batch.motif.islamic-koran-rodwell-gutenberg-l9938-l10086
---
record_id: batch.motif.islamic-koran-rodwell-gutenberg-l9938-l10086
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 9938-10086
start: '9938'
end: '10086'
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: GLORY be to Him who carried his servant by night...
summary: The passage opens Sura XVII with God carrying his servant by night from
the sacred temple at Mecca to a more remote blessed temple in order to show signs.
It then presents Moses receiving the Book as guidance for Israel, recalls Noah,
foretells and describes punishments of Israel, contrasts belief and unbelief,
describes night and day as signs, depicts each person's fate and open book of
account at resurrection, and gives commands concerning monotheism, parents, kin,
the poor, wayfarers, wastefulness, and moderation.
language: English
quote_policy: quoted
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: God is said to have carried his servant by night from the sacred temple of
Mecca to a more remote blessed temple in order to show him signs.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: Moses is said to have been given the Book as guidance for the children of
Israel, with an injunction to take no other Guardian than God.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: Noah is named as one with whom the addressed posterity were borne, and he
is described as a grateful servant.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: The children of Israel are told that they will commit crimes twice in the
earth and be lifted up in pride.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:5
text: For the first and latter crimes, hostile servants or an enemy are sent against
the children of Israel; the temple is entered and what was conquered is destroyed.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: obs:6
text: The Koran is described as guiding to what is most upright and announcing reward
to believers who do right and punishment to those who do not believe in the life
to come.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:7
text: Night and day are made two signs; the sign of night is obscured and the sign
of day shines forth for seeking provision and reckoning years and time.
category: object
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:8
text: Every person's fate is fastened about the neck, and at resurrection an open
book is brought forth for that person to read as an account.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:9
text: The passage states that no one bears another's load and that punishment is
not given until an apostle has first been sent.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: obs:10
text: The passage gives commands to worship only God, show kindness to parents,
render due to kin, the poor, and the wayfarer, avoid wastefulness, and avoid both
miserliness and excessive openness in giving.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: God
description: The divine speaker and actor who carries the servant by night, gives
guidance, judges conduct, rewards, punishes, and commands worship and ethical
conduct.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:6
- ev:8
- ev:10
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: the servant carried by night
description: A servant of God carried by night from the sacred temple of Mecca to
the more remote blessed temple.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Moses
description: Recipient of the Book given as guidance for the children of Israel.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: children of Israel
description: A people given guidance through Moses and warned of two crimes, punishments,
restoration, and renewed punishment.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Noah
description: Named as the one with whom the addressed posterity were borne; described
as a grateful servant.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: servants or enemy sent against Israel
description: Hostile agents sent to search abodes, enter the temple, sadden faces,
and destroy what had been conquered.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: believers who do right
description: Those to whom the Koran announces a great reward.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: those who do not believe in the life to come
description: Those for whom a painful punishment is prepared.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: fig:9
name_or_label: Satan and the Satans
description: The wasteful are called brethren of the Satans, and Satan is described
as ungrateful to his Lord.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
roles:
- id: role:1
label: divine carrier, revealer, judge, and lawgiver
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: God carries the servant by night, gives guidance, prepares reward and punishment,
produces the book of account, and ordains worship and ethical duties.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:6
- ev:8
- ev:10
- id: role:2
label: recipient of sacred night journey
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The servant is carried by night between sacred temples so that signs may
be shown to him.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:3
label: scripture recipient
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Moses is given the Book as guidance for the children of Israel.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:4
label: warned covenant people
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The children of Israel receive guidance and are warned of crimes, pride,
punishment, restoration, and renewed punishment.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: role:5
label: grateful servant
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: Noah is explicitly called a grateful servant.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:6
label: agents of communal punishment
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: They are sent against Israel, search abodes, enter the temple, and destroy
conquered things.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: role:7
label: righteous rewarded group
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: Believers who do right are promised a great reward.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:8
label: punished unbelieving group
assigned_to:
- fig:8
basis: Those who do not believe in the life to come are assigned painful punishment.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:9
label: model of ingratitude and wasteful association
assigned_to:
- fig:9
basis: The wasteful are called brethren of the Satans, and Satan is said to have
been ungrateful to his Lord.
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: sacred temple of Mecca
literal_form: the sacred temple of Mecca
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:2
label: remote blessed temple
literal_form: the temple that is more remote, whose precinct is blessed
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:3
label: Book as guidance
literal_form: the Book given to Moses; the Koran that guides uprightly
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:3
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
- covenant
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:6
- id: sym:4
label: open book of personal account
literal_form: a book brought forth on the day of resurrection and proffered wide
open
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
- resurrection
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: sym:5
label: fate fastened to the neck
literal_form: every man's fate fastened about his neck
associated_figures: []
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: sym:6
label: night and day signs
literal_form: night and day as two signs, one obscured and one shining forth
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs:
- duality
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: sym:7
label: Hell as prison and burning punishment
literal_form: Hell appointed as prison; burning in hell
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:8
taxonomy_refs:
- fire
- divine_judgment
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:11
- id: sym:8
label: tied and fully opened hand
literal_form: hand tied to the neck or opened with all openness
associated_figures: []
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Night journey between sacred temples
summary: God carries his servant by night from the sacred temple of Mecca to the
more remote blessed temple to show him signs.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Guidance to Moses and Israel
summary: God gives Moses the Book for the children of Israel and commands that they
take no guardian other than God.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:3
label: Two crimes and punishments of Israel
summary: The children of Israel are warned of two crimes and pride; punitive agents
are sent, the temple is entered, destruction occurs, and mercy or renewed punishment
is announced depending on return.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:4
- fig:6
symbol_refs:
- sym:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: scene:4
label: Cosmic signs of time
summary: Night and day are presented as signs arranged for provision, reckoning
years, and calculation of time.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
symbol_refs:
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: scene:5
label: Resurrection account
summary: At resurrection each person receives an open book of account corresponding
to a fate fastened about the neck and is told to read it.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: scene:6
label: Ethical commands for worship and social conduct
summary: The passage commands worship of God alone, kindness to parents, support
for kin, the poor, and wayfarers, avoidance of wastefulness, and moderation in
giving.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:9
symbol_refs:
- sym:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: Divinely conducted night journey to sacred precincts
taxonomy_refs:
- departure
- mystical_quest
basis: A servant is carried by God at night from one sacred temple to another blessed
temple so that divine signs may be shown.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage names a night journey but does not, in this excerpt, narrate
an ascent or detailed itinerary beyond the two temples.
- id: motif:2
label: Scripture as divine guidance and covenantal command
taxonomy_refs:
- covenant
- wisdom
basis: The Book is given to Moses as guidance for Israel with the command to take
no guardian other than God, and the Koran is described as guiding to what is upright.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: The term covenant is not used explicitly in the quoted English passage;
the motif is inferred from guidance plus exclusive divine allegiance.
- id: motif:3
label: Personal book of deeds at resurrection
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
- resurrection
basis: Each person's fate is fastened about the neck, and on the day of resurrection
an open book is brought forth for that person to read as an account.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
confidence: high
cautions: The passage describes the accounting image but does not provide a full
afterlife journey narrative.
- id: motif:4
label: Communal punishment after wrongdoing
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
basis: Israel's crimes and pride lead to the sending of hostile agents, temple entry,
and destruction; corrupt cities and many nations since Noah are also said to have
been destroyed.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:12
confidence: high
cautions: The historical referents of the punitive agents are not identified within
this extraction.
- id: motif:5
label: Night and day as paired cosmic signs
taxonomy_refs:
- duality
basis: Night and day are explicitly called two signs, differentiated as obscured
and shining, and associated with provision and time reckoning.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
confidence: high
cautions: The passage treats the pair didactically rather than as personified beings.
- id: motif:6
label: Ethical moderation in giving
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The command not to let the hand be tied to the neck nor opened with all openness
presents a figurative rule of moderation.
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
confidence: medium
cautions: This is primarily an ethical instruction; its status as a symbolic motif
should be reviewed.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: The passage participates in a shared prophetic-history pattern in which named
figures such as Moses, Noah, and Israel are used to frame divine guidance, warning,
communal wrongdoing, and judgment.
claim_level: same_function
target: Abrahamic prophetic-history pattern of guidance, warning, and judgment
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:12
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The passage itself names these figures and events but does not quote
or narrate parallel versions from another scripture in detail.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: quote
locator: Sura XVII opening verse within lines 9938-10086
quote_or_summary: "“carried his servant by night... from the sacred temple of Mecca
to the temple that is more remote, whose precinct we have blessed” to show him
signs."
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation used for evidence.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: Sura XVII, Moses and the Book within lines 9938-10086
quote_or_summary: God gives the Book to Moses as guidance for the children of Israel
and commands that they take no other Guardian than God.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:3
type: quote
locator: Sura XVII, Noah reference within lines 9938-10086
quote_or_summary: "“O posterity of those whom we bare with Noah! He truly was a
grateful servant!”"
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation used for evidence.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: Sura XVII, first warning to Israel within lines 9938-10086
quote_or_summary: The children of Israel are told that they will commit crimes twice
in the earth and be lifted up in great pride; for the first crime, servants of
terrible prowess are sent and search their abodes.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: Sura XVII, latter warning to Israel within lines 9938-10086
quote_or_summary: For the latter crime, an enemy is sent to sadden faces, enter
the temple as before, and destroy what had been conquered; Hell is appointed as
the prison of infidels.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: Sura XVII, guidance and reward/punishment within lines 9938-10086
quote_or_summary: The Koran guides to what is upright, announces a great reward
to believers who do right, and announces painful punishment for those who do not
believe in the life to come.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:7
type: quote
locator: Sura XVII, night and day signs within lines 9938-10086
quote_or_summary: "“We have made the night and the day for two signs,” with night
obscured and day made to shine for provision and reckoning time."
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation used for evidence.
- id: ev:8
type: summary
locator: Sura XVII, fate and book of account within lines 9938-10086
quote_or_summary: Every person's fate is fastened about the neck; on resurrection
a wide-open book is brought forth and the person is told to read the account.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:9
type: summary
locator: Sura XVII, burden and apostle within lines 9938-10086
quote_or_summary: The guided and erring act for themselves; no heavy-laden one bears
another's load, and punishment is not given until an apostle has first been sent.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:10
type: summary
locator: Sura XVII, ethical commands within lines 9938-10086
quote_or_summary: Commands include worshiping only God, speaking respectfully to
parents, praying for parental compassion, giving due to kin, poor, and wayfarer,
avoiding waste, and avoiding both a tied hand and excessive openness.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:11
type: quote
locator: Sura XVII, choice of present life within lines 9938-10086
quote_or_summary: Those who choose the quickly passing life may have hell appointed,
“in which he shall burn—disgraced, outcast.”
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-rodwell.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation used for evidence.
- id: ev:12
type: summary
locator: Sura XVII, destruction of city and nations within lines 9938-10086
quote_or_summary: When a city's affluent ones act criminally, its doom is just and
it is destroyed; many nations since Noah are said to have been exterminated.
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: medium
notes: Extraction focuses on the opening of Sura XVII in the supplied range. The
range also contains translator notes from adjacent material; these were not used
except as contextual material because the main extractable mythic-symbolic content
is in the Sura XVII passage.
reviewer_status:
status: needs_review
reviewer: ''
reviewed_at: ''
notes: Machine-generated draft from OpenAI Batch; not human-reviewed.
extracted_by: openai_batch:gpt-5.5
extracted_at: '2026-04-29'
notes: |-
No figures or comparisons were added beyond what is supported by the supplied passage. Taxonomy references are limited to the provided available lists.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:islamic-koran-rodwell-gutenberg__l9938-l10086
passage_sha256=65d17d992f7f919569cc5a1c904d8032794601131e37ac5a404e9da78aa5802e