batch.motif.islamic-koran-sale-gutenberg-l158-l239
---
record_id: batch.motif.islamic-koran-sale-gutenberg-l158-l239
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
passage_locator:
label: MY LORD, / A SKETCH / OF THE / LIFE OF GEORGE SALE.; lines 158-239
start: '158'
end: '239'
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 sketches George Sale’s biography, disputes Voltaire’s claim
that Sale lived twenty-five years in Arabia, describes Sale’s linguistic learning
and literary work, notes his contribution to a Universal History section on creation
and the flood, praises his English translation of the Koran, and reports accusations
made against him because of that work.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: George Sale is described as a man of extensive learning and literary talent,
with few biographical particulars transmitted by contemporaries.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The passage says Sale was reportedly born in Kent and educated at the King's
School, Canterbury.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: Voltaire is said to have praised Sale’s version of the Koran and asserted
that Sale spent twenty-five years in Arabia acquiring knowledge of Arabic language
and customs.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:4
text: The passage rejects Voltaire’s assertion as erroneous, citing dates and facts
and Sale’s professional and literary activity.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:5
text: Sale is said to have been brought up to the law and to have practiced law
for many years.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:6
text: A co-existing writer says Sale left legal pursuits to study eastern and other
ancient and modern languages.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:7
text: Mr. Dadichi, the king’s interpreter, is named as Sale’s guide through oriental
dialects.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:8
text: Sale contributed to The General Dictionary and to the translation of Bayle
incorporated in that work.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:9
text: Sale was selected as one contributor to the Universal History alongside several
named coadjutors.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:10
text: Sale supplied the Universal History introduction containing the cosmogony
or creation of the world, and most or all of the following chapter from creation
to the flood.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:11
text: A French biographical-dictionary writer accused Sale of adopting a system
hostile to tradition and Scripture in his cosmogony account; the passage rejects
this accusation.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:12
text: Sale’s chief claim to remembrance is said to rest on his version of the Koran,
published in November 1734 and dedicated to Lord Carteret.
category: object
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:13
text: The passage says Sale’s Koran translation was approved, remained in repute,
and was considered faithful to the original, though its lack of verse division
is regretted.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:14
text: The passage says Sale’s notes and Preliminary Discourse show knowledge of
Eastern habits, manners, traditions, and laws acquired through patient toil.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:15
text: The passage reports a calumny that Sale put Christianity and Islam on the
same footing, and that some supposed him to be a disguised Muslim.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: George Sale
description: Biographical subject described as learned, legally trained, a student
of languages, contributor to historical works, and translator of the Koran.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
- role:3
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Voltaire
description: Writer who praised Sale’s Koran version and asserted that Sale spent
twenty-five years in Arabia.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Mr. Dadichi
description: The king’s interpreter, named as Sale’s guide in oriental dialects.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Lord Carteret
description: Dedicatee of Sale’s Koran translation.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Sale’s coadjutors in the Universal History
description: A group including Swinton, Shelvocke, Campbell, George Psalmanazar,
and Archibald Bower.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: French biographical-dictionary writer
description: Unnamed writer who accused Sale of composing his cosmogony account
to advance heretical opinions.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Critics or accusers of Sale’s religious position
description: Unnamed persons who claimed Sale placed Christianity and Islam on the
same footing or was secretly Muslim.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
roles:
- id: role:1
label: learned biographical subject
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The passage opens by describing Sale as extensively learned and literarily
talented.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:2
label: legal practitioner
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The passage says Sale was probably brought up to the law and practiced it
for many years.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:3
label: language scholar
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The passage reports Sale’s study of eastern and other ancient and modern
languages.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:4
label: translator and historical writer
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Sale contributed to dictionaries and Universal History and produced a Koran
translation.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: role:5
label: praising but disputed witness
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Voltaire praised Sale’s Koran version but made an assertion the passage rejects
as erroneous.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: role:6
label: linguistic guide
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Mr. Dadichi is named as Sale’s guide through oriental dialects.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:7
label: dedicatee
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: Sale’s Koran version was inscribed to Lord Carteret.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:8
label: collaborating historical writers
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The passage lists these figures as coadjutors chosen to execute the Universal
History plan.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:9
label: accuser or slanderer
assigned_to:
- fig:6
- fig:7
basis: The passage reports accusations against Sale’s cosmogony and religious stance
and rejects them as misrepresentation or calumny.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:6
symbols: []
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Biographical correction of the Arabia story
summary: The passage presents Voltaire’s claim that Sale lived in Arabia, then rejects
it on the basis of Sale’s known dates, legal work, and literary labors.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: scene:2
label: Sale’s scholarly and historical work
summary: Sale is described as contributing to reference works and to the Universal
History, including material on cosmogony, creation, and the flood.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:5
- fig:6
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: scene:3
label: Reception of Sale’s Koran translation
summary: The passage identifies Sale’s Koran translation as his principal claim
to remembrance, praises its faithfulness and scholarly apparatus, and notes criticisms
and slanders arising from it.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:4
- fig:7
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: learned transmission of sacred or traditional knowledge
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The passage emphasizes Sale’s linguistic learning, knowledge of Eastern traditions
and laws, and translation of the Koran with notes and a Preliminary Discourse.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:5
confidence: medium
cautions: This is a biographical passage, not a mythic narrative; the motif is a
scholarly-transmission pattern rather than an enacted mythic episode.
- id: motif:2
label: creation and flood as historical-cosmogonic subject matter
taxonomy_refs:
- flood_and_renewal
basis: The passage states that Sale supplied a Universal History introduction on
cosmogony or creation of the world and a chapter tracing events from creation
to the flood.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
confidence: low
cautions: The passage only reports that Sale wrote about creation and the flood;
it does not provide the mythic narrative or details of the flood itself.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 158-170
quote_or_summary: Sale is introduced as learned and talented; he is said to have
been born in Kent, educated at Canterbury, and praised by Voltaire, who claimed
he spent twenty-five years in Arabia learning Arabic language and customs.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary only.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 171-185
quote_or_summary: The passage rejects Voltaire’s Arabia claim, says Sale likely
practiced law, reports his study of eastern and other languages, names Mr. Dadichi
as his guide, and cites Sale’s own apology about working amid a troublesome profession.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary only.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 186-197
quote_or_summary: Sale is credited with part of The General Dictionary and substantial
contribution to the translation of Bayle within that work.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary only.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 198-213
quote_or_summary: Sale was chosen for the Universal History with named collaborators;
he supplied the introduction on cosmogony or creation and the following chapter
from creation to the flood; the passage rejects an accusation that this cosmogony
promoted heretical views.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary only.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 214-228
quote_or_summary: Sale’s lasting reputation is tied to his 1734 Koran translation
dedicated to Lord Carteret; the passage praises its reception, faithfulness, notes,
Preliminary Discourse, and knowledge of Eastern habits, traditions, and laws.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary only.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 229-239
quote_or_summary: The passage says Sale’s work became a pretext for calumny, including
claims that he placed Christianity and Islam on the same footing or was secretly
Muslim, and attributes such slander to bigotry.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary only.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: low
comparison_claims: uncertain
notes: Biographical content is clear, but motif extraction is limited because the
passage is not itself a mythic or symbolic narrative. No comparison claims were
made because the passage does not support them directly.
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: |-
No literal symbols from the provided symbol list are present in the passage; metaphorical phrases such as 'labyrinth of the oriental dialects' were not treated as symbols.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:islamic-koran-sale-gutenberg__l158-l239
passage_sha256=2ce373d589714a6c7cab71cd169efa6c4f0cc6aba3c85af1bc294bc601e07576