose Moses and arrange
the contest with enchanters.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:8
- ev:9
- ev:10
- id: role:9
label: bearer of miraculous signs
assigned_to:
- fig:12
basis: Moses displays the rod-serpent and white-hand signs and defeats the enchanters'
wonders.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- ev:11
- id: role:10
label: magical opponent
assigned_to:
- fig:16
basis: The enchanters are summoned to oppose Moses, perform enchantments, and are
defeated.
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- ev:11
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: hamstrung she-camel
literal_form: she-camel
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:2
label: earthquake as sudden destruction
literal_form: earthquake
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:10
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:5
- id: sym:3
label: punitive rain
literal_form: rain sent upon Lot's people
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:4
label: measures and weights
literal_form: measures and weights used in trade
associated_figures:
- fig:9
- fig:10
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:5
label: blessings from Heaven and Earth
literal_form: blessings opened from Heaven and Earth
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:6
label: sealed hearts
literal_form: hearts sealed so that people do not hear
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:7
label: Moses' rod
literal_form: rod cast down by Moses
associated_figures:
- fig:12
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- ev:11
- id: sym:8
label: serpent sign
literal_form: rod becoming a serpent
associated_figures:
- fig:12
taxonomy_refs:
- serpent
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: sym:9
label: white hand sign
literal_form: Moses' hand appearing white to beholders
associated_figures:
- fig:12
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: sym:10
label: devouring rod
literal_form: Moses' rod devouring the enchanters' lying wonders
associated_figures:
- fig:12
- fig:16
taxonomy_refs:
- serpent
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Saleh's people destroy the she-camel and are struck down
summary: Saleh's people hamstring the she-camel, rebel, challenge his warning, and
are destroyed by an earthquake; Saleh then declares that he had delivered the
message and counsel.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Lot's warning, expulsion threat, deliverance, and punitive rain
summary: Lot denounces his people's conduct; they respond by seeking his expulsion;
Lot and his family are delivered except his wife, and rain falls upon the wicked.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:5
- fig:6
- fig:7
- fig:8
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:3
label: Shoaib's admonition to Madian
summary: Shoaib calls Madian to worship God, use full measures and weights, refrain
from taking others' goods, avoid disorder, and stop obstructing believers.
figure_refs:
- fig:9
- fig:10
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:4
label: Shoaib threatened with banishment and vindicated by judgment
summary: The chiefs threaten Shoaib and the believers with banishment unless they
return to the chiefs' religion; Shoaib refuses, trusts God, and the rejecters
are destroyed by earthquake.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:9
- fig:10
- fig:11
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: scene:5
label: General pattern of cities, prophets, rejection, and punishment
summary: 'The passage describes a recurring pattern: cities receive prophets and
signs, experience adversity and prosperity, reject signs, and are seized by divine
punishment; faith would have brought blessings from Heaven and Earth.'
figure_refs:
- fig:1
symbol_refs:
- sym:5
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: scene:6
label: Moses confronts Pharaoh with signs
summary: Moses identifies himself as an apostle, asks Pharaoh to release the children
of Israel, and displays the rod-serpent and white-hand signs; Pharaoh's nobles
interpret him as an enchanter and political threat.
figure_refs:
- fig:12
- fig:13
- fig:14
- fig:15
symbol_refs:
- sym:7
- sym:8
- sym:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
- id: scene:7
label: Contest between Moses and the enchanters
summary: Skilled enchanters are summoned, promised reward, and perform a frightening
enchantment; Moses casts his rod, which devours their deceptive wonders, and they
are defeated.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:12
- fig:13
- fig:16
- fig:17
symbol_refs:
- sym:7
- sym:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- ev:11
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: Rejected messenger followed by divine destruction
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
basis: Saleh, Lot, and Shoaib each confront a rejecting people, and each narrative
ends with destructive punishment against the rejecters.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:5
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: The passage presents these as theological exempla; the motif label is
a comparative abstraction.
- id: motif:2
label: Prophetic warning and faithful counsel rejected
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: Saleh and Shoaib both state that they delivered the Lord's message and counseled
their people, who rejected them.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:5
confidence: medium
cautions: The available taxonomy reference 'wisdom' is broad; the passage emphasizes
counsel and prophetic warning rather than wisdom teaching alone.
- id: motif:3
label: Deliverance of a righteous household with an excluded family member
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Lot and his family are delivered, but his wife is excluded as one who lingered.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage gives little detail about the wife beyond her exclusion.
- id: motif:4
label: Covenant failure of a people
taxonomy_refs:
- covenant
basis: The passage explicitly says that most of them were not found to have kept
their covenant and were perverse.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
confidence: high
cautions: The covenant is mentioned generally, without details of its terms in this
passage.
- id: motif:5
label: Miraculous sign contest against magicians
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Moses presents signs before Pharaoh, faces summoned enchanters, and his rod
devours their deceptive wonders, establishing truth over their magic.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
- ev:10
- ev:11
confidence: high
cautions: No specific taxonomy motif family in the supplied list directly names
magical contest.
- id: motif:6
label: Rod transformed into serpent
taxonomy_refs:
- serpent
basis: Moses' rod becomes a serpent and later devours the enchanters' wonders.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- ev:11
confidence: high
cautions: The supplied 'serpent' reference is a symbol taxonomy item, not necessarily
a motif family; the rod transformation itself is literal in the passage.
- id: motif:7
label: Blessing for belief and punishment for rejecting signs
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
basis: The passage states that belief and fear of God would have opened blessings
from Heaven and Earth, but rejection of signs led to vengeance.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: This is a generalized theological pattern stated by the passage rather
than a single narrative episode.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: 'Within the passage, the accounts of Saleh''s people, Lot''s people, Shoaib''s
opponents, and the later general statement about cities share the same narrative
function: a messenger or sign is rejected, and divine punishment follows.'
claim_level: same_function
target: recurring city-prophet-rejection-judgment pattern within this passage
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:5
- ev:6
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: high
limitations: This comparison is internal to the supplied passage only and does not
assert historical contact or relationship with any external tradition.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: 16807-16817
quote_or_summary: Saleh's people hamstring the she-camel, rebel, challenge his warning,
are surprised by an earthquake, and are found dead; Saleh says he had announced
the Lord's message and counsel.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized for extraction.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: 16818-16829
quote_or_summary: Lot rebukes his people for their conduct; they call for expulsion;
Lot and his family are delivered except his wife, and punitive rain falls on the
wicked.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized for extraction.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: 16830-16842
quote_or_summary: Shoaib tells Madian to worship God alone, use full measures and
weights, avoid taking others' goods, avoid disorder, and not obstruct believers
from God's way.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized for extraction.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: 16843-16857
quote_or_summary: The chiefs threaten to banish Shoaib and the believers unless
they return to the chiefs' religion; Shoaib refuses, trusts God, and asks God
to decide between the parties.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized for extraction.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: 16858-16869
quote_or_summary: Opponents warn that following Shoaib means ruin; an earthquake
overtakes the rejecters, who become as though they had never dwelt there; Shoaib
says he had proclaimed the messages and counseled them.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized for extraction.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: 16870-16903
quote_or_summary: The passage generalizes that cities receiving prophets are afflicted
with adversity and prosperity, may be seized suddenly, would receive blessings
if believing, but are punished for treating signs as lies; God can smite inheritors
and seal hearts.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized for extraction.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: 16904-16906
quote_or_summary: The passage says most were not found to keep their covenant and
most were found perverse.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized for extraction.
- id: ev:8
type: summary
locator: 16907-16918
quote_or_summary: God sends Moses with signs to Pharaoh and his nobles; Moses says
he is an apostle from the Lord of the Worlds and asks Pharaoh to send away the
children of Israel.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized for extraction.
- id: ev:9
type: summary
locator: 16919-16928
quote_or_summary: Moses throws down his rod and it becomes a serpent; he draws forth
his hand and it appears white; Pharaoh's nobles call him an expert enchanter who
seeks to expel them from their land.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized for extraction.
- id: ev:10
type: summary
locator: 16929-16938
quote_or_summary: Pharaoh's side delays Moses and his brother while summoning skilled
enchanters; the enchanters ask whether they will be rewarded if they prevail,
and Pharaoh promises reward and nearness.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized for extraction.
- id: ev:11
type: summary
locator: 16939-16947
quote_or_summary: The enchanters cast down their objects, enchant the people's eyes,
and frighten them; Moses is told to throw down his rod, which devours their lying
wonders, so truth is strengthened and they are humiliated.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized for extraction.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: medium
notes: Extraction is based only on the supplied passage. Motif labels are conservative
abstractions from repeated actions and explicit theological generalizations 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: '2026-04-29'
notes: |-
No external comparisons were added; the only comparison claim is internal to the repeated narrative pattern stated and illustrated in the passage.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:islamic-koran-rodwell-gutenberg__l16807-l16947
passage_sha256=814f94ed5e822c9442a13459496ec2cc4d54b2e4d388041cb0be97d5d1d7c67b