batch.motif.islamic-koran-rodwell-gutenberg-l21500-l21622
---
record_id: batch.motif.islamic-koran-rodwell-gutenberg-l21500-l21622
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 21500-21622
start: '21500'
end: '21622'
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 contrasts the fate of unbelievers with the duties and hopes
of believers. It warns against hostile outsiders, recalls divine aid in battle
through angels, urges steadfastness, almsgiving, forgiveness, repentance, and
obedience, describes Paradise and fire, and presents earlier prophets and communities
as precedents for endurance under trial.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The passage says the wealth and children of infidels will not help them against
God, and that they will abide in the fire.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: Alms given by the unjust in this present life are compared to a freezing wind
that destroys cornfields.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: Believers are instructed not to form intimacies outside their own group because
such people are described as desiring their ruin and concealing hatred.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: The addressed figure leaves his household early in the morning to prepare
the faithful a camp for war.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:5
text: Two troops become anxious and lose heart, and God is described as becoming
their protector.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:6
text: God is said to have helped the believers at Bedr when they were weaker.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:7
text: The faithful are told that their Lord may aid them with three thousand angels,
and then with five thousand angels if they remain steadfast and fear God.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:8
text: Victory is said to come only from God, and the defeat of those who do not
believe is presented as one purpose of the aid.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:9
text: God is described as owning whatever is in the heavens and the earth, forgiving
whom He wills and chastising whom He wills.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:10
text: Believers are told not to devour usury and to fear the fire prepared for those
who do not believe.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:11
text: Believers are urged to hasten toward pardon and a Paradise described as vast
as the heavens and the earth.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:12
text: The God-fearing are described as giving alms, mastering anger, forgiving others,
remembering God after wrongdoing, and seeking forgiveness.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: obs:13
text: The recompense of the repentant is pardon and gardens beneath which rivers
flow, where they will abide forever.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: obs:14
text: The audience is told that examples existed before their time and is instructed
to traverse the earth and see the end of those who treated prophets as liars.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: obs:15
text: The Koran is described as a manifest, guidance, and warning for the God-fearing.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: obs:16
text: The passage says that wounds, successes, and reverses are alternated among
people so that God may know the believers and take martyrs from them.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- id: obs:17
text: The audience is asked whether they expected to enter Paradise before God had
taken knowledge of those who fought valiantly and endured steadfastly.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:12
- id: obs:18
text: Muhammad is described as no more than an apostle, with other apostles having
passed away before him.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:13
- id: obs:19
text: The passage states that no one can die except by God's permission according
to a Book that fixes the term of life.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:13
- id: obs:20
text: Many prophets are said to have fought with numerous followers and to have
prayed for forgiveness, firm feet, and help against unbelieving people.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:14
- id: obs:21
text: Believers are warned that obeying infidels will make them turn back into perdition,
while God is called their liege lord and best helper.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:15
- id: obs:22
text: God says dread will be cast into the hearts of the infidels because they joined
gods with God, and their abode will be the fire.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:15
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: God
description: The divine actor who protects, helps, forgives, chastises, gives victory,
tests believers, and determines death and recompense.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
- role:3
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:11
- ev:13
- ev:15
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: believers / faithful / God-fearing
description: The addressed community urged to fear God, remain steadfast, give alms,
forgive, seek pardon, obey God and the apostle, and endure wounds and reverses.
role_refs:
- role:5
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:5
- ev:8
- ev:9
- ev:11
- ev:12
- ev:15
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: infidels / those who believed not / unbelieving people
description: Opposing group described as wrongdoers, concealing hostility, liable
to defeat, dread, chastisement, and the fire.
role_refs:
- role:7
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:15
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Muhammad / the apostle
description: The apostle addressed as preparing the faithful for war and later identified
as an apostle like earlier apostles who passed away.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:13
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: angels sent down from on high
description: Angelic helpers promised as divine aid to the faithful in battle.
role_refs:
- role:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: earlier prophets and apostles
description: Previous prophetic figures who passed away, were denied, or fought
with many followers while enduring hardship.
role_refs:
- role:11
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- ev:13
- ev:14
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: two troops
description: Two groups among the believers who became anxious and lost heart, with
God as their protector.
role_refs:
- role:12
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
roles:
- id: role:1
label: protector
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: God becomes protector of the anxious troops and is later called the believers'
liege lord and helper.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:15
- id: role:2
label: giver of victory and battle aid
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Victory is said to come only from God, who aids believers through angels
and defeats unbelievers.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:3
label: judge who forgives and chastises
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: God forgives whom He wills and chastises whom He wills, and the fire is prepared
for unbelievers.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
- ev:15
- id: role:4
label: tester and determiner of life term
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: God alternates successes and reverses to know believers and take martyrs,
and death occurs only by His permission according to a fixed Book.
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- ev:13
- id: role:5
label: exhorted faithful community
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Believers are repeatedly addressed with commands to fear God, obey, seek
pardon, and remain steadfast.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:8
- ev:11
- ev:15
- id: role:6
label: candidates for pardon and Paradise
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The God-fearing and repentant are promised pardon and gardens beneath which
rivers flow.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
- ev:12
- id: role:7
label: hostile opponents
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: They are described as desiring the believers' ruin, rejoicing at their misfortune,
and concealing hatred.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:8
label: subjects of punishment and defeat
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Their abode is the fire, and God may cast them down, chastise them, or cast
dread into their hearts.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:15
- id: role:9
label: apostolic war leader
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The addressed apostle prepares the faithful a camp for war and is identified
as Muhammad, an apostle among apostles.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:13
- id: role:10
label: divine auxiliaries
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: Angels are promised as aid sent down from on high to reassure believers.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:11
label: precedent figures
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: Earlier prophets and apostles are invoked as examples of mortality, combat,
endurance, and prior rejection.
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- ev:13
- ev:14
- id: role:12
label: wavering troops
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: The two troops are described as becoming anxious and losing heart before
God becomes their protector.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: fire
literal_form: Fire prepared for those who do not believe; abode of infidels and
evildoers.
associated_figures:
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs:
- fire
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:8
- ev:15
- id: sym:2
label: freezing wind
literal_form: A freezing wind that falls upon and destroys cornfields.
associated_figures:
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:3
label: cornfields
literal_form: Cornfields of an unjust people destroyed by the freezing wind in a
simile for alms in present life.
associated_figures:
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:4
label: angels sent down
literal_form: Three thousand and five thousand angels sent down from on high to
aid the faithful.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:5
label: Paradise vast as the heavens and the earth
literal_form: Paradise prepared for the God-fearing, described as vast as the heavens
and the earth.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: sym:6
label: gardens beneath which rivers flow
literal_form: Gardens with rivers flowing beneath them, where the rewarded abide
forever.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: sym:7
label: Book fixing the term of life
literal_form: A Book according to which the term of life is fixed.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:13
- id: sym:8
label: turning upon the heels
literal_form: Image of turning back upon the heels after the apostle's death or
through obeying infidels.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:13
- ev:15
- id: sym:9
label: wound
literal_form: A wound suffered by the believers and a like wound suffered by others.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Warning of futile unbelieving wealth and fire
summary: The passage states that infidels' wealth and children will not help them
against God and that they will abide in the fire.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Simile of alms and freezing wind
summary: Alms given in this life by the unjust are likened to a destructive freezing
wind falling on cornfields.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:3
label: Warning against hostile intimacies
summary: Believers are warned that outsiders harbor hatred, seek their ruin, and
speak falsely when they claim belief.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:4
label: Preparation for war and anxious troops
summary: The apostle leaves his household early to prepare the faithful for war;
two troops lose heart, and God becomes their protector.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:4
- fig:7
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: scene:5
label: Divine aid at Bedr and promised angels
summary: God's earlier succor at Bedr is recalled, and angelic aid is promised to
reassure the faithful and bring victory.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: scene:6
label: Commands toward mercy, pardon, and Paradise
summary: Believers are told to avoid usury, fear the fire, obey God and the apostle,
and hasten toward pardon and Paradise.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: scene:7
label: Traits and reward of the repentant
summary: Those who give alms, master anger, forgive, and seek forgiveness after
wrongdoing receive pardon and gardens with rivers.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: scene:8
label: Examples before and prophetic denial
summary: The audience is told to consider earlier examples and the end of those
who treated prophets as liars; the Koran is called guidance and warning.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:6
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: scene:9
label: Wounds, reverses, martyrs, and testing
summary: The passage frames wounds and alternating fortunes as a means by which
God knows believers, takes martyrs, tests believers, and destroys infidels.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- ev:12
- id: scene:10
label: Muhammad's mortality and the fixed term of life
summary: Muhammad is identified as an apostle like prior apostles, and the audience
is warned not to turn back if he dies or is slain; death is said to occur only
by God's permission according to a fixed Book.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:4
- fig:6
symbol_refs:
- sym:7
- sym:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:13
- id: scene:11
label: Earlier prophets in combat
summary: Many prophets are described as fighting with numerous followers, not submitting
under hardship, and praying for forgiveness and firmness.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
- fig:6
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:14
- id: scene:12
label: Warning against turning back and promise of dread
summary: Believers are warned that obeying infidels will turn them back into perdition;
God is their helper and will cast dread into the hearts of infidels.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:15
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: Divine judgment by fire and recompense
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
basis: The passage repeatedly contrasts pardon and Paradise for the God-fearing
with fire, chastisement, defeat, and dread for unbelievers and evildoers.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:7
- ev:8
- ev:9
- ev:15
confidence: high
cautions: The passage states judgment and afterlife outcomes, but does not narrate
a full judgment scene.
- id: motif:2
label: Paradise reward after repentance and endurance
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
basis: Pardon, Paradise, and gardens beneath which rivers flow are promised to those
who fear God, give alms, forgive, repent, and endure.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
- ev:12
confidence: high
cautions: The passage describes reward conditions rather than a detailed journey
to the afterlife.
- id: motif:3
label: Divine aid in battle
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The passage recalls succor at Bedr, promises thousands of angels sent from
on high, and attributes victory to God.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: No supplied taxonomy family directly names divine battle aid; taxonomy
refs are therefore left empty.
- id: motif:4
label: Testing of the faithful through reversal and wounds
taxonomy_refs:
- initiation
basis: The passage says wounds, alternating successes and reverses, and endurance
before entering Paradise serve to distinguish believers, martyrs, and steadfast
fighters.
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- ev:12
confidence: medium
cautions: The term initiation is interpretive; the passage itself speaks of testing,
knowledge, endurance, and Paradise.
- id: motif:5
label: Martyrdom within divine trial
taxonomy_refs:
- sacrifice
basis: God is said to take martyrs from among the believers amid wounds and reverses.
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage mentions martyrs but does not describe an individual sacrificial
death narrative.
- id: motif:6
label: Prophetic precedent for endurance
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: Earlier examples, prior apostles, and many prophets in combat are invoked
to instruct the present community in steadfastness and obedience.
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- ev:13
- ev:14
confidence: medium
cautions: The wisdom taxonomy fit is broad; the passage functions as admonition
and exemplum rather than a wisdom tale.
- id: motif:7
label: Turning back into perdition
taxonomy_refs:
- departure
- return
basis: The image of turning upon the heels is used for apostasy or retreat if believers
abandon obedience after Muhammad's death or follow infidels.
evidence_refs:
- ev:13
- ev:15
confidence: low
cautions: Departure/return taxonomy refs are only approximate; the passage uses
a moral image of reversal rather than a travel plot.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: The passage itself compares the present believers' situation with earlier
prophetic precedents, using prior prophets, apostles, and communities as examples
for endurance and warning.
claim_level: same_function
target: earlier prophetic examples within the passage
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- ev:13
- ev:14
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: high
limitations: This is an internal comparison made by the passage, not evidence of
an external historical relationship beyond the text.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: 21500-21622
quote_or_summary: Infidels' wealth and children will avail nothing against God;
they are inmates of the fire and abide there eternally.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: 21500-21622
quote_or_summary: Alms bestowed in present life are compared to a freezing wind
destroying the cornfields of unjust people; God does them no injustice.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: 21500-21622
quote_or_summary: Believers are warned not to form intimacies with outsiders who
seek their ruin, show hatred, conceal worse hatred, and say 'We believe' only
when meeting them.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: 21500-21622
quote_or_summary: The addressed figure leaves his household early in the morning
to prepare the faithful a camp for war; God heard and knew it.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: 21500-21622
quote_or_summary: Two troops become anxious and lose heart; God becomes protector
of both, and the faithful are told to trust in God.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: 21500-21622
quote_or_summary: God succored the believers at Bedr; the faithful are promised
aid from three thousand and then five thousand angels sent down from on high;
victory comes only from 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: 21500-21622
quote_or_summary: God may turn to wrongdoers in kindness or chastise them; whatever
is in the heavens and earth is God's, and He forgives or chastises whom He wills.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:8
type: summary
locator: 21500-21622
quote_or_summary: Believers are commanded not to devour usury, to fear the fire
prepared for unbelievers, to obey God and the apostle, and to hasten toward pardon
and Paradise.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:9
type: summary
locator: 21500-21622
quote_or_summary: Those who give alms, master anger, forgive others, remember God
after wrongdoing, and seek forgiveness receive pardon and gardens beneath which
rivers flow.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:10
type: summary
locator: 21500-21622
quote_or_summary: The audience is told that examples existed before them, to traverse
the earth and see the end of those who treated prophets as liars; the Koran is
guidance and warning.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:11
type: summary
locator: 21500-21622
quote_or_summary: The believers' wound is matched by wounds suffered by others;
days of success and reversal are alternated so God may know believers, take martyrs,
test believers, and destroy infidels.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:12
type: summary
locator: 21500-21622
quote_or_summary: The audience is asked whether they thought they would enter Paradise
before God knew those who fought valiantly and endured; they had desired death,
then saw it and fled.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:13
type: summary
locator: 21500-21622
quote_or_summary: Muhammad is no more than an apostle; other apostles passed away
before him. If he dies or is slain, the audience must not turn upon their heels;
no one dies except by God's permission and a fixed Book.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:14
type: summary
locator: 21500-21622
quote_or_summary: Many prophets fought with numerous followers, were not daunted
or weakened, and prayed for forgiveness, firm feet, and help against unbelieving
people.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:15
type: summary
locator: 21500-21622
quote_or_summary: Believers are warned that obeying infidels will make them turn
upon their heels into perdition; God is their liege lord and best helper; dread
will be cast into the hearts of infidels, whose abode is fire.
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: medium
notes: Extraction is based only on the supplied English passage. Motif taxonomy
assignments are cautious where no exact supplied taxonomy label exists for divine
battle aid or moral testing.
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 sources or comparisons were used beyond the passage and supplied taxonomy references.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:islamic-koran-rodwell-gutenberg__l21500-l21622
passage_sha256=9df6224df2dbaaf59b323c56e19ed0f0f09e21f04509ec695489b5462215364b