batch.motif.islamic-koran-sale-gutenberg-l12795-l12889
---
record_id: batch.motif.islamic-koran-sale-gutenberg-l12795-l12889
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 12795-12889
start: '12795'
end: '12889'
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 includes Sale's notes on a dispute submitted to Mohammed and
then to Omar, followed by Quranic exhortations to believers to prepare for war,
fight for God's religion and for oppressed believers, distinguish God's cause
from Taghut and Satan, value the future life over the present life, and recognize
that death and all events are under God's power.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: A note recounts a dispute in which Mohammed judged in favor of a Jew against
a Mohammedan, after which the Mohammedan refused the judgment and was killed by
Omar.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: True believers are told to take precaution against enemies and to go forth
to war either in separate parties or together in a body.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: A person among the believers is described as staying behind and interpreting
misfortune or success according to his own advantage.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: Those who fight for the religion of God are described as parting with present
life in exchange for the life to come, and as receiving reward whether slain or
victorious.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:5
text: The believers are asked why they do not fight in defense of weak men, women,
and children who pray to be brought out of a wicked city and to receive a protector
and defender.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:6
text: Believers are said to fight for God's religion, while unbelievers fight for
Taghut; believers are told to fight the friends of Satan, whose stratagem is called
weak.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:7
text: Some who were previously told to withhold from war, pray, and pay alms are
described as fearing men when war is commanded and asking why their natural end
was not delayed.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:8
text: The passage says that the provision of this life is small, the future is better
for one who fears God, and no one will be injured at the day of judgment.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:9
text: Death is said to overtake people wherever they are, even in lofty towers.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:10
text: When good or evil befalls people, some attribute good to God and evil to Mohammed;
the reply given is that all is from God.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: God
description: The divine source of bounty, knowledge, command, reward, protection,
judgment, and all events in the passage.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: true believers
description: Those addressed as believers, instructed to take precautions, go forth
to war, and fight for God's religion.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- ev:6
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: one who tarrieth behind
description: A member of the addressed group who stays behind and speaks differently
depending on whether misfortune or success befalls the fighters.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: weak among men, women, and children
description: Oppressed persons in a wicked city who ask God to bring them out and
grant them a protector and defender.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: unbelievers
description: Those said to fight for the religion of Taghut.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Taghut / Taght
description: Named as the religious allegiance for which unbelievers fight; Sale's
note says the name is here applied to Caab Ebn al Ashraf.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:6
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Satan
description: Associated with friends whom believers are told to fight; his stratagem
is described as weak.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: Mohammed
description: Named in the note as judge in the dispute and in the passage as the
one blamed by some for evil that befalls them.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:8
- id: fig:9
name_or_label: Omar
description: In Sale's note, Omar hears of the refusal to submit to Mohammed's judgment
and strikes off the offender's head with a sword.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:10
name_or_label: Jew in the dispute
description: A disputant who appeals to Mohammed and receives a favorable judgment
in Sale's note.
role_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:11
name_or_label: wicked Mohammedan in the dispute
description: A disputant who refuses to acquiesce in Mohammed's judgment and is
killed by Omar in Sale's note.
role_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
roles:
- id: role:1
label: divine judge and rewarder
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: God is presented as giving reward, knowing, granting protection, determining
the future life, presiding over judgment, and being the source of all events.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: role:2
label: combatants for God's religion
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Believers are instructed to go forth to war and to fight for God's religion.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- ev:6
- id: role:3
label: self-interested nonparticipant
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The person who stays behind rejoices at avoiding misfortune and regrets missing
success and merit.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:4
label: oppressed petitioners
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The weak men, women, and children pray for deliverance, a protector, and
a defender.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:5
label: opposed religious allegiance
assigned_to:
- fig:5
- fig:6
- fig:7
basis: Unbelievers are said to fight for Taghut, and believers are told to fight
the friends of Satan.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:6
label: prophet and blamed addressee
assigned_to:
- fig:8
basis: Mohammed is identified in the note as a judge whose decision is refused,
and in the passage as the person some blame for evil.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:8
- id: role:7
label: enforcer of submitted judgment
assigned_to:
- fig:9
basis: Omar kills the man who refused to submit to the judgment of God and his apostle,
according to Sale's note.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: lofty towers
literal_form: lofty towers
associated_figures: []
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: sym:2
label: sword
literal_form: sword used by Omar in the explanatory note
associated_figures:
- fig:9
- fig:11
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:3
label: wicked city
literal_form: city whose inhabitants are wicked
associated_figures:
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:4
label: present life and life to come
literal_form: present life exchanged for that which is to come
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Disputed judgment and Omar's execution in Sale's note
summary: A Jew and a Mohammedan dispute; Mohammed judges for the Jew; the Mohammedan
refuses to submit; Omar kills him and names the act as the reward for refusing
God's and the apostle's judgment.
figure_refs:
- fig:8
- fig:9
- fig:10
- fig:11
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Believers commanded to prepare and go forth
summary: Believers are told to take precautions and go out to war in groups or together,
while a person who remains behind reacts opportunistically to misfortune or success.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: scene:3
label: Fighting for God's religion and the oppressed
summary: Believers are urged to fight for God's religion, with the present life
exchanged for the future, and to defend weak men, women, and children who ask
God for rescue from a wicked city.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: scene:4
label: Opposing allegiances of God, Taghut, and Satan
summary: The passage contrasts believers fighting for God with unbelievers fighting
for Taghut and calls Satan's stratagem weak.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:5
- fig:6
- fig:7
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: scene:5
label: Reluctance, future life, judgment, and death
summary: Some who had been told to withhold from war are fearful when war is commanded;
the response contrasts the small provision of this life with the better future
and says death will overtake people even in lofty towers.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:8
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: divine judgment and submission to sacred verdict
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
basis: Sale's note frames the refusal to submit to Mohammed's judgment as refusal
of the judgment of God and his apostle; the passage also refers to the day of
judgment.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:7
confidence: medium
cautions: The strongest narrative example is in Sale's explanatory note rather than
the Quranic verse text itself.
- id: motif:2
label: present life exchanged for future reward
taxonomy_refs:
- sacred_exchange
basis: The passage says fighters for God's religion part with the present life in
exchange for what is to come and receive great reward whether slain or victorious.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
confidence: high
cautions: The exchange is theological and moral rather than a material transaction.
- id: motif:3
label: sacrificial risk in sacred combat
taxonomy_refs:
- sacrifice
basis: Fighters are expected to risk being slain for God's religion and are promised
reward if slain or victorious.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage describes warfare and possible death, not a formal ritual
sacrifice.
- id: motif:4
label: deliverance of the oppressed from a wicked city
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Weak men, women, and children ask God to bring them forth from a wicked city
and grant them a protector and defender; the surrounding exhortation urges believers
to fight in their defense.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
confidence: high
cautions: No provided taxonomy reference directly matches this motif.
- id: motif:5
label: opposed sacred allegiances in conflict
taxonomy_refs:
- duality
basis: The passage contrasts believers fighting for God's religion with unbelievers
fighting for Taghut and the friends of Satan.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
confidence: medium
cautions: The taxonomy label 'duality' is broad; the passage's opposition is specifically
religious and martial.
- id: motif:6
label: inescapability of death despite fortification
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
basis: The passage states that death will overtake people wherever they are, even
in lofty towers, in a context that also invokes future judgment.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
confidence: medium
cautions: The line about death is more about mortality and divine sovereignty than
judgment alone.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: 12795-12820
quote_or_summary: Sale's note recounts a Jew and a wicked Mohammedan submitting
a dispute to Mohammed; after Mohammed decides for the Jew, the Mohammedan refuses,
and Omar kills him with a sword for refusing the judgment of God and his apostle.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: 12827-12830
quote_or_summary: Believers are told to take necessary precautions against enemies
and go forth to war either in separate parties or all together.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: 12831-12837
quote_or_summary: One among the believers is described as staying behind, thanking
God if misfortune befalls the fighters and wishing he had joined them if success
occurs.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: 12838-12842
quote_or_summary: Those fighting for God's religion are said to part with present
life for the life to come and to receive a great reward whether slain or victorious.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: 12843-12847
quote_or_summary: The passage urges fighting for God's religion and in defense of
weak men, women, and children who pray to be brought out from a wicked city and
given a protector and defender.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: 12848-12851
quote_or_summary: Believers fight for God's religion; unbelievers fight for Taghut;
believers are told to fight the friends of Satan because Satan's stratagem is
weak.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: 12852-12860
quote_or_summary: Some who were told to withhold from war, pray, and pay alms fear
men when war is commanded; the reply says this life's provision is small, the
future is better for the God-fearing, and none will be injured at judgment.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:8
type: quote
locator: 12861-12866
quote_or_summary: '"Wheresoever ye be, death will overtake you, although ye be in
lofty towers"; the passage also says that good and evil are all from God, despite
some blaming Mohammed for evil.'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation used.
- id: ev:9
type: summary
locator: 12879-12884
quote_or_summary: Sale's note identifies the weak as believers detained at Mecca
and says their petition was answered through escape opportunities and the later
taking of Mecca.
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: high
notes: Literal extraction is direct from the supplied passage and notes. Motif assignments
are cautious because several taxonomy labels are broad. No comparison claims are
asserted.
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: |-
Only the supplied passage and metadata were used. Sale's explanatory notes are treated as part of the supplied passage but distinguished from the Quranic exhortation material where relevant.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:islamic-koran-sale-gutenberg__l12795-l12889
passage_sha256=83534a267b225fa2f53cd6240054925b964b08b3bbc416f2199bbc08c35caba7