batch.motif.islamic-koran-rodwell-gutenberg-l4333-l4512
---
record_id: batch.motif.islamic-koran-rodwell-gutenberg-l4333-l4512
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 4333-4512
start: '4333'
end: '4512'
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 teaches divine mercy for lesser faults, denies self-justification,
recalls teachings associated with Moses and Abraham about individual responsibility
and exact recompense, attributes creation, death, life, destruction of former
peoples, and final judgment to God, and commands worship. Translator notes discuss
the Lote-Tree/Sidrah, Arabian idols, and a refrain comparison. The opening of
Sura LXX describes punishment, divine ascents by which angels and the spirit ascend,
the nearness of the judgment day, cosmic dissolution, failed ransom by kin, and
punitive fire for the one who turns away and hoards.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The Lord is described as merciful toward those who avoid great crimes and
commit only lighter faults, and as knowing humans from their production out of
the earth and from embryonic life in the womb.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The passage instructs humans not to assert their own purity, because God best
knows who fears him.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: A person is described as turning his back, giving little, and being covetous.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: The passage refers to pages of Moses and to Abraham as faithful to his pledge.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:5
text: The passage states that no burdened soul bears another's burden, that a person
is reckoned only for his own efforts, and that those efforts will be seen and
exactly recompensed.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:6
text: God is described as the end or term of all things, as causing laughter and
weeping, causing death and life, creating male and female, providing a second
creation, enriching, and being Lord of Sirius.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:7
text: God is said to have destroyed ancient peoples, including the Adites, Themoud,
the people of Noah, and overturned cities.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:8
text: A warning is given that the day which must draw near is already drawing near,
but only God can reveal its time.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:9
text: The audience is commanded to prostrate themselves to God and worship.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:10
text: A translator note describes a Lote-Tree or Sidrah at the extremity or loftiest
spot in Paradise, beyond which neither humans nor angels can pass.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:11
text: The same note says the tree's leaves bear names of individuals and fall on
a particular Ramadan night to indicate those who are to die in the coming year.
category: object
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:12
text: Translator notes describe Al-Lat and Al-Ozza as Arabian idols and recount
a report in which verses permitting intercession were later disowned as a Satanic
suggestion.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:13
text: The opening of Sura LXX describes a suitor asking for punishment to fall on
infidels and says none can hinder God, master of the ascents.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:14
text: Angels and the spirit ascend to God by the ascents in a day whose length is
fifty thousand years.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:15
text: The judgment day is described as distant to some but near from the speaker's
perspective.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:16
text: On that day the heavens become like molten brass and the mountains become
like flocks of wool.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:17
text: On that day friends do not question friends, though they see one another.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:18
text: The wicked person wishes to redeem himself from punishment at the price of
his children, spouse, brother, affectionate kindred, and all on earth.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:19
text: Fire is described as dragging by the scalp and claiming the one who turned
back, went away, amassed, and hoarded.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: obs:20
text: Human beings are described as created hasty, impatient when evil befalls them
and tenacious when good falls to them.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: God / the Lord
description: The divine actor who knows humans, shows mercy, judges, creates, causes
death and life, destroys former peoples, controls the time of the approaching
day, receives worship, and is master of the ascents.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:7
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Humans addressed
description: The audience warned not to claim purity, asked not to doubt the Lord's
benefits, and commanded to prostrate and worship.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: The covetous one who turns back
description: A person characterized as turning his back, giving little, being covetous,
turning away, amassing, and hoarding.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:9
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Moses
description: A prior scriptural figure whose pages are mentioned as containing teachings
about responsibility and recompense.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Abraham
description: A prior figure described as faithful to his pledge and associated with
teachings about responsibility and recompense.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Destroyed former peoples
description: Ancient Adites, Themoud, the people of Noah, and the people of overturned
cities, all described as destroyed.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Warner
description: The passage says the one who warns is one of the warners of old.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: Angels and the spirit
description: Beings who ascend to God by the ascents in a day whose length is fifty
thousand years.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: fig:9
name_or_label: A suitor
description: A figure who sues or asks for punishment to come suddenly upon the
infidels.
role_refs:
- role:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: fig:10
name_or_label: Infidels / wicked
description: Those upon whom punishment is to fall; the wicked person seeks to ransom
himself from punishment on the judgment day.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: fig:11
name_or_label: Kin offered as ransom
description: Children, spouse, brother, kindred, and all on earth are named as the
price the wicked person would offer for deliverance.
role_refs:
- role:11
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: fig:12
name_or_label: Muhammad
description: Named in translator notes concerning the reported cancellation and
replacement of objectionable verses.
role_refs:
- role:12
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:13
name_or_label: Al-Lat and Al-Ozza
description: Arabian idols described in translator notes, with Al-Lat linked to
Nakhlah and Al-Ozza to the Kinanah tribe and Banu Solaym priests.
role_refs:
- role:13
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
roles:
- id: role:1
label: divine knower and merciful judge
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: God knows humans from origin and womb, knows who fears him, and gives exact
recompense.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: role:2
label: creator, life-giver, death-giver, and restorer
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: God causes death and life, creates the sexes, and has the second creation.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:3
label: destroyer of former peoples and master of ascents
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: God destroyed past peoples and is described in Sura LXX as master of the
ascents.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:7
- id: role:4
label: warned worshippers
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The addressed humans are admonished and commanded to prostrate and worship.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- id: role:5
label: condemned turner-away or wicked hoarder
assigned_to:
- fig:3
- fig:10
basis: The passage condemns the one who turns back, gives little, hoards, and is
claimed by punishment or fire.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:8
- ev:9
- id: role:6
label: prior scriptural exemplar
assigned_to:
- fig:4
- fig:5
basis: The passage invokes Moses' pages and Abraham's faithfulness to his pledge
as prior sources or exemplars of the teaching.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:7
label: destroyed exempla
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: The named peoples are presented as prior groups destroyed by God.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:8
label: warner continuous with earlier warners
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: The passage says the one warning the audience is one of the warners of old.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:9
label: ascending heavenly beings
assigned_to:
- fig:8
basis: Angels and the spirit ascend to God by the ascents.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: role:10
label: petitioner for punishment
assigned_to:
- fig:9
basis: A suitor sues for punishment to fall upon the infidels.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: role:11
label: failed ransom relations
assigned_to:
- fig:11
basis: The wicked would offer family, kin, and all on earth to redeem himself, but
the passage rejects this possibility.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: role:12
label: prophetic reciter in translator note
assigned_to:
- fig:12
basis: The note describes Muhammad's reported recital, disowning, and replacement
of disputed verses.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:13
label: idols in translator note
assigned_to:
- fig:13
basis: The note identifies Al-Lat and Al-Ozza as idols and describes associated
places or tribes.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: earth
literal_form: production out of the earth
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:2
label: mother's womb
literal_form: embryos in the mother's womb
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:3
label: pages of Moses
literal_form: pages of Moses
associated_figures:
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:4
label: burden
literal_form: burdened soul and burdens of another
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:5
label: Sirius
literal_form: Sirius / Dog-star
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:6
label: overthrown cities
literal_form: cities that were overthrown
associated_figures:
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:7
label: Lote-Tree / Sidrah
literal_form: tree at the extremity or loftiest spot in Paradise, with leaves bearing
human names
associated_figures: []
taxonomy_refs:
- tree
- sacred_tree_axis
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:8
label: ascents
literal_form: steps or ascents by which angels and the spirit ascend
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:8
taxonomy_refs:
- ascent
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: sym:9
label: molten heavens
literal_form: heavens like molten brass
associated_figures: []
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: sym:10
label: mountains like wool
literal_form: mountains becoming like flocks of wool
associated_figures: []
taxonomy_refs:
- mountain
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: sym:11
label: fire
literal_form: fire dragging by the scalp and claiming the turner-away
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:10
taxonomy_refs:
- fire
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: sym:12
label: family ransom
literal_form: children, spouse, brother, kindred, and all on earth offered for deliverance
associated_figures:
- fig:10
- fig:11
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Mercy, origin, and warning against self-purity
summary: The Lord is described as merciful toward lesser faults, as knowing human
origin from earth and womb, and as the one who knows who truly fears him.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Individual responsibility from earlier pages
summary: The passage asks whether the covetous turner-away knows hidden things,
then invokes Moses and Abraham to teach that each soul bears its own burden and
is recompensed for its own efforts.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:3
label: Divine sovereignty and examples of destruction
summary: God is credited with life, death, creation, second creation, possession,
lordship over Sirius, and the destruction of ancient peoples and overturned cities.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:6
symbol_refs:
- sym:5
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:4
label: Approaching day and command to worship
summary: The warning day is said to be near, with its timing known only to God;
the audience is rebuked for laughing and trifling and commanded to prostrate and
worship.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:7
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:5
label: Paradisal boundary tree in translator note
summary: A note describes the Lote-Tree/Sidrah as a sacred boundary in Paradise
and links its leaves to the names and deaths of individuals.
figure_refs: []
symbol_refs:
- sym:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: scene:6
label: Translator note on idols and disowned verses
summary: A note identifies Arabian idols and recounts a report that verses concerning
exalted females and their intercession were later rejected as a Satanic suggestion.
figure_refs:
- fig:12
- fig:13
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: scene:7
label: Petition for punishment and heavenly ascent
summary: A suitor asks for punishment to fall on infidels; God is called master
of the ascents, by which angels and the spirit ascend to him in a day of fifty
thousand years.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:8
- fig:9
- fig:10
symbol_refs:
- sym:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: scene:8
label: Cosmic signs and failed ransom on the judgment day
summary: The day is near; the heavens become molten brass, mountains become like
wool, social bonds fail, and the wicked would offer family and all the earth as
ransom but cannot be delivered.
figure_refs:
- fig:10
- fig:11
symbol_refs:
- sym:9
- sym:10
- sym:12
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: scene:9
label: Punitive fire claims the hoarder
summary: Fire is personified as dragging by the scalp and claiming the one who turned
away, amassed, and hoarded; human beings are described as hasty and unstable.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
- fig:10
symbol_refs:
- sym:11
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: Individual recompense after moral accounting
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
basis: The passage states that each soul bears only its own burden, that efforts
will be seen, and that a most exact recompense follows.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
confidence: high
cautions: The passage gives doctrinal statements rather than a narrative trial scene.
- id: motif:2
label: Second creation and restoration to life
taxonomy_refs:
- resurrection
basis: God is said to cause death and make alive and to possess the second creation.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
confidence: high
cautions: The wording is brief and does not describe the mechanics of resurrection.
- id: motif:3
label: Destruction of wicked former peoples as warning
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
basis: Former peoples and overturned cities are listed as destroyed by God, followed
by a warning about the approaching day.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
confidence: high
cautions: The individual stories of those peoples are not narrated in this passage.
- id: motif:4
label: Sacred boundary tree in paradise
taxonomy_refs:
- sacred_tree_axis
basis: The translator note describes the Lote-Tree/Sidrah at the extremity or loftiest
spot in Paradise, beyond which neither humans nor angels pass, with leaves tied
to human fates.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
confidence: medium
cautions: This material appears in a translator note rather than the main translated
verse within the line range.
- id: motif:5
label: Ascent of angels and spirit to God
taxonomy_refs:
- ascent
basis: The passage names divine ascents by which angels and the spirit ascend to
God in a day of fifty thousand years.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
confidence: high
cautions: The passage emphasizes heavenly motion and divine scale of time, not a
human visionary ascent.
- id: motif:6
label: Cosmic dissolution on the day of punishment
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
basis: The judgment day includes heavens like molten brass, mountains like wool,
broken social ties, and punishment that cannot be ransomed away.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
confidence: high
cautions: Available taxonomy has no separate apocalyptic-dissolution category, so
this is grouped under divine judgment.
- id: motif:7
label: Punitive fire claiming the hoarder
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
basis: Fire claims the one who turned back, went away, amassed, and hoarded.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
confidence: high
cautions: The fire is punitive rather than explicitly world-destroying in this passage.
- id: motif:8
label: Failed ransom by family at judgment
taxonomy_refs:
- sacred_exchange
- divine_judgment
basis: The wicked person wishes to exchange children, spouse, brother, kindred,
and all earth for deliverance, but the passage rejects the ransom.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
confidence: medium
cautions: The exchange is explicitly refused, so the sacred_exchange reference is
only approximate and should be reviewed.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: The passage itself frames the current warning as continuous with earlier
warners by saying the warner is one of the warners of old.
claim_level: same_function
target: earlier warners of old
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The passage does not identify the earlier warners in this line range.
- id: claim:2
claim: A translator note explicitly directs comparison between the rhetorical question
about the Lord's benefits and a refrain in Sura LV.
claim_level: linguistic_similarity
target: refrain in Sura LV
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The note gives only a cross-reference and does not quote the Sura LV
refrain in this passage.
- id: claim:3
claim: A translator note cautiously identifies Al-Lat with the Alilat mentioned
by Herodotus.
claim_level: linguistic_similarity
target: Alilat of Herodotus
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: low
limitations: This is a translator's probable identification in a note, not a comparison
made in the translated Qur'anic text itself.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 4333-4337
quote_or_summary: Those who avoid great crimes but commit lighter faults receive
the Lord's mercy; God knew humans from the earth and from the womb; humans should
not assert their own purity.
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 4339-4357
quote_or_summary: A covetous person turns back; the pages of Moses and faithful
Abraham teach that no soul bears another's burden and that each person's efforts
will be seen and exactly recompensed.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source metadata; summarized.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 4359-4387
quote_or_summary: God is the term of all things, causes laughter, weeping, death,
life, sexual creation, second creation, possession, and is Lord of Sirius; he
destroyed ancient peoples and overturned cities; the warning day draws near and
the audience is commanded to worship.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source metadata; summarized.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 4403-4423
quote_or_summary: Translator notes describe the Lote-Tree/Sidrah at Paradise's extremity,
beyond which neither humans nor angels pass; its leaves bear human names and fall
to indicate deaths; angels mask the tree.
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 4425-4446
quote_or_summary: Translator notes identify Al-Lat and Al-Ozza as idols, mention
Al-Lat as probably Herodotus's Alilat, and recount a report of verses about exalted
females and intercession later disowned by Muhammad as a Satanic suggestion.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source metadata; summarized.
- id: ev:6
type: citation
locator: line 4452
quote_or_summary: 'Translator note: ''Compare the refrain in Sura lv. p. 74.'''
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source metadata; short quotation.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: lines 4454-4469
quote_or_summary: Sura LXX opens with a suitor asking for punishment to fall on
infidels; none can hinder God, master of the ascents, by which angels and the
spirit ascend to him in a day of fifty thousand years.
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 4471-4498
quote_or_summary: The day is seen as near; heavens become molten brass, mountains
like wool, friends do not ask after friends, and the wicked would ransom himself
with children, spouse, brother, kindred, and all earth, but cannot.
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 4499-4512
quote_or_summary: Fire drags by the scalp and claims the one who turned back, went
away, amassed, and hoarded; humans are described as hasty, impatient in evil,
and tenacious in good.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source metadata; summarized.
confidence:
extraction: medium
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: low
notes: The main translated verses provide strong evidence for judgment, recompense,
resurrection, ascent, and punitive fire motifs. Some symbol and comparison data
derive from translator notes within the line range, so they require human review
before being treated as Qur'anic passage motifs.
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: '2026-04-28'
notes: |-
Used only the supplied passage text and metadata. All interpretive motif assignments are tied to available taxonomy references where supported by the passage.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:islamic-koran-rodwell-gutenberg__l4333-l4512
passage_sha256=05d9b7e2d9d893e3c5c1d4fd0f7437f1773f698af29e8298d0afda847e286b80