batch.motif.islamic-koran-sale-gutenberg-l23559-l23627
---
record_id: batch.motif.islamic-koran-sale-gutenberg-l23559-l23627
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
passage_locator:
label: CHAPTER XVII. / IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD. / CHAPTER XVIII. /
IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.; lines 23559-23627
start: '23559'
end: '23627'
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 describes divine judgment on idolaters, rejection of signs
and warnings, the destruction of unjust former cities after warning, and the beginning
of Moses' journey with Joshua to the place where two seas meet, where a fish escapes
into the sea. Notes explain the journey as Moses' search for the wiser servant
al Khedr and describe traditions about the fish being restored to life at the
fountain of life.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: God tells idolaters to call upon those they imagined as divine companions,
but the companions do not answer.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: A valley of destruction is placed between the idolaters and their imagined
companions.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: The wicked see hell fire and know they will be thrown into it without finding
a way to avoid it.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:4
text: The Koran is described as presenting parables of every kind, while humans
are described as cavilling at many things.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: Messengers are sent to bear good tidings and denounce threats.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:6
text: Those who reject signs are described as having veils over their hearts and
thickness of hearing in their ears.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:7
text: Former cities are said to have been destroyed when they acted unjustly, after
previous warning.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:8
text: Moses tells Joshua son of Nun that he will continue until he reaches the place
where the two seas meet, or travel for a long time.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:9
text: When Moses and Joshua arrive at the meeting of the two seas, they forget their
fish, and the fish takes its way in the sea.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:10
text: The notes report that commentators explain the journey as Moses' search for
al Khedr, who was more knowing than Moses, at a rock where the two seas met.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: obs:11
text: The notes report traditions that the fish leaped from the basket into the
sea and that water from the fountain of life restored it to life.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: obs:12
text: The notes report an interpretation in which the sea water was miraculously
kept from touching the fish, leaving a passage like an arch or canal.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: God / LORD
description: The divine speaker and agent who judges, warns, withholds or hastens
punishment, and is described as gracious and merciful.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Idolaters / wicked
description: People who imagined companions for God, are told to call them for protection,
and see hell fire awaiting them.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Imagined companions / false gods
description: Beings or powers imagined by idolaters as divine companions; when called,
they do not answer.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Messengers
description: Messengers sent to bear good tidings and denounce threats.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Unjust former cities
description: Former communities or cities destroyed after acting unjustly and receiving
prior warning.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Moses
description: A traveler who says he will continue until he reaches the meeting place
of the two seas; the notes describe him as seeking al Khedr.
role_refs:
- role:7
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:9
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Joshua son of Nun
description: Moses' servant and journey companion; the notes identify him as forgetting
to tell Moses when the fish was missed.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
- ev:10
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: Fish
description: A fish carried on the journey, forgotten at the meeting of the two
seas, and described in notes as leaping from the basket and being restored to
life.
role_refs:
- role:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:10
- ev:11
- id: fig:9
name_or_label: al Khedr
description: A figure in the notes described as more knowing than Moses and to be
found at a rock where the two seas met.
role_refs:
- role:11
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
roles:
- id: role:1
label: divine judge
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: God announces the failure of the idolaters' protectors and the fate of the
wicked in hell fire.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:2
label: divine warner and merciful lord
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The passage says the LORD sends messengers with warnings and is gracious
and merciful, though punishment has been threatened.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: role:3
label: judged unbelievers
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The idolaters call upon imagined protectors, receive no answer, and see hell
fire.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:4
label: ineffective protectors
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The imagined companions are called on for protection but do not answer.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: role:5
label: bearers of tidings and threats
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: Messengers are sent to bear good tidings and denounce threats.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:6
label: warned communities destroyed for injustice
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: Former cities were destroyed when they acted unjustly, after previous warning.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:7
label: persistent traveler
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: Moses says he will not cease going forward until reaching the place where
the two seas meet or traveling for a long time.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: role:8
label: seeker of greater knowledge
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: The notes explain that Moses was directed to seek al Khedr, who was more
knowing than he.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: role:9
label: servant and journey companion
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: Joshua son of Nun is named as Moses' servant, accompanying him toward the
two seas.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: role:10
label: journey sign
assigned_to:
- fig:8
basis: The notes say Moses was directed to take a fish and that the place where
he missed it would indicate the destination.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- ev:10
- id: role:11
label: wiser hidden teacher figure
assigned_to:
- fig:9
basis: The notes describe al Khedr as more knowing than Moses and as the person
Moses sought.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: hell fire
literal_form: fire of hell seen by the wicked
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs:
- fire
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:2
label: valley of destruction
literal_form: valley placed between idolaters and their imagined companions
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: sym:3
label: veils over hearts and thickness of hearing
literal_form: veils over hearts and thickness in ears preventing understanding
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:4
label: meeting of the two seas
literal_form: place where two seas meet
associated_figures:
- fig:6
- fig:7
- fig:8
- fig:9
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
- ev:9
- id: sym:5
label: fish carried on the journey
literal_form: fish taken in a basket and later missed at the meeting of the seas
associated_figures:
- fig:6
- fig:7
- fig:8
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
- ev:10
- id: sym:6
label: rock at the meeting place
literal_form: rock where the two seas met and where al Khedr could be found
associated_figures:
- fig:6
- fig:9
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- ev:10
- id: sym:7
label: fountain of life
literal_form: water source in the notes whose water restores the fish to life
associated_figures:
- fig:8
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: sym:8
label: arched sea passage
literal_form: miraculous path in the sea imagined as an arch or canal for the fish
associated_figures:
- fig:8
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Judgment on idolaters and their imagined companions
summary: God commands idolaters to call their imagined companions for protection;
the companions do not answer, a valley of destruction separates them, and the
wicked see hell fire awaiting them.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: scene:2
label: Warnings, rejected signs, and blocked understanding
summary: The passage says parables and signs have been given, messengers bring tidings
and threats, unbelievers dispute and deride the signs, and their hearts and ears
are veiled from understanding.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: scene:3
label: Destruction of former unjust cities
summary: Former cities are said to have been destroyed after acting unjustly and
after receiving prior warning.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:5
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: scene:4
label: Moses and Joshua travel to the meeting of the seas
summary: Moses tells Joshua he will continue until reaching the meeting of the two
seas or traveling a long time; at the meeting place they forget their fish, which
makes its way into the sea.
figure_refs:
- fig:6
- fig:7
- fig:8
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: scene:5
label: Commentarial explanation of the fish sign and al Khedr
summary: The notes explain that Moses sought the wiser al Khedr at a rock where
the two seas met, that the missing fish marked the place, and that some traditions
describe the fish as restored to life by water from the fountain of life or moving
through an arched sea passage.
figure_refs:
- fig:6
- fig:7
- fig:8
- fig:9
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
- sym:5
- sym:6
- sym:7
- sym:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- ev:10
- ev:11
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: divine judgment on false worship and unbelief
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
basis: The passage depicts idolaters' imagined companions failing to protect them,
the wicked seeing hell fire, and former unjust cities being destroyed after warning.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: This is a direct thematic classification from the passage, not a claim
about historical relationship to other traditions.
- id: motif:2
label: divine warning before destruction
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
basis: Messengers are sent with good tidings and threats, and former cities receive
previous warning before destruction.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: The passage gives the pattern generally and does not narrate the earlier
cities in detail.
- id: motif:3
label: quest for superior wisdom at a liminal water boundary
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
- mystical_quest
basis: Moses travels with Joshua to the meeting of the two seas; the notes explain
that he is searching for al Khedr, who is more knowing than he, and that the missing
fish marks the place.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
- ev:9
confidence: medium
cautions: The explicit search for al Khedr appears in the translator's notes, while
the main passage excerpt only begins the journey.
- id: motif:4
label: life restored through sacred water
taxonomy_refs:
- death_rebirth
- resurrection
basis: The notes report a tradition that water from the fountain of life restored
the fish to life after it had been roasted.
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
confidence: medium
cautions: This detail is commentarial and not stated directly in the main passage
text.
- id: motif:5
label: miraculous path through water
taxonomy_refs:
- mystical_quest
basis: The notes report an interpretation that the sea water was kept from touching
the fish, so that it passed through as under an arch or canal.
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
confidence: low
cautions: This is presented as one imagined interpretation of a word in the notes,
not as a central narrative claim.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: 23559-23564
quote_or_summary: God tells idolaters to call their imagined companions for protection;
they do not answer; a valley of destruction is set between them; the wicked see
hell fire and know they will be thrown into it.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:2
type: note
locator: footnote b
quote_or_summary: The note explains the valley as being between idolaters and their
false gods, or as God setting them at variance and division.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: 23565-23569
quote_or_summary: The Koran is said to present parables of every kind, while humans
cavil; people wait for punishment like that of predecessors or public chastisement
in the next life.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: 23570-23574
quote_or_summary: Messengers are sent only to bear good tidings and denounce threats;
unbelievers dispute with vain arguments and deride signs and admonitions.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: 23575-23583
quote_or_summary: Those who turn away from the signs are described as having veils
cast over their hearts and thickness of hearing; they will not be directed forever.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: 23584-23589
quote_or_summary: The LORD is gracious and merciful but a threat has been denounced;
former cities were destroyed when they acted unjustly and were given previous
warning.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: 23590-23593
quote_or_summary: Moses tells Joshua son of Nun he will not cease going forward
until he reaches the place where the two seas meet, or travels for a long time.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:8
type: summary
locator: 23594-23597
quote_or_summary: When Moses and Joshua arrive at the meeting of the two seas, they
forget their fish, and the fish takes its way freely into the sea.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:9
type: summary
locator: footnote e
quote_or_summary: The note reports commentators' story that God told Moses of al
Khedr, who was more knowing than Moses, and directed Moses to find him at a rock
where the two seas met, using the missing fish as the sign.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:10
type: summary
locator: footnote g
quote_or_summary: The note says Moses forgot to inquire and Joshua forgot to tell;
it reports that the roasted fish leaped from the basket into the sea, and that
water from the fountain of life restored it to life.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:11
type: summary
locator: footnote h
quote_or_summary: The note says some imagined that the sea water was miraculously
kept from touching the fish, which passed through as under an arch or canal.
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: Main-passage judgment and journey elements are clear. Motifs involving al
Khedr, the fountain of life, and the fish's restoration rely on translator/commentarial
notes within the supplied 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: '2026-04-28'
notes: |-
No external comparisons were added; taxonomy references are limited to those supplied in the request.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:islamic-koran-sale-gutenberg__l23559-l23627
passage_sha256=5dae3b13b2f8cb35f779b8bdd5d2160708762a0d66f5eea175b38288732f8822