Comparative mythology corpus

batch.motif.islamic-koran-sale-gutenberg-l10457-l10528

batch.motif.islamic-koran-sale-gutenberg-l10457-l10528

---
record_id: batch.motif.islamic-koran-sale-gutenberg-l10457-l10528
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
passage_locator:
  label: CHAPTER I. / IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD / CHAPTER II. / IN THE
    NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.; lines 10457-10528
  start: '10457'
  end: '10528'
  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 commands believers to give alms before a day without trade,
    friendship, or intercession; describes God's living, self-subsisting sovereignty,
    knowledge, and throne over heaven and earth; rejects compulsion in religion; contrasts
    God's guidance from darkness to light with Tagut's leading unbelievers into darkness
    and hell fire; recounts Abraham's dispute with a ruler over life, death, and the
    sun; and narrates a man passing a ruined city whom God causes to die for one hundred
    years, then revives, preserving his food and drink and restoring his ass's bones
    with flesh as a sign.
  language: English
  quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
  text: Believers are told to give alms from what God has bestowed before a day comes
    when there is no merchandising, friendship, or intercession.
  category: action
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:1
- id: obs:2
  text: God is described as the only God, living and self-subsisting, not seized by
    slumber or sleep, owner of heaven and earth, knower of past and future, and whose
    throne extends over heaven and earth.
  category: attribute
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:2
- id: obs:3
  text: The passage states that there is no violence in religion and that right direction
    is distinguished from deceit.
  category: speech
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:3
- id: obs:4
  text: Whoever denies Tagut and believes in God is said to take hold of a strong
    handle that will not be broken.
  category: relationship
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:3
- id: obs:5
  text: God is described as patron of believers, leading them out of darkness into
    light.
  category: relationship
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:4
- id: obs:6
  text: Those who do not believe are said to have Tagut as patrons, who lead them
    from light into darkness; they are called companions of hell fire who remain there
    forever.
  category: relationship
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:4
- id: obs:7
  text: Abraham disputes with a ruler concerning his Lord; Abraham says his Lord gives
    life and kills, and then challenges the ruler to bring the sun from the west since
    God brings it from the east.
  category: speech
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:5
- id: obs:8
  text: The ruler who disputed with Abraham is confounded after Abraham's challenge
    concerning the sun.
  category: sequence
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:5
- id: obs:9
  text: A man passes by a city destroyed to its foundations and asks how God will
    quicken it after its death.
  category: action
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:6
- id: obs:10
  text: God causes the man to die for one hundred years and then raises him to life.
  category: sequence
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:6
- id: obs:11
  text: The revived man's food and drink are not corrupted, while the bones of his
    ass are raised and clothed with flesh.
  category: object
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:6
- id: obs:12
  text: A note identifies the ruined-city traveler as Ozair or Ezra and the city as
    Jerusalem after Chaldean destruction.
  category: other
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:9
figures:
- id: fig:1
  name_or_label: God
  description: The only God, living and self-subsisting, owner and preserver of heaven
    and earth, patron of believers, giver of life and death, and restorer of the dead.
  role_refs:
  - role:1
  - role:2
  - role:3
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:2
  - ev:4
  - ev:5
  - ev:6
- id: fig:2
  name_or_label: true believers
  description: The addressed believers who are commanded to give alms and are described
    as having God as patron.
  role_refs:
  - role:4
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:1
  - ev:4
- id: fig:3
  name_or_label: infidels / those who believe not
  description: Unbelievers described as unjust doers, led by Tagut into darkness,
    and companions of hell fire.
  role_refs:
  - role:5
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:1
  - ev:4
- id: fig:4
  name_or_label: Tagut
  description: A false object or power opposed to God; the notes define the word as
    an idol, whatever is worshipped besides God, the devil, or a seducer.
  role_refs:
  - role:6
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:3
  - ev:4
  - ev:10
- id: fig:5
  name_or_label: Abraham
  description: The figure who disputes concerning his Lord and argues from God's power
    over life, death, and the rising sun.
  role_refs:
  - role:7
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:5
- id: fig:6
  name_or_label: the ruler disputing with Abraham / Nimrod
  description: A ruler given a kingdom who disputes with Abraham; the note identifies
    him as Nimrod.
  role_refs:
  - role:8
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:5
  - ev:8
- id: fig:7
  name_or_label: the man by the destroyed city / Ozair or Ezra
  description: A traveler who passes a ruined city, questions how God will quicken
    it, is caused to die for one hundred years, and is raised to life; the note identifies
    him as Ozair or Ezra.
  role_refs:
  - role:9
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:6
  - ev:9
- id: fig:8
  name_or_label: the ass
  description: The traveler's ass, whose bones are raised and clothed with flesh after
    the man's hundred-year death.
  role_refs:
  - role:10
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:6
  - ev:9
roles:
- id: role:1
  label: divine sovereign
  assigned_to:
  - fig:1
  basis: God owns what is in heaven and earth, has a throne extended over both, and
    preserves both without burden.
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:2
- id: role:2
  label: patron and guide
  assigned_to:
  - fig:1
  basis: God is called the patron of believers and leads them out of darkness into
    light.
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:4
- id: role:3
  label: giver, taker, and restorer of life
  assigned_to:
  - fig:1
  basis: Abraham says his Lord gives life and kills, and the ruined-city episode shows
    God causing death and raising to life.
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:5
  - ev:6
- id: role:4
  label: commanded almsgivers
  assigned_to:
  - fig:2
  basis: Believers are addressed and told to give alms from what God has bestowed.
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:1
- id: role:5
  label: unbelievers under false patronage
  assigned_to:
  - fig:3
  basis: Those who believe not have Tagut as patrons and are led into darkness and
    hell fire.
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:4
- id: role:6
  label: false patron or seducer
  assigned_to:
  - fig:4
  basis: Tagut is denied by true believers and serves as patron to unbelievers; the
    note defines it as idol, devil, or seducer.
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:3
  - ev:4
  - ev:10
- id: role:7
  label: monotheistic disputant
  assigned_to:
  - fig:5
  basis: Abraham argues that his Lord gives life and death and controls the sun's
    course.
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:5
- id: role:8
  label: confounded royal challenger
  assigned_to:
  - fig:6
  basis: The ruler disputes with Abraham and is confounded by Abraham's challenge
    about bringing the sun from the west.
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:5
  - ev:8
- id: role:9
  label: revived witness and sign
  assigned_to:
  - fig:7
  basis: The traveler is made to die for one hundred years and raised so that he may
    be a sign unto men.
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:6
- id: role:10
  label: restored animal sign
  assigned_to:
  - fig:8
  basis: The ass's bones are raised and clothed with flesh as part of the demonstration
    shown to the revived man.
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:6
  - ev:9
symbols:
- id: sym:1
  label: day without exchange or intercession
  literal_form: a coming day with no merchandising, friendship, or intercession
  associated_figures:
  - fig:2
  - fig:3
  taxonomy_refs: []
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:1
- id: sym:2
  label: divine throne
  literal_form: God's throne extended over heaven and earth
  associated_figures:
  - fig:1
  taxonomy_refs: []
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:2
  - ev:7
- id: sym:3
  label: strong handle
  literal_form: a strong handle that shall not be broken
  associated_figures:
  - fig:1
  - fig:2
  - fig:4
  taxonomy_refs: []
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:3
- id: sym:4
  label: darkness and light
  literal_form: movement out of darkness into light, and from light into darkness
  associated_figures:
  - fig:1
  - fig:2
  - fig:3
  - fig:4
  taxonomy_refs: []
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:4
- id: sym:5
  label: hell fire
  literal_form: hell fire
  associated_figures:
  - fig:3
  - fig:4
  taxonomy_refs:
  - fire
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:4
- id: sym:6
  label: sun from east or west
  literal_form: the sun brought by God from the east and challenged to be brought
    from the west
  associated_figures:
  - fig:1
  - fig:5
  - fig:6
  taxonomy_refs: []
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:5
- id: sym:7
  label: destroyed city
  literal_form: a city destroyed to its foundations
  associated_figures:
  - fig:7
  taxonomy_refs: []
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:6
  - ev:9
- id: sym:8
  label: uncorrupted food and drink
  literal_form: food and drink not corrupted after one hundred years
  associated_figures:
  - fig:7
  taxonomy_refs: []
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:6
  - ev:9
- id: sym:9
  label: bones clothed with flesh
  literal_form: the ass's bones raised and clothed with flesh
  associated_figures:
  - fig:1
  - fig:7
  - fig:8
  taxonomy_refs: []
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:6
  - ev:9
scenes:
- id: scene:1
  label: Alms before the day without exchange
  summary: Believers are commanded to give alms from God's gifts before a coming day
    when trade, friendship, and intercession will not occur.
  figure_refs:
  - fig:1
  - fig:2
  - fig:3
  symbol_refs:
  - sym:1
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:1
- id: scene:2
  label: Divine majesty and throne
  summary: God is described as the only living and self-subsisting deity, beyond sleep,
    owner of heaven and earth, knower of past and future, and enthroned over heaven
    and earth.
  figure_refs:
  - fig:1
  symbol_refs:
  - sym:2
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:2
  - ev:7
- id: scene:3
  label: No compulsion and the strong handle
  summary: The passage states that religion is not to be compelled, distinguishes
    right direction from deceit, and says that denying Tagut and believing in God
    is like holding an unbreakable handle.
  figure_refs:
  - fig:1
  - fig:2
  - fig:4
  symbol_refs:
  - sym:3
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:3
- id: scene:4
  label: Patronage of light and darkness
  summary: God leads believers from darkness into light, while Tagut leads unbelievers
    from light into darkness and hell fire.
  figure_refs:
  - fig:1
  - fig:2
  - fig:3
  - fig:4
  symbol_refs:
  - sym:4
  - sym:5
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:4
- id: scene:5
  label: Abraham's dispute over life, death, and the sun
  summary: Abraham disputes with a ruler concerning his Lord, argues that God gives
    life and death, and confounds the ruler by invoking God's bringing the sun from
    the east.
  figure_refs:
  - fig:1
  - fig:5
  - fig:6
  symbol_refs:
  - sym:6
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:5
  - ev:8
- id: scene:6
  label: Hundred-year death and revival at the ruined city
  summary: A man passes a destroyed city, questions how God will revive it, is caused
    to die for one hundred years, and is raised to life; his provisions remain unspoiled
    and his ass's bones are restored with flesh as a sign.
  figure_refs:
  - fig:1
  - fig:7
  - fig:8
  symbol_refs:
  - sym:7
  - sym:8
  - sym:9
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:6
  - ev:9
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
  label: Almsgiving before a final day without exchange
  taxonomy_refs:
  - divine_judgment
  - sacred_exchange
  basis: The passage commands almsgiving before a day in which no merchandising, friendship,
    or intercession is available.
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:1
  confidence: medium
  cautions: The passage explicitly denies exchange or intercession on the coming day;
    the sacred-exchange classification is broad and should be reviewed.
- id: motif:2
  label: Divine sovereignty and inaccessible knowledge
  taxonomy_refs:
  - wisdom
  basis: God is described as owner and preserver of heaven and earth, knowing past
    and future, while creatures comprehend only what God permits.
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:2
  confidence: medium
  cautions: The motif-family link to wisdom rests on divine knowledge rather than
    a separate wisdom narrative.
- id: motif:3
  label: Guidance from darkness into light and false guidance into darkness
  taxonomy_refs:
  - duality
  basis: Believers are led by God from darkness into light, while unbelievers are
    led by Tagut from light into darkness.
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:4
  confidence: high
  cautions: Light and darkness are literal images in the translation, but their theological
    interpretation should remain reviewed.
- id: motif:4
  label: Unbelievers as companions of hell fire
  taxonomy_refs:
  - divine_judgment
  basis: Those led by Tagut are said to become companions of hell fire and remain
    there forever.
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:4
  confidence: high
  cautions: No additional afterlife geography is described in this passage.
- id: motif:5
  label: Cosmic proof in a contest with a ruler
  taxonomy_refs:
  - wisdom
  basis: Abraham counters the ruler's claim over life and death by invoking God's
    power to bring the sun from the east, challenging the ruler to bring it from the
    west.
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:5
  confidence: medium
  cautions: The taxonomy link to wisdom is based on argumentative demonstration; the
    passage does not label it as wisdom.
- id: motif:6
  label: Death and restoration after one hundred years as a sign
  taxonomy_refs:
  - resurrection
  - death_rebirth
  basis: God causes the traveler to die for one hundred years, raises him, preserves
    his provisions, and restores the ass's bones with flesh as a sign.
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:6
  - ev:9
  confidence: high
  cautions: The restoration of the ruined city itself is raised as a question, but
    the demonstrated resurrection is of the man and ass.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
  claim: The translator's note cautiously suggests that the apocryphal story of the
    ruined-city traveler may have arisen from Nehemiah's viewing of Jerusalem's ruins.
  claim_level: historical_contact
  target: Nehemiah ii. 12 and the viewing of Jerusalem's ruins
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:9
  counter_evidence_refs: []
  confidence: low
  limitations: The note says 'may perhaps' and supplies no direct textual proof; this
    is a translator/commentarial comparison rather than an inference from the main
    narrative alone.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
  type: quote
  locator: lines 10457-10459
  quote_or_summary: Believers are told to give alms before a day with no merchandising,
    friendship, or intercession; infidels are called unjust doers.
  source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
  rights_note: Public domain; source metadata indicates full text allowed.
- id: ev:2
  type: summary
  locator: lines 10460-10468
  quote_or_summary: God is described as the only God, living and self-subsisting,
    beyond sleep, owner of heaven and earth, knower of past and future, enthroned
    over heaven and earth, and high and mighty.
  source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
  rights_note: Public domain; source metadata indicates full text allowed.
- id: ev:3
  type: summary
  locator: lines 10469-10472
  quote_or_summary: The passage says there is no violence in religion, distinguishes
    right direction from deceit, and says that denying Tagut and believing in God
    is taking hold of an unbreakable strong handle.
  source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
  rights_note: Public domain; source metadata indicates full text allowed.
- id: ev:4
  type: summary
  locator: lines 10473-10477
  quote_or_summary: God is patron of believers and leads them from darkness into light;
    Tagut are patrons of unbelievers and lead them from light into darkness and hell
    fire forever.
  source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
  rights_note: Public domain; source metadata indicates full text allowed.
- id: ev:5
  type: summary
  locator: lines 10478-10484
  quote_or_summary: Abraham disputes with a ruler about his Lord, saying God gives
    life and kills; Abraham then invokes God's bringing the sun from the east and
    challenges the ruler to bring it from the west, confounding him.
  source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
  rights_note: Public domain; source metadata indicates full text allowed.
- id: ev:6
  type: summary
  locator: lines 10485-10496
  quote_or_summary: A man passes a city destroyed to its foundations, asks how God
    will quicken it, is caused by God to die for one hundred years and raised; his
    food and drink are uncorrupted, and the ass's bones are raised and clothed with
    flesh.
  source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
  rights_note: Public domain; source metadata indicates full text allowed.
- id: ev:7
  type: note
  locator: note q and note r, lines 10498-10508
  quote_or_summary: The notes state that the divine-majesty passage is admired and
    recited by Muslims, sometimes worn engraved on a stone, and that the Corsi throne
    is understood as God's tribunal or as divine providence sustaining heaven and
    earth.
  source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
  rights_note: Public domain; source metadata indicates full text allowed.
- id: ev:8
  type: note
  locator: note u, lines 10515-10518
  quote_or_summary: The note identifies Abraham's disputant as Nimrod and describes
    a commentator's account of his claimed power over life and death.
  source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
  rights_note: Public domain; source metadata indicates full text allowed.
- id: ev:9
  type: note
  locator: note x, lines 10519-10528
  quote_or_summary: The note identifies the traveler as Ozair or Ezra, the ruins as
    Jerusalem after Chaldean destruction, describes the revived ass, and says the
    story may perhaps have arisen from Nehemiah's viewing of Jerusalem's ruins.
  source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
  rights_note: Public domain; source metadata indicates full text allowed.
- id: ev:10
  type: note
  locator: note t, lines 10512-10514
  quote_or_summary: The note defines Tagut as an idol, whatever is worshipped besides
    God, especially certain Meccan idols, and also the devil or any seducer.
  source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
  rights_note: Public domain; source metadata indicates full text allowed.
confidence:
  extraction: high
  motif_candidates: medium
  comparison_claims: low
  notes: Literal extraction is direct from the supplied English passage and notes.
    Motif assignments use only the supplied taxonomy and should be human-reviewed,
    especially broad links such as wisdom and sacred_exchange. The only comparison
    claim follows the translator's tentative note.
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: |-
  All observations, figures, roles, symbols, scenes, motifs, and comparison claims are grounded in the supplied passage and footnotes; no external sources were added.
  batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
  custom_id=motif_extract:islamic-koran-sale-gutenberg__l10457-l10528
  passage_sha256=a3015b02461946502fbd65dd0fe12d138a16a6580a85734605d9392f35b8110b