batch.motif.islamic-koran-sale-gutenberg-l12217-l12301
---
record_id: batch.motif.islamic-koran-sale-gutenberg-l12217-l12301
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
passage_locator:
label: CHAPTER III. / IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD. / CHAPTER IV. / IN THE
NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD; lines 12217-12301
start: '12217'
end: '12301'
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 opens Chapter IV by commanding humankind to fear the Lord who
created them from one man and his wife. It gives instructions about women, dowry,
marriage limits, orphans' property, witnesses, inheritance shares, and warns that
those who unjustly consume orphans' possessions will consume fire and be burned
in flames. It presents these rules as commands and ordinances from God, who watches
and accounts for actions.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Humankind is addressed and told to fear the Lord who created them from one
man, created his wife from him, and multiplied men and women from the pair.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The passage commands respect for women or wombs and says God is watching over
the addressed people.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: Orphans are to receive their substance when they come of age, and their goods
are not to be exchanged unfairly or consumed by guardians.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: Marriage to women is regulated by equity, with a limit of two, three, or four
wives, or one wife if equitable treatment cannot be maintained.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: Women are to be given their dowry freely, though they may voluntarily remit
part of it.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:6
text: Orphans are to be examined until the age of marriage, and if they can manage
well, their substance is to be delivered to them.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:7
text: Witnesses are to be called when an orphan's substance is delivered, and God
is said to take sufficient account of actions.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:8
text: Men and women are both assigned a due part of what parents and kindred leave
at death.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:9
text: Those who unjustly consume the possessions of orphans are said to swallow
fire and broil in raging flames.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:10
text: Inheritance portions for children, parents, mothers, and brethren are presented
as an ordinance from God.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: God / Lord
description: The divine speaker's authority is invoked as creator, watcher, accountant
of actions, commander, and wise knower.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:5
- ev:8
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Men / addressed community
description: The passage addresses men or humankind with commands about fear of
God, women, orphans, marriage, property, and inheritance.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Orphans
description: Orphans are described as holders of substance or estates that must
be preserved and returned when they can manage it.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:7
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Women / wives / mothers
description: Women are mentioned as multiplied from the first pair, as persons to
be respected, as marriage partners, recipients of dowry, and heirs or mothers
in inheritance law.
role_refs:
- role:6
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- ev:6
- ev:8
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Parents, children, kindred, brethren, poor, and weak offspring
description: Family and dependent groups are named in rules concerning inheritance,
distribution of estates, and concern for vulnerable descendants.
role_refs:
- role:7
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:8
- ev:9
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Unjust consumers of orphans' possessions
description: People who devour orphans' possessions unjustly are threatened with
fire and raging flames.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
roles:
- id: role:1
label: creator
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The Lord is said to have created humankind from one man and created his wife
from him.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:2
label: watcher and accountant
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: God is described as watching over people and taking sufficient account of
their actions.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:5
- id: role:3
label: divine lawgiver
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Inheritance rules are described as commands and an ordinance from God.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: role:4
label: commanded moral community
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The addressed people are commanded to fear God, manage orphans' property
rightly, and regulate marriage and inheritance conduct.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: role:5
label: protected dependents and property holders
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Orphans' substance is to be preserved, not devoured, examined for readiness,
and delivered with witnesses.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: role:6
label: marriage partners and dowry recipients
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: Women are described as possible wives and as recipients of dowry.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:7
label: heirs
assigned_to:
- fig:4
- fig:5
basis: Men, women, children, parents, mothers, and brethren are assigned shares
in inheritance rules.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:8
- id: role:8
label: kin and vulnerable recipients
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: Kindred, orphans, the poor, and weak offspring appear in instructions about
estate division and moral care.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: role:9
label: offenders under punishment
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: Those who unjustly devour orphans' possessions are threatened with swallowing
fire and broiling in flames.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: fire as punishment
literal_form: fire in the belly and raging flames
associated_figures:
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs:
- fire
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: sym:2
label: wombs / maternal relation
literal_form: women or wombs who have borne the addressed people
associated_figures:
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:3
label: substance / estate
literal_form: orphans' substance, parents' and kindred's estate, inheritance shares
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- ev:6
- ev:8
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Creation and moral address
summary: The passage addresses humankind, links them to creation from one man and
his wife, and commands fear of God and respect for women or wombs.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Protection of orphans' property
summary: The addressed community is instructed to preserve orphans' substance, avoid
unfair exchange or consumption, test their capacity, return property when appropriate,
and call witnesses.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: scene:3
label: Marriage and dowry regulation
summary: Marriage is limited by the requirement of equitable treatment, and dowry
is to be given freely to women.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:4
label: Inheritance distribution
summary: Men and women receive determined shares of inheritance, and detailed shares
are given for children, parents, mothers, and brethren as a divine ordinance.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:4
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:8
- id: scene:5
label: Punishment for consuming orphans' possessions
summary: Those who unjustly consume orphans' possessions are described as swallowing
fire and burning in raging flames.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
- fig:6
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: divine judgment against exploitation of the vulnerable
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
basis: The passage states that God watches and accounts for actions, and threatens
those who unjustly consume orphans' possessions with fiery punishment.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:5
- ev:7
confidence: high
cautions: The passage is primarily legal and exhortative; the judgment motif is
explicit but not narrated as a full mythic episode.
- id: motif:2
label: divinely ordained inheritance and family order
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Rules for marriage, dowry, orphans' property, and inheritance shares are
presented as commands and an ordinance from God.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:6
- ev:8
confidence: medium
cautions: No available taxonomy reference precisely matches this legal-order motif.
- id: motif:3
label: human origin from an ancestral pair
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The passage says the Lord created people from one man, created his wife from
him, and multiplied men and women from the two.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage only briefly invokes the origin statement as part of moral
address; it does not elaborate a creation narrative.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 12217-12223
quote_or_summary: Humankind is told to fear the Lord, who created them from one
man, created his wife from him, multiplied men and women from the pair, and watches
over them.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 12224-12227
quote_or_summary: Orphans are to be given their substance at maturity; their goods
are not to be exchanged bad for good or devoured by adding them to one's own substance.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 12228-12235
quote_or_summary: If equity toward female orphans is feared, marriage to other women
is permitted in limited numbers; if equity among many cannot be maintained, one
wife is advised. Women are to receive dowry freely.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 12266-12270
quote_or_summary: Orphans are to be examined until the age of marriage; if capable
of managing affairs, their substance is to be delivered to them and not wasted
extravagantly or hastily.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 12271-12275
quote_or_summary: The rich should abstain from orphans' estates, the poor may take
reasonably, and witnesses should be called when property is delivered; God takes
account of actions.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 12276-12279
quote_or_summary: Men and women both receive a determined part of what parents and
kindred leave after death.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:7
type: quote
locator: lines 12288-12290
quote_or_summary: "“they who devour the possessions of orphans unjustly shall swallow
down nothing but fire into their bellies, and shall broil in raging flames.”"
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation.
- id: ev:8
type: summary
locator: lines 12291-12301
quote_or_summary: God commands inheritance portions for children and parents, including
shares for females, mothers, and cases involving brethren; the rule is called
an ordinance from God, who is knowing and wise.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:9
type: summary
locator: lines 12280-12287
quote_or_summary: Kin, orphans, and the poor present at estate division should receive
something or be spoken to kindly; people are warned to fear abusing orphans as
they would fear for weak offspring left behind.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: uncertain
notes: Literal legal and theological content is explicit. Motif classification is
more tentative because the passage is juridical rather than narrative. No comparison
claims were made because the passage itself does not support a specific cross-textual
comparison.
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: |-
Extraction uses only the supplied passage and metadata; footnote commentary was treated as part of the provided passage but not used for additional motif claims.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:islamic-koran-sale-gutenberg__l12217-l12301
passage_sha256=2f8883fd5413dfbdee5cc5494f7edf0a9f0c9e4025c2a609d9599c38a9744c14