batch.motif.islamic-koran-sale-gutenberg-l378-l462
---
record_id: batch.motif.islamic-koran-sale-gutenberg-l378-l462
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
passage_locator:
label: OF THE / LIFE OF GEORGE SALE. / R. A. DAVENPORT. / INTRODUCTION; lines 378-462
start: '378'
end: '462'
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 discusses the Koran's status among Muslim populations, evaluates
George Sale's sources and dependence on Marracci's earlier Latin work, describes
relevant manuscript collections, and closes with claims about Sale's translation
as a Western student's introduction to Islam and with brief biographical notes
on Sale.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The passage states that the Koran remained the sacred book of Turks, Persians,
and nearly a quarter of India's population.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: Sale reported that most manuscripts used for his work were in his own study,
except for the Commentary of Al Baidhwi from the Dutch Church library in Austin
Friars.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: A printed list of Sale's manuscripts is described as comprising eighty-six
works in Turkish, Arabic, and Persian, later housed in the Bodleian Library.
category: object
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: The manuscript list is said to include few first-rate Arabic works and none
of the commentaries repeatedly cited in Sale's translation.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:5
text: The narrator concludes that, except for Al-Baidhwi, Sale consulted his sources
at second hand and was substantially indebted to Marracci.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:6
text: Marracci is described as having reproduced the whole Arabic text of the Koran
and given original texts and translations for quotations from Arabic writers.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:7
text: The passage describes the Koran as regarded by many people from Fez to the
Far East as the revealed word of God and the basis of their faith.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:8
text: The passage gives biographical details about Sale, including approximate birth
in 1697, death in 1736, admission to the Inner Temple, and possible connection
with Solomon Negri.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: The Koran
description: The sacred book discussed as widely revered and regarded as the revealed
word of God by many Muslims.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:7
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: George Sale
description: Translator and subject of the biographical introduction; evaluated
for his manuscript use and indebtedness to Marracci.
role_refs:
- role:2
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:5
- ev:8
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Al-Baidhwi Commentary
description: The commentary singled out as an exception to Sale's own-study manuscripts,
belonging to the Dutch Church library in Austin Friars.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:5
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Marracci
description: Earlier translator and scholar whose work is described as learned,
textually extensive, and under-recognized.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Voltaire
description: Cited as having said that Marracci was never in the East and as having
made a statement about Sale spending over twenty years among the Arabs.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:8
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Solomon Negri / Suleiman Alsadi
description: A person sent from Damascus to London by the Patriarch of Antioch to
urge publication of an Arabic New Testament for Syrian Christians.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
roles:
- id: role:1
label: sacred text
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The passage explicitly calls the Koran a sacred book and later the revealed
word of God and basis of faith for many people.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:7
- id: role:2
label: translator under evaluation
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The passage evaluates Sale's translation, notes, sources, and research practices.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: role:3
label: biographical subject
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The passage gives Sale's dates, education, and possible scholarly connections.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: role:4
label: named commentary source
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The passage identifies Al-Baidhwi's Commentary as the named exception among
Sale's consulted manuscripts.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:5
- id: role:5
label: prior scholarly source
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The passage says Sale was more indebted to Marracci than he acknowledged
and describes Marracci's Koran work in detail.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: role:6
label: reported commentator
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: Voltaire is cited for statements about Marracci and Sale.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:8
- id: role:7
label: Arabic Christian intermediary
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: Solomon Negri is described as sent from Damascus to London concerning an
Arabic New Testament for Syrian Christians.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: sacred book / revealed word
literal_form: The Koran as a sacred book and as the revealed word of God
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:7
- id: sym:2
label: manuscript collection
literal_form: A collection of Turkish, Arabic, and Persian manuscripts associated
with Sale's library
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Koran as enduring sacred book
summary: The passage presents the Koran as an enduring sacred book for broad Muslim
populations and as a text deserving Western readership.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Evaluation of Sale's sources
summary: The passage examines Sale's own statements, manuscript list, and cited
commentaries to argue that his research was less original than implied.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: scene:3
label: Marracci as learned predecessor
summary: The passage describes Marracci's earlier work as a major scholarly source
that provided Arabic text, translations, and extensive Islamic material.
figure_refs:
- fig:4
- fig:5
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: scene:4
label: Western introductory access to Islam
summary: The passage claims Sale's translation and notes provide Western students
with preliminary access to Islamic belief without years of Arabic study.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: scene:5
label: Biographical notices on Sale
summary: The passage gives Sale's approximate dates, corrects or doubts a claim
by Voltaire, and mentions Sale's likely linguistic knowledge and possible association
with Solomon Negri.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:5
- fig:6
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: revealed sacred text as foundation of faith
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The passage identifies the Koran as the sacred book and as the revealed word
of God and unshakable basis of faith for many people.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:7
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage is a scholarly introduction rather than a mythic narrative;
the motif is based on characterization of scripture, not on a narrated episode.
- id: motif:2
label: transmission of sacred knowledge through translation and manuscripts
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The passage focuses on manuscripts, commentaries, translation, and the movement
of Islamic knowledge into Western study through Sale and Marracci.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
confidence: medium
cautions: This is an intellectual-history pattern, not a traditional mythic motif.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 378-386
quote_or_summary: The Koran is said to have remained the sacred book of Turks, Persians,
and many in India, and to deserve wider reading in the West.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source text; summarized.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 387-396
quote_or_summary: 'Sale''s own address is cited: he lacked access to public libraries
and mainly used manuscripts in his own study, except for Al Baidhwi''s Commentary
at the Dutch Church library.'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source text; summarized.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 397-407
quote_or_summary: A printed list of Sale's Turkish, Arabic, and Persian manuscripts
is described; the books were later purchased for the Radcliffe Library and housed
in the Bodleian Library.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source text; summarized.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 408-414
quote_or_summary: The British Museum copy of the list contains eighty-six works,
few important Arabic works, and none of the commentaries repeatedly cited in Sale's
translation.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source text; summarized.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 415-433
quote_or_summary: The narrator concludes that Sale's sources, except Al-Baidhwi,
were second-hand; Marracci's work is identified as a major unacknowledged source
for Sale's Arabic-author quotations.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source text; summarized.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 434-445
quote_or_summary: Marracci is described as reproducing the whole Arabic text of
the Koran, translating Arabic quotations, using Italian manuscript collections,
and publishing a Prodromus on Muhammad and Islam.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source text; summarized.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: lines 446-452
quote_or_summary: The present work is said to give Western students a preliminary
study of Islam and access to what many people from Fez to the Far East regard
as the revealed word of God and basis of faith.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source text; summarized.
- id: ev:8
type: summary
locator: lines 453-462
quote_or_summary: Sale is said to have been born about 1697 and died in 1736; Voltaire's
claim about time among Arabs is doubted; Sale's Hebrew knowledge and possible
connection with Solomon Negri are mentioned.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source text; summarized.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: uncertain
notes: The passage is mainly biographical and bibliographical. Literal extraction
is strong, but motif assignment is limited to broad sacred-text and knowledge-transmission
patterns.
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 explicit mythic episode or comparative mythological claim appears in the passage; comparison_claims left empty.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:islamic-koran-sale-gutenberg__l378-l462
passage_sha256=e3d6e5a0e902a47714acc38953abcdd91afd9ae98b7bbaa90c24c7bba78e4a5a