batch.motif.islamic-koran-sale-gutenberg-l33132-l33207
---
record_id: batch.motif.islamic-koran-sale-gutenberg-l33132-l33207
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
passage_locator:
label: CHAPTER XLIII. / IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD. / CHAPTER XLIV. /
IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.; lines 33132-33207
start: '33132'
end: '33207'
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: Chapter XLIV opens by invoking the perspicuous book and says the Koran
was sent down on a blessed night when every determined decree is sent down. It
affirms God as lord of heaven and earth, giver of life and death, then warns of
a day when heaven produces visible smoke covering humankind as a tormenting plague.
Those afflicted ask for the plague to be removed and promise belief, but the text
recalls their rejection of a manifest apostle and says they will return to unbelief.
It then announces divine vengeance and recalls an earlier trial of the people
of Pharaoh when an honourable messenger came to them.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The passage says the Koran was sent down on a blessed night.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The passage says every determined matter is distinctly sent down on that night
as a command from God.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: The passage describes God as lord of heaven and earth and as the one who gives
life and causes death.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: The passage warns of a day when heaven produces visible smoke covering mankind.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:5
text: The visible smoke is called a tormenting plague.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:6
text: Those under the plague ask the Lord to remove it and say they will become
true believers.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:7
text: The passage says a manifest apostle came to them, but they turned away and
called him instructed by others or distracted.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:8
text: The passage says the plague will be removed for a little while, but the people
will return to infidelity.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:9
text: The passage announces a later assault with great power and divine vengeance.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:10
text: The passage recalls that the people of Pharaoh were tested before them and
that an honourable messenger came to those people.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:11
text: 'Sale''s note reports differing interpretations of the smoke: either a famine-related
smoke in Mohammed''s time or an eschatological sign before the day of judgment.'
category: other
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: God / the Lord
description: The sender of the Koran and decrees, lord of heaven and earth, giver
of life and death, remover of the plague, and agent of vengeance.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:7
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Those addressed as doubters / afflicted people
description: They are described as amusing themselves with doubt, being covered
by the smoke, asking for the plague to be removed, promising belief, and later
returning to infidelity.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Manifest apostle
description: A manifest apostle came to the people, but they retired from him and
accused him of being instructed by others or distracted.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: People of Pharaoh
description: An earlier people whom God made trial of before the present addressees.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Honourable messenger
description: A messenger who came to the people of Pharaoh.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
roles:
- id: role:1
label: divine revealer
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: God sends down the Koran and determined decrees on the blessed night.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: role:2
label: divine judge and punisher
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: God is associated with the plague, its removal, and later vengeance.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:7
- id: role:3
label: doubters under punishment
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: They are described as doubting, being covered by the tormenting smoke, pleading
for removal, and returning to infidelity.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:7
- id: role:4
label: messenger rejected or sent to a tested people
assigned_to:
- fig:3
- fig:5
basis: One apostle is rejected by the addressees, and another messenger comes to
the people of Pharaoh.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:8
- id: role:5
label: precedent people tested by God
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The people of Pharaoh are explicitly named as having been tried before the
present group.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: perspicuous book
literal_form: The book of the Koran invoked at the chapter opening.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:2
label: blessed night
literal_form: The night on which the Koran and decrees are said to be sent down.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: sym:3
label: determined decree
literal_form: Every determined thing distinctly sent down as a command.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:4
label: visible smoke
literal_form: Smoke produced by heaven and covering mankind as a tormenting plague.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:9
- id: sym:5
label: heaven and earth
literal_form: The cosmic domain over which God is lord; heaven is also the source
from which the smoke appears.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Revelation and decree on the blessed night
summary: The Koran is said to be sent down on a blessed night, and every determined
matter is sent down as a command from God.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: scene:2
label: Visible smoke as plague
summary: Heaven produces visible smoke covering mankind, and the afflicted people
ask the Lord to remove the tormenting plague while promising belief.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: scene:3
label: Rejected apostle and return to infidelity
summary: The text recalls that a manifest apostle had come to the people and was
rejected; it then says the plague will be lifted briefly, but they will return
to infidelity, followed by divine vengeance.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: scene:4
label: Precedent of Pharaoh's people
summary: The passage recalls that God previously tested the people of Pharaoh and
that an honourable messenger came to them.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:4
- fig:5
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: Revelation of a sacred book on a blessed night
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The passage centers the sending down of the Koran and divine determinations
on a blessed night.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
confidence: medium
cautions: The available taxonomy has no exact category for scripture revelation;
'wisdom' is a broad fit only.
- id: motif:2
label: Heaven-sent smoke plague as warning
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
basis: The smoke comes from heaven, covers mankind, is called a tormenting plague,
and is linked to divine vengeance after rejection of an apostle.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:6
- ev:7
confidence: high
cautions: The passage and notes preserve multiple interpretations of the smoke's
referent.
- id: motif:3
label: Temporary repentance under affliction followed by relapse
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
basis: The afflicted people promise belief if the plague is removed, but the passage
states they will return to infidelity.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:7
confidence: high
cautions: The passage does not provide further narrative details beyond the predicted
relapse.
- id: motif:4
label: Earlier punished or tested people as warning precedent
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
basis: The people of Pharaoh are explicitly recalled as a prior group tested when
a messenger came to them.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
confidence: medium
cautions: This excerpt only begins the Pharaoh precedent and does not include the
full outcome.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: The passage explicitly uses the people of Pharaoh as an earlier warning precedent
for the present addressees, with both contexts involving divine testing and a
messenger.
claim_level: same_function
target: People of Pharaoh episode within the passage's scriptural memory
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The excerpt gives only the opening of the Pharaoh comparison and does
not narrate the full parallel.
- id: claim:2
claim: 'Sale''s note records two interpretive placements for the smoke motif: a
historical famine-associated sign and an eschatological sign before the day of
judgment.'
claim_level: same_motif
target: Smoke as historical plague sign and smoke as eschatological judgment sign
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: This comparison is based on the translator's commentary, not on a direct
comparison made in the main translated verse.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: quote
locator: lines 33132-33207, Chapter XLIV opening
quote_or_summary: '"BY the perspicuous book of the Koran; verily we have sent down
the same on a blessed night"'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source text.
- id: ev:2
type: quote
locator: lines 33132-33207, Chapter XLIV opening
quote_or_summary: '"on the night wherein is distinctly sent down the decree of every
determined thing, as a command from us"'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source text.
- id: ev:3
type: quote
locator: lines 33132-33207, Chapter XLIV opening
quote_or_summary: '"the LORD of heaven and earth"; "he giveth life, and he causeth
to die"'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source text.
- id: ev:4
type: quote
locator: lines 33132-33207, verse marked 10
quote_or_summary: '"the heaven shall produce a visible smoke, which shall cover
mankind: this will be a tormenting plague"'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source text.
- id: ev:5
type: quote
locator: lines 33132-33207, after verse marked 10
quote_or_summary: '"O LORD, take this plague from off us: verily we will become
true believers."'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source text.
- id: ev:6
type: quote
locator: lines 33132-33207, after plague plea
quote_or_summary: '"a manifest apostle came unto them, but they retired from him,
saying, This man is instructed by others, or is a distracted person"'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source text.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: lines 33132-33207, after apostle rejection
quote_or_summary: God says the plague will be taken away for a little, the people
will return to infidelity, and on a later day God will assault them with great
power and take vengeance.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source text.
- id: ev:8
type: quote
locator: lines 33132-33207, Pharaoh transition
quote_or_summary: '"We made trial of the people of Pharaoh before them, and an honourable
messenger came unto them"'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source text.
- id: ev:9
type: summary
locator: lines 33132-33207, Sale footnote c
quote_or_summary: 'The note says commentators differ: some identify the smoke with
a famine in Mohammed''s time, while a tradition of Ali treats it as a sign before
the day of judgment filling east to west for forty days.'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source text.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: medium
notes: Literal extraction is strong for the translated passage. Motif taxonomy mapping
is partly broad because available taxonomy lacks exact categories for scripture
descent, decree night, and smoke plague.
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: |-
Used only the supplied passage text and metadata. No identification of unnamed messengers beyond the labels present in the excerpt.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:islamic-koran-sale-gutenberg__l33132-l33207
passage_sha256=fd862cc1ef18075b3667d1eb6574402bbce09bc791b5d0180227e8a502d48fdd