batch.motif.islamic-koran-rodwell-gutenberg-l17850-l17975
---
record_id: batch.motif.islamic-koran-rodwell-gutenberg-l17850-l17975
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 17850-17975
start: '17850'
end: '17975'
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 presents warnings and assurances: God alone restores faculties,
knows hidden things, judges souls, rescues from distress, and commands true guidance.
It describes messengers as heralds and warners, the prophet as following revelation
rather than possessing divine treasures or secret knowledge, believers as recipients
of mercy, opponents as falsifiers, and every soul as accountable. It includes
images of divine knowledge, night soul-taking and awakening, death by messengers,
rescue from darkness on land and sea, punishment from above or below, boiling
water for unbelief, a desert simile involving Satans, creation by the command
''Be,'' the trumpet on the day of kingdom, and Abraham rejecting images as gods
before being shown the kingdom of heaven and earth.'
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: God is described as able to take away hearing and sight and set a seal upon
hearts, with no other god able to restore them.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: Sent Ones are described as heralds of good news and warners; believers who
amend are promised no fear or sorrow, while those who call the signs false receive
punishment.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: The speaker is instructed to say that he does not possess God’s treasures,
does not know secret things, is not an angel, and follows only what is revealed
to him.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: Those who dread being gathered to their Lord are warned that they have no
patron or intercessor except Him.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:5
text: Believers who come to the speaker are greeted with peace and told that their
Lord has laid down for Himself a law of mercy for those who fault through ignorance,
then turn and amend.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:6
text: God is said to possess the keys of secret things, know what is on land and
sea, know every falling leaf and hidden grain, and have all things noted in a
distinct writing.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:7
text: God takes souls at night, knows what people have earned by day, awakens them
for a fixed life-term, and then they return to Him to be told what they have done.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:8
text: Guardians are sent over people until death overtakes them; then messengers
take the soul and fail not, and the dead are returned to God for judgment and
account.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:9
text: People cry secretly and humbly for rescue from the darkness of land and sea,
promising thankfulness; God is said to rescue them from those conditions and from
every strait.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: obs:10
text: God is described as able to send punishment from above, from beneath the feet,
through discord, or through violence among people.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: obs:11
text: The audience is told to withdraw from those who cavil at the signs until they
turn to another subject, and not to sit with the ungodly after recollection if
Satan causes forgetfulness.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- id: obs:12
text: Every soul is described as being consigned to doom for its own works, without
patron or intercessor beside God, and compensation is not accepted; unbelievers
receive boiling water and grievous torment.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:12
- id: obs:13
text: Calling on beings beside God is compared to turning back after guidance and
to a bewildered desert man spell-bound by Satans while companions call him to
guidance.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:13
- id: obs:14
text: God is described as creator of the heavens and earth in truth; when He says
to a thing, 'Be,' it is.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:14
- id: obs:15
text: On a day marked by a trumpet blast, the kingdom is said to belong to God,
who knows the unseen and the seen.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:15
- id: obs:16
text: Abraham addresses his father Azar about taking images as gods and says that
Azar and his people are in manifest error; Abraham is then shown the kingdom of
the heavens and earth so that he might be established in knowledge.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:16
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: God / Lord of the Worlds
description: The sole deity described as restorer, revealer, merciful Lord, possessor
of hidden keys, knower of unseen and seen, rescuer, creator, judge, and taker
or receiver of souls.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
- role:3
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
- ev:9
- ev:14
- ev:15
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Sent Ones
description: Messengers sent as heralds of good news and warners.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Revealed speaker / addressee commanded to say
description: A speaker commanded to declare that he follows revelation, lacks divine
treasures or secret knowledge, and is not an angel.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Believers / those who believe in the signs
description: People who believe, amend, come to the speaker, receive a greeting
of peace, and are told of divine mercy if they turn and amend after fault.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:5
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Impious, wicked, ungodly, and falsifiers
description: People who turn away from signs, call them false, cavil at them, or
make religion sport and pastime; they are associated with punishment or doom.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:10
- ev:11
- ev:12
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Guardians and soul-taking messengers
description: Guardians watch over people until death; messengers take the soul and
fail not.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Satan / Satans
description: Satan may cause forgetfulness; Satans are said to have spell-bound
a bewildered man in the desert in a simile.
role_refs:
- role:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- ev:13
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: Bewildered man in the desert
description: A simile figure spell-bound by Satans in the desert while companions
call him to guidance.
role_refs:
- role:11
evidence_refs:
- ev:13
- id: fig:9
name_or_label: Abraham
description: Abraham speaks against taking images as gods and is shown the kingdom
of the heavens and earth to be established in knowledge.
role_refs:
- role:12
evidence_refs:
- ev:16
- id: fig:10
name_or_label: Azar
description: Abraham’s father, addressed by Abraham about taking images as gods.
role_refs:
- role:13
evidence_refs:
- ev:16
roles:
- id: role:1
label: Divine judge and accountant
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The passage states that judgment is God’s, souls return to Him, and He is
swift in taking account.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: role:2
label: Knower of hidden and visible things
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: God is said to hold the keys of secret things, know land and sea, every falling
leaf and hidden grain, and know unseen and seen.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:15
- id: role:3
label: Creator by command
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: God creates the heavens and earth and commands a thing to be by saying 'Be.'
evidence_refs:
- ev:14
- id: role:4
label: Rescuer and restorer
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: God alone can restore faculties and rescues from darkness of land and sea
and every strait.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:9
- id: role:5
label: Heralds and warners
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Sent Ones are explicitly described as heralds of good news and warners.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:6
label: Revelation-following warner
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The speaker says he follows only what is revealed and is elsewhere commanded
to warn.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: role:7
label: Recipients of peace and mercy
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: Believers are greeted with peace and told of the Lord’s law of mercy for
those who turn and amend.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:8
label: Falsifiers subject to punishment
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: Those who charge signs with falsehood or make religion sport are associated
with punishment, doom, and torment.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:12
- id: role:9
label: Watchers and soul-takers
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: Guardians watch until death and messengers take the soul.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: role:10
label: Cause of forgetfulness or misguiding spell
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: Satan may cause forgetfulness, and Satans spell-bind the desert man in the
simile.
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- ev:13
- id: role:11
label: Image of misguidance
assigned_to:
- fig:8
basis: The desert man illustrates turning back after divine guidance and being spell-bound
despite companions’ call.
evidence_refs:
- ev:13
- id: role:12
label: Rejecter of images and recipient of knowledge
assigned_to:
- fig:9
basis: Abraham challenges image worship and is shown the kingdom of the heavens
and earth to be established in knowledge.
evidence_refs:
- ev:16
- id: role:13
label: Father associated with image worship
assigned_to:
- fig:10
basis: Azar is Abraham’s father and is addressed about taking images as gods.
evidence_refs:
- ev:16
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: Keys of secret things
literal_form: keys
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:2
label: Distinct writing
literal_form: writing in which hidden and visible things are noted
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:3
label: Falling leaf and hidden grain
literal_form: leaf and grain in the darknesses of the earth
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:4
label: Darkness of land and sea
literal_form: darkness of the land and of the sea
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: sym:5
label: Boiling water
literal_form: draughts of boiling water
associated_figures:
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:12
- id: sym:6
label: Desert bewilderment
literal_form: bewildered man spell-bound in the desert
associated_figures:
- fig:7
- fig:8
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:13
- id: sym:7
label: Trumpet blast
literal_form: blast on the trumpet
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:15
- id: sym:8
label: Images as gods
literal_form: images taken as gods
associated_figures:
- fig:9
- fig:10
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:16
- id: sym:9
label: Kingdom of the heavens and earth
literal_form: kingdom of the Heavens and of the Earth
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:9
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:16
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Warning through signs and messengers
summary: The passage contrasts those who believe and amend with those who charge
the signs with falsehood, framing Sent Ones as heralds and warners.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:4
- fig:5
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: scene:2
label: Prophetic limitation and revealed guidance
summary: The speaker denies possessing divine treasures, secret knowledge, or angelic
status, and says he follows revelation.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:3
label: Mercy for believers who amend
summary: Believers who come to the speaker receive the greeting of peace and the
statement that the Lord has imposed mercy upon Himself for those who fault through
ignorance and then amend.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: scene:4
label: Divine omniscience and written record
summary: God’s knowledge is described through the keys of secret things, knowledge
of land and sea, falling leaf, hidden grain, and a distinct writing.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: scene:5
label: Nightly soul-taking and final return
summary: God takes souls at night, awakens them by day for the fixed term, and souls
finally return to Him to be told their deeds.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: scene:6
label: Death, return, and account
summary: Guardians watch until death, messengers take the soul, and the dead return
to God for judgment and account.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:6
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: scene:7
label: Rescue from darkness of land and sea
summary: People call humbly for rescue from danger in darkness on land and sea,
and God is said to rescue them from it and every strait.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: scene:8
label: Doom for works and torment
summary: Every soul is consigned for its own works, without patron or intercessor
besides God; compensation is refused and unbelievers receive boiling water and
grievous torment.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:12
- id: scene:9
label: Desert simile of misguidance
summary: Calling on beings beside God is compared to a man spell-bound by Satans
in the desert while companions call him to guidance.
figure_refs:
- fig:7
- fig:8
symbol_refs:
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:13
- id: scene:10
label: Creation and trumpet day
summary: God creates heaven and earth by truth and command, and the passage names
a day of trumpet blast when the kingdom is His.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
symbol_refs:
- sym:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:14
- ev:15
- id: scene:11
label: Abraham and Azar
summary: Abraham confronts Azar’s taking images as gods, calls it manifest error,
and is shown the kingdom of heavens and earth to be established in knowledge.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:9
- fig:10
symbol_refs:
- sym:8
- sym:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:16
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: Divine judgment and individual accountability
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
basis: The passage repeatedly states that judgment belongs to God, souls return
to Him, each soul is doomed for its own works, and no patron or intercessor beside
God can avert the outcome.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:8
- ev:12
confidence: high
cautions: The extraction uses the supplied taxonomy family label; it does not infer
details beyond the passage’s explicit judgment and accountability language.
- id: motif:2
label: Divine omniscience through hidden keys and written record
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: God alone knows secret things, land and sea, falling leaves, hidden grains,
and all is recorded in a distinct writing.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:15
confidence: medium
cautions: The taxonomy label 'wisdom' is broader than the passage’s literal emphasis
on divine knowledge and record.
- id: motif:3
label: Soul-taking, death, return, and account
taxonomy_refs:
- afterlife_journey_map
basis: The passage describes souls being taken at night, awakening for the life-term,
messengers taking souls at death, return to God, and divine accounting.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage provides a sequence of death and return, but not a detailed
mapped journey through afterlife regions.
- id: motif:4
label: Misguidance as desert bewilderment under demonic influence
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The simile compares turning away after guidance to a bewildered man spell-bound
by Satans in the desert while companions call him to true guidance.
evidence_refs:
- ev:13
confidence: high
cautions: No supplied taxonomy family directly matches this motif, so no taxonomy
reference is assigned.
- id: motif:5
label: Creation by divine speech
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: God creates the heavens and earth and when He says to a thing, 'Be,' it is.
evidence_refs:
- ev:14
confidence: high
cautions: No available taxonomy reference directly corresponds to creation by command
in the supplied list.
- id: motif:6
label: Rejection of images as gods and establishment in knowledge
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: Abraham rejects images as gods and is shown the kingdom of the heavens and
earth so that he may be established in knowledge.
evidence_refs:
- ev:16
confidence: medium
cautions: The motif is specific to the Abraham scene; 'wisdom' is used only for
the explicit establishment in knowledge.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 17850-17857
quote_or_summary: God can take hearing and sight, seal hearts, and no god besides
God can restore them; signs are varied though people turn away.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source metadata; summarized.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 17858-17866
quote_or_summary: Sent Ones are heralds and warners; believers who amend have no
fear or sorrow, while falsifiers of signs receive punishment.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source metadata; summarized.
- id: ev:3
type: quote
locator: lines 17867-17872
quote_or_summary: '"I say not to you, ''In my possession are the treasures of God;''
neither say I, ''I know things secret;'' neither do I say to you, ''Verily, I
am an angel:'' Only what is revealed to me do I follow."'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source metadata; short quotation.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 17873-17875
quote_or_summary: Those who dread being gathered to their Lord are warned that they
have no patron or intercessor except Him.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source metadata; summarized.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 17884-17891
quote_or_summary: Believers who come are greeted with peace and told that the Lord
has laid down for Himself a law of mercy for those who fault through ignorance,
then turn and amend.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source metadata; summarized.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 17903-17908
quote_or_summary: God holds the keys of secret things, knows what is on land and
sea, every falling leaf, every grain in earth’s darknesses, and everything green
or sere noted in a distinct writing.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source metadata; summarized.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: lines 17909-17912
quote_or_summary: God takes souls at night, knows what people merit by day, awakens
them until the set life-term is fulfilled, and then they return to Him to be told
their works.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source metadata; summarized.
- id: ev:8
type: summary
locator: lines 17913-17919
quote_or_summary: God sends guardians until death; messengers take the soul and
fail not; the dead are returned to God, whose judgment and account are swift.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source metadata; summarized.
- id: ev:9
type: summary
locator: lines 17920-17926
quote_or_summary: People cry humbly and secretly for rescue from the darkness of
land and sea, promising thankfulness; God rescues them from those and from every
strait.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source metadata; summarized.
- id: ev:10
type: summary
locator: lines 17927-17931
quote_or_summary: God can send punishment from above, from beneath the feet, through
discord, or through making some people taste others’ violence.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source metadata; summarized.
- id: ev:11
type: summary
locator: lines 17936-17942
quote_or_summary: When people cavil at the signs, withdraw until another subject;
if Satan causes forgetfulness, do not sit with the ungodly after recollection.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source metadata; summarized.
- id: ev:12
type: summary
locator: lines 17945-17953
quote_or_summary: Those deceived by present life are warned that every soul is doomed
for its own works, has no patron or intercessor beside God, and compensation is
rejected; unbelievers receive boiling water and torment.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source metadata; summarized.
- id: ev:13
type: summary
locator: lines 17954-17961
quote_or_summary: Calling on others beside God is compared to turning back after
guidance, like a bewildered man whom Satans have spell-bound in the desert while
companions call, 'Come to us.'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source metadata; summarized with brief embedded quotation.
- id: ev:14
type: quote
locator: lines 17964-17966
quote_or_summary: '"He who hath created the Heavens and the Earth, in truth, and
when He saith to a thing, ''Be,'' it is."'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source metadata; short quotation.
- id: ev:15
type: summary
locator: lines 17967-17970
quote_or_summary: God’s word is truth; His is the kingdom on the day of the trumpet
blast, and He knows unseen and seen.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source metadata; summarized.
- id: ev:16
type: summary
locator: lines 17971-17975
quote_or_summary: Abraham asks Azar, his father, whether he takes images as gods,
says Azar and his people are in error, and is shown the kingdom of heavens and
earth to be established in knowledge.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source metadata; summarized.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: high
notes: The passage is clear for literal observations and divine judgment motifs.
Some taxonomy assignments are broad, especially wisdom and afterlife_journey_map.
No comparison claims were made because the passage itself does not establish a
comparison beyond its internal imagery and themes.
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 provided passage text and metadata. Comparison claims omitted because the passage does not itself support a cautious cross-text or cross-tradition comparison.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:islamic-koran-rodwell-gutenberg__l17850-l17975
passage_sha256=055cc826d7771763eb2412749fa390df8c5183edf86a21478523bc6d967d1818