batch.motif.islamic-koran-rodwell-gutenberg-l20433-l20573
---
record_id: batch.motif.islamic-koran-rodwell-gutenberg-l20433-l20573
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 20433-20573
start: '20433'
end: '20573'
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 exhorts believers to trust and obey God and the apostle, treat
family and wealth as trials, give alms, and remember God. It presents Sura LXII
on divine praise, the sending of an apostle to teach the Book and wisdom, criticism
of those who do not bear the law, a challenge to Jews concerning death, Friday
assembly prayer, and the congregation’s distraction by trade or sport. It then
begins Sura VIII, assigning spoils to God and the apostle, describing true believers,
recalling a disputed departure on a mission of truth, and promising aid by a thousand
angels.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The passage states that no mischance occurs except by God's permission and
that God guides the heart of one who believes.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The audience is commanded to obey God and the apostle, with the apostle described
as responsible only for plain preaching.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: Wives, children, and wealth are described as possible enemies or trials for
believers, while pardon, leniency, fear of God, obedience, and almsgiving are
commended.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: Giving to God is described as a generous loan that God will double and forgive.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:5
text: All that is in the heavens and on the earth is said to utter God's praise.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:6
text: An apostle is said to be sent among pagan Arabs to rehearse signs, purify
them, and impart knowledge of the Book and wisdom.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:7
text: Those who were given the burden of the law but would not bear it are compared
to an ass carrying books.
category: object
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:8
text: The passage challenges Jews who claim to be friends of God to wish for death
if truthful, but states that they will not do so because of their prior deeds.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:9
text: Death is described as something from which people flee but which will meet
them, after which they will be brought back to the knower of secret and open actions.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:10
text: Believers are instructed to hasten to Friday assembly prayer when summoned,
leave trade, and later disperse to seek God's bounties while remembering God.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:11
text: Some people are described as leaving the preacher standing alone when they
see merchandise or sport.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:12
text: The spoils are assigned to God and the apostle, and believers are told to
fear God, settle matters among themselves, and obey.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:13
text: True believers are described as trembling when God is named, increasing in
faith at recitation of signs, trusting their Lord, observing prayer, and giving
alms.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:14
text: God causes the addressed figure to leave home on a mission of truth, although
some believers are averse and dispute the truth as if being led to visible death.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: obs:15
text: God promises that one of two troops will fall to the believers and states
a purpose to prove truth and cut off part of the infidels.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: obs:16
text: When the believers seek aid from their Lord, God answers with a promise of
aid by a thousand angels, rank on rank.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: God
description: The divine speaker or referent described as guiding hearts, knowing
hidden and manifest things, receiving obedience and trust, providing recompense,
sending an apostle, judging actions, assigning spoils, and promising angelic aid.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:4
- role:5
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:5
- ev:8
- ev:10
- ev:11
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: the apostle
description: A messenger commanded to be obeyed, charged with plain preaching, sent
among the pagan Arabs to recite signs and teach the Book and wisdom, and associated
with the spoils.
role_refs:
- role:2
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- ev:8
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: believers
description: The addressed faithful community exhorted to trust, fear God, obey,
give alms, attend assembly prayer, settle disputes, and rely on God.
role_refs:
- role:3
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:6
- ev:8
- ev:9
- ev:11
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: wives and children
description: Family members described as possible enemies or trials for believers
in relation to duty.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: pagan folk / Arabs
description: People among whom an apostle is sent, formerly in manifest error according
to the passage.
role_refs:
- role:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: those burdened with the law
description: A group said to have had the burden of the law laid on them but not
to have borne it.
role_refs:
- role:11
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: ass carrying books
description: 'An animal image used as a likeness for those who do not bear the law:
an ass beneath a load of books.'
role_refs:
- role:12
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: Jews addressed in Sura LXII
description: The group addressed with a challenge to wish for death if they claim
to be friends of God rather than other people.
role_refs:
- role:13
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:9
name_or_label: death
description: Death is personified or depicted as inevitably meeting those who flee
it.
role_refs:
- role:14
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:10
name_or_label: people distracted by merchandise or sport
description: People who leave the preacher standing alone when they see trade goods
or entertainment.
role_refs:
- role:15
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: fig:11
name_or_label: infidels / impious
description: Opponents whom God is said to cut off in part and whose falsehood is
to be brought to nothing.
role_refs:
- role:16
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: fig:12
name_or_label: angels
description: A thousand angels promised as divine aid, rank on rank.
role_refs:
- role:17
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
roles:
- id: role:1
label: supreme divine knower
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: God is said to know all things, including hidden and manifest matters and
secret and open actions.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:5
- id: role:2
label: messenger and preacher
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The apostle is described as charged with plain preaching and sent to rehearse
signs.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- id: role:3
label: obedient faithful community
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Believers are urged to obey, trust, pray, give alms, and remember God.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:6
- ev:8
- id: role:4
label: giver of recompense and forgiveness
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: God is said to hold the great recompense, double the loan, forgive, and provide
a generous provision.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:8
- id: role:5
label: divine judge
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The dead will be brought back to the one who knows secret and open deeds
and will be told their actions.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:6
label: divine military helper
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: God promises aid with a thousand angels and asserts that succor comes from
God alone.
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- id: role:7
label: teacher of scripture and wisdom
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The apostle imparts knowledge of the Book and wisdom.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:8
label: tested recipients of command
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Believers face trials involving family, wealth, prayer, spoils, and reluctance
to depart on a mission.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:8
- ev:9
- id: role:9
label: trial or potential distraction
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: Wives, children, and wealth are called enemy or trial in the passage's exhortation.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:10
label: former people in error receiving instruction
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The apostle is sent among them, and they are described as previously in manifest
error.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:11
label: failed bearers of law
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: They are said to have had the law laid on them and not to have borne it.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:12
label: didactic comparison figure
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: The ass carrying books functions as the explicit likeness in the passage.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:13
label: challenged claimants to divine friendship
assigned_to:
- fig:8
basis: They are challenged to wish for death if their claim to special friendship
with God is true.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:14
label: inescapable encounter
assigned_to:
- fig:9
basis: Death is described as something from which people flee but which will surely
meet them.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:15
label: ritually distracted audience
assigned_to:
- fig:10
basis: They disperse after merchandise or sport and leave the preacher standing
alone.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: role:16
label: opponents of divine truth
assigned_to:
- fig:11
basis: The passage describes cutting off part of the infidels and bringing falsehood
to nothing.
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: role:17
label: heavenly auxiliaries
assigned_to:
- fig:12
basis: The angels are promised as divine aid to the believers.
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: generous loan to God
literal_form: A loan given to God that is doubled and accompanied by forgiveness.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:2
label: Book and wisdom
literal_form: The Book and wisdom taught by the apostle.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:3
label: ass beneath a load of books
literal_form: An ass carrying books as a likeness for not bearing the law.
associated_figures:
- fig:6
- fig:7
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:4
label: death that meets the fleeing
literal_form: Death personified as inevitably meeting those who flee it.
associated_figures:
- fig:8
- fig:9
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:5
label: Friday assembly prayer
literal_form: Summons to prayer on the day of the Assembly, with trade left aside.
associated_figures:
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:6
label: merchandise or sport
literal_form: Merchandise or sport seen by the congregation, prompting dispersion
from the preacher.
associated_figures:
- fig:10
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: sym:7
label: spoils
literal_form: War spoils declared to belong to God and the apostle.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: sym:8
label: two troops
literal_form: One of two troops promised to fall to the believers.
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:11
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: sym:9
label: thousand angels rank on rank
literal_form: A thousand angels arranged rank on rank as promised aid.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:3
- fig:12
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Exhortation to obedience, trust, and almsgiving
summary: Believers are told that mischance occurs by God's permission, to obey God
and the apostle, to beware family and wealth as trials, and to give alms or lend
God a generous loan that will be doubled.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: scene:2
label: Sending of the apostle with Book and wisdom
summary: All creation praises God, and God sends an apostle among the pagan Arabs
to recite signs, purify them, and teach the Book and wisdom.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:3
label: Burden of law compared to an ass with books
summary: Those who do not bear the law laid upon them are likened to an ass under
a load of books.
figure_refs:
- fig:6
- fig:7
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: scene:4
label: Challenge concerning death and return to judgment
summary: The addressed Jews are challenged to wish for death if they are true friends
of God, but the passage says they will not, and that death will meet those who
flee before they are returned to the knower of deeds.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:8
- fig:9
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: scene:5
label: Assembly prayer and distraction by trade or sport
summary: Believers are commanded to hasten to Friday assembly prayer and leave trade;
after prayer they may seek God's bounty, but some abandon the preacher for merchandise
or sport.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:10
symbol_refs:
- sym:5
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: scene:6
label: Rules for spoils and traits of believers
summary: The spoils are declared to belong to God and the apostle; believers are
characterized by awe, increasing faith, prayer, almsgiving, forgiveness, and provision
from God.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: scene:7
label: Departure on a mission and promised victory
summary: God causes the apostle to leave home on a mission of truth; some believers
resist and fear death, while God promises one of two troops and the defeat of
falsehood.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:11
symbol_refs:
- sym:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- ev:10
- id: scene:8
label: Promise of angelic aid
summary: When the believers seek help from God, God promises aid by a thousand angels
arranged rank on rank, as good tidings and reassurance.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
- fig:12
symbol_refs:
- sym:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: Divine judgment after death
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
basis: The passage says death will meet those who flee it and that they will be
brought back to the one who knows secret and open deeds and will tell them their
actions.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
confidence: high
cautions: The passage gives a judgment scene in compressed doctrinal form rather
than a detailed afterlife journey.
- id: motif:2
label: Sacred exchange through almsgiving or loan to God
taxonomy_refs:
- sacred_exchange
basis: The passage frames giving as a generous loan to God that will be doubled
and accompanied by forgiveness.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
confidence: high
cautions: This is an ethical-theological exchange formula, not a narrative barter
scene.
- id: motif:3
label: Revelatory teaching of Book and wisdom
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The apostle is sent to recite divine signs, purify the people, and teach
the Book and wisdom.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
confidence: high
cautions: The wisdom motif is explicit, but the passage does not narrate a quest
for wisdom.
- id: motif:4
label: Trial by family, wealth, and distraction
taxonomy_refs:
- initiation
basis: Believers are warned that wives, children, and wealth are trials, and the
assembly scene contrasts remembrance with trade or sport.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:6
- ev:7
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage uses moral testing language; linking it to initiation is interpretive
and should be reviewed.
- id: motif:5
label: Departure on divinely directed mission
taxonomy_refs:
- departure
basis: God causes the addressed messenger to go forth from home on a mission of
truth despite reluctance among some believers.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
confidence: medium
cautions: The departure is recalled as part of a martial-religious episode, not
as a full hero-cycle departure narrative.
- id: motif:6
label: Heavenly aid in battle
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: God promises to aid the believers with a thousand angels, rank on rank, after
they seek succor.
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
confidence: high
cautions: No available taxonomy reference directly names angelic battle assistance.
- id: motif:7
label: Burden of unread or unheeded sacred books
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: Those who do not bear the law are likened to an ass carrying a load of books,
emphasizing failure to embody revealed knowledge.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
confidence: medium
cautions: The link to wisdom is based on the passage's book/law imagery and may
be better treated as a didactic simile.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 20433-20439
quote_or_summary: No mischance happens except by God's permission; believers are
to obey God and the apostle, and trust God alone.
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 20440-20456
quote_or_summary: Wives, children, and wealth are described as trials; believers
are urged to pardon, fear God, obey, give alms, and lend God a generous loan that
will be doubled and forgiven.
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 20475-20486
quote_or_summary: All in heaven and earth praises God; God sends an apostle among
the pagan Arabs to recite signs, purify them, and teach the Book and wisdom.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:4
type: quote
locator: lines 20489-20492
quote_or_summary: '"like an ass beneath a load of books" is used as a likeness for
those who had the burden of the law but would not bear it.'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 20493-20502
quote_or_summary: Jews claiming special friendship with God are challenged to wish
for death; death will surely meet those who flee it, and they will be brought
back to the knower of secret and open actions.
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 20503-20509
quote_or_summary: Believers are summoned to prayer on the day of the Assembly, told
to leave trade, and after prayer to disperse in quest of God's bounties while
remembering God.
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 20510-20522
quote_or_summary: When people see merchandise or sport, they disperse after it and
leave the preacher standing alone; a note recounts a caravan with tambours attracting
the congregation from the sermon.
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 20529-20544
quote_or_summary: The spoils are declared God's and the apostle's; believers are
described as fearing at God's name, growing in faith, trusting, praying, giving
alms, and receiving grade, forgiveness, and provision.
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 20545-20552
quote_or_summary: God causes the messenger to go forth from home on a mission of
truth; some believers oppose and dispute as if led forth to visible death.
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 20553-20563
quote_or_summary: God promises that one of two troops will fall to the believers
and purposes to establish truth and cut off the outer part of the infidels.
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 20564-20573
quote_or_summary: When the believers seek succor, God promises aid with a thousand
angels, rank on rank, as good tidings and reassurance; succor comes from God alone.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
confidence:
extraction: medium
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: high
notes: Extraction is based only on the supplied passage. Line subranges are approximate
within the provided stable range because the request supplied a single continuous
passage rather than individual canonical line numbers for each verse.
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 comparison claims were added because the passage and notes do not themselves support a clear passage-level comparative mythology claim beyond internal cross-references and a brief biblical comparison in a translator note.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:islamic-koran-rodwell-gutenberg__l20433-l20573
passage_sha256=007ac34c62e3630a32948ba425c029de94df93f4e36a16c2d82baee20093c51a