batch.motif.islamic-koran-sale-gutenberg-l26236-l26325
---
record_id: batch.motif.islamic-koran-sale-gutenberg-l26236-l26325
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
passage_locator:
label: ENTITLED, THE TRUE BELIEVERS; REVEALED AT MECCA. / IN THE NAME OF THE MOST
MERCIFUL GOD. / CHAPTER XXIV. / IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.; lines 26236-26325
start: '26236'
end: '26325'
translation: The Koran (Al-Qur'an), Sale translation
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: ''
summary: The passage opens Sura XXIV as a revelation with evident signs, then gives
legal prescriptions concerning sexual misconduct, public punishment, marriage
restrictions, accusations of unchastity, witness requirements, repentance, and
a procedure of reciprocal oaths when a husband accuses his wife without witnesses.
It closes this section by invoking God's indulgence, mercy, readiness to be reconciled,
and wisdom.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The Sura is described as sent down from heaven, ratified, and containing evident
signs for warning.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: A whore and whoremonger are prescribed one hundred stripes, with compassion
not to prevent execution of God's judgment.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: Some true believers are directed to witness the punishment.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: Marriage between believers and persons identified as harlots, whoremongers,
idolaters, or idolatresses is restricted or forbidden in the passage.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:5
text: Those who accuse reputable women of whoredom without producing four witnesses
are prescribed eighty stripes and loss of accepted testimony.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:6
text: Repentance and amendment are given as an exception for those punished for
accusation, with God described as gracious and merciful toward them.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:7
text: A husband who accuses his wife without witnesses must swear four times by
God that he speaks truth and a fifth time invoke God's curse if he lies.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:8
text: A wife may avert punishment by swearing four times by God that her husband
lies and a fifth time invoking God's wrath on herself if he speaks truth.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:9
text: The passage states that without God's indulgence and mercy, crimes would be
immediately discovered.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:10
text: A footnote says the public character of punishment increases its ignominy
and is considered more likely to reform the offender.
category: other
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: God
description: The divine source of the Sura, judgment, mercy, curse, wrath, reconciliation,
and wisdom in the passage.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: true believers
description: The community addressed as believers; some are to witness punishment
and the marriage rule is said to be forbidden to them.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: whore and whoremonger
description: Persons named as offenders subject to one hundred stripes and marriage
restrictions.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: harlot, idolater, and idolatress
description: Persons named in the marriage restriction concerning whoremongers and
harlots.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: women of reputation
description: Persons protected by the rule requiring accusers to produce four witnesses.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: accusers of whoredom
description: Persons who accuse reputable women and are punished if they fail to
produce four witnesses.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: husband accusing his wife
description: A husband who accuses his wife without witnesses and must testify by
repeated oaths.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: accused wife
description: A wife who may avert punishment through repeated oaths and an imprecation
formula.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: fig:9
name_or_label: witnesses
description: Witnesses required either for public punishment or as four witnesses
to an accusation.
role_refs:
- role:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:5
- ev:6
roles:
- id: role:1
label: divine lawgiver and judge
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The Sura is sent down from heaven, and execution of punishment is called
the judgment of God.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: role:2
label: merciful and reconciling deity
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: God is described as gracious, merciful, indulgent, easy to be reconciled,
and wise.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:7
- id: role:3
label: believing community and public witnesses
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: True believers are addressed and some are to witness punishment.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:4
label: sexual offender subject to corporal punishment
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The whore and whoremonger are prescribed one hundred stripes.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:5
label: restricted marriage partner
assigned_to:
- fig:3
- fig:4
basis: The passage states that the whoremonger shall marry only a harlot or idolatress,
and a harlot only a whoremonger or idolater, while forbidding this to true believers.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:6
label: protected reputation-holder
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: Women of reputation are protected by requirements for witnesses and penalties
against unsupported accusation.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:7
label: slanderer or failed accuser
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: Accusers who do not produce four witnesses are scourged and their testimony
is rejected.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:8
label: oath-taking accuser-spouse
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: A husband without witnesses must swear four times and make a fifth imprecation.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:9
label: oath-taking accused spouse
assigned_to:
- fig:8
basis: The wife may avert punishment through four counter-oaths and a fifth imprecation.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:10
label: legal witness
assigned_to:
- fig:9
basis: Witnesses are required for public punishment and for substantiating accusations.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:5
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: light
literal_form: The chapter title 'Light' and a footnote describing an allegorical
comparison between light and God or faith in him.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:2
label: four witnesses
literal_form: The number four attached to the witnesses required to substantiate
an accusation of whoredom.
associated_figures:
- fig:5
- fig:6
- fig:9
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:3
label: four oaths and fifth imprecation
literal_form: 'A repeated oath sequence: four sworn declarations by God followed
by a fifth invocation of divine curse or wrath.'
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:7
- fig:8
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:4
label: public punishment
literal_form: Scourging witnessed by members of the believing community.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:9
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Revelation and warning
summary: The Sura is introduced as sent down from heaven, ratified, and containing
evident signs so that the audience may be warned.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Public punishment for sexual misconduct
summary: The passage prescribes one hundred stripes for a whore and whoremonger,
insists that compassion not prevent execution of God's judgment, and requires
some true believers to witness the punishment.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:9
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: scene:3
label: Marriage restriction
summary: The passage restricts the marriage partners of whoremongers and harlots
and forbids this kind of marriage to true believers.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: scene:4
label: Accusation and witness requirement
summary: Accusers of reputable women must produce four witnesses; without them they
are punished, lose accepted testimony, and are called infamous prevaricators,
with an exception for repentance and amendment.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:5
- fig:6
- fig:9
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: scene:5
label: Reciprocal spousal oaths
summary: When a husband accuses his wife without witnesses, he must swear four times
and invoke God's curse a fifth time; the wife may avert punishment by four counter-oaths
and a fifth invocation of God's wrath.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:7
- fig:8
- fig:9
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: scene:6
label: Divine mercy and hidden crimes
summary: The passage states that God's indulgence and mercy prevent the immediate
discovery of crimes and describes God as easy to be reconciled and wise.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: divine judgment enacted through communal law
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
basis: The passage frames punishment for sexual misconduct as execution of God's
judgment, with believers commanded not to let compassion prevent it.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
confidence: high
cautions: The passage is primarily legal and ritual-prescriptive rather than narrative
mythology.
- id: motif:2
label: public witness to punishment
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Punishment is to be witnessed by true believers, and the footnote emphasizes
public infliction and ignominy.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
confidence: medium
cautions: This is a juridical pattern; no broader mythic taxonomy reference is supplied.
- id: motif:3
label: oath ordeal under divine curse or wrath
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
basis: In the absence of witnesses, husband and wife each invoke God in a fixed
sequence of oaths, with a final imprecation of curse or wrath.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage presents a legal oath procedure; labeling it an ordeal-like
motif is interpretive and should be reviewed.
- id: motif:4
label: divine mercy moderating judgment
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
basis: The passage links punishment and accusation procedures with statements that
God is gracious, merciful, indulgent, reconciling, and wise.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:7
confidence: medium
cautions: The motif is theological rather than narrative; extraction is based on
explicit divine attributes in the passage.
- id: motif:5
label: light as divine or faith allegory
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The chapter title is Light, and a footnote states that the title comes from
an allegorical comparison between light and God or faith in him.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
confidence: medium
cautions: The actual allegorical comparison is not included in this line range;
the evidence is the title and translator's note only.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: A translator's note compares the scourging prescription with the Sonna, stating
that adultery by married free persons is punished by stoning there.
claim_level: same_function
target: Sonna rule on adultery punishment
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The comparison is drawn from the supplied translator's note, not from
an independent analysis of the Sonna; it concerns legal function, not necessarily
a shared mythic motif.
- id: claim:2
claim: Translator's notes connect the witness requirement and related legal rulings
with earlier internal cross-references to chapter 4.
claim_level: same_function
target: Internal Qur'anic legal cross-reference to chapter 4
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:5
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: low
limitations: The supplied passage gives only brief note references and does not
quote the compared chapter 4 passages.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 26236-26247 and note m within supplied range
quote_or_summary: Chapter XXIV is entitled Light and revealed at Medina; the Sura
is said to be sent down from heaven with evident signs for warning. Note m says
the title derives from an allegorical comparison between light and God or faith.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source text supplied in request.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 26248-26253 within supplied range
quote_or_summary: The whore and whoremonger are to receive one hundred stripes;
compassion must not prevent execution of God's judgment; some true believers are
to witness their punishment.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source text supplied in request.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: notes n-p within supplied range
quote_or_summary: Translator's notes say the rule does not apply to free married
people under the Sonna, where adultery is punished by stoning; they also explain
that public punishment increases ignominy and may reform the offender.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source text supplied in request.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines after notes n-p within supplied range
quote_or_summary: The whoremonger is to marry only a harlot or idolatress, and a
harlot only a whoremonger or idolater; this kind of marriage is forbidden to true
believers.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source text supplied in request.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: accusation of women of reputation section within supplied range
quote_or_summary: Those who accuse women of reputation and do not produce four witnesses
are to receive eighty stripes and have their testimony rejected, except those
who repent and amend, for whom God is gracious and merciful.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source text supplied in request.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: spousal accusation oath section within supplied range
quote_or_summary: A husband accusing his wife without witnesses must swear four
times by God that he speaks truth and a fifth time invoke God's curse if he lies;
the wife averts punishment by four oaths that he lies and a fifth invocation of
God's wrath if he speaks truth.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source text supplied in request.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: verse marked 10 within supplied range
quote_or_summary: The passage states that, were it not for God's indulgence and
mercy, he would immediately discover crimes; God is described as easy to be reconciled
and wise.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source text supplied in request.
- id: ev:8
type: summary
locator: note q within supplied range
quote_or_summary: A translator's note says the marriage passage was revealed concerning
poorer Mohjerins or refugees who sought to marry captives described as whores
of the infidels for financial gain; the note records differing views about whether
the rule was special or general.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source text supplied in request.
- id: ev:9
type: summary
locator: note t within supplied range
quote_or_summary: A translator's note explains that reciprocal oaths remove the
respective penalties of slander and adultery, though the marriage is considered
void or to be voided by a judge.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source text supplied in request.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: low
notes: Literal legal procedures are explicit. Motif labels are cautious because
the passage is mostly juridical and theological, not narrative myth. Comparison
claims rely only on translator's notes present in 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 sources used. Available taxonomy references were applied only where directly supportable from the supplied passage.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:islamic-koran-sale-gutenberg__l26236-l26325
passage_sha256=95c06f36c60addf07f0f1c00c49bba88c6f4a2a96287cf2e40ebdab9cfa983ad