batch.motif.islamic-koran-sale-gutenberg-l6116-l6169
---
record_id: batch.motif.islamic-koran-sale-gutenberg-l6116-l6169
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
passage_locator:
label: SECTION III / SECTION IV. / SECTION V. / OF CERTAIN NEGATIVE PRECEPTS IN
THE KORN.; lines 6116-6169
start: '6116'
end: '6169'
translation: The Koran (Al-Qur'an), Sale translation/commentary
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: ''
summary: The passage describes divining arrows used by old Arabs before important
undertakings and compares the practice with Greek and biblical/Babylonian examples.
It then summarizes Qur'anic dietary prohibitions, notes similarities and differences
with Jewish law, mentions emergency exceptions, and describes pagan Arab practices
of eating blood preparations and meat killed in the name of idols on stones near
the Caaba or homes.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Divining arrows were mixed and drawn repeatedly until a decisive answer was
obtained.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The divining arrows were consulted before undertakings such as marriage or
travel.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: The passage compares the Arab practice of divining by arrows with practices
attributed to ancient Greeks and with a biblical passage about the king of Babylon.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: The Qur'anic dietary rules listed in the passage prohibit blood, swine flesh,
animals that die by themselves, animals slain in honor of idols, and animals strangled
or killed by blows, falls, or other beasts.
category: object
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: The passage states that necessity, such as danger of starvation, permits eating
otherwise prohibited foods under Mohammedan law.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:6
text: Some pagan Arabs are described as drawing blood from a live camel, putting
it into a gut, cooking it by fire or boiling it, and eating it.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:7
text: Meat offered to idols is described as being regarded as a kind of communion
in idol worship.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:8
text: The Arabs are described as killing animals on stones erected around the Caaba
or near their houses while calling on the name of an idol.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: old Arabs / ancient Arabs
description: People described as using divining arrows and, in some cases, as practicing
food customs involving blood and idol-associated slaughter.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Mohammed
description: Named as the figure who made regulations concerning meats, according
to the passage.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Jews / Moses / Jewish doctors
description: Jewish law and Jewish doctors are cited as comparators for dietary
prohibitions and necessity exceptions.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: king of Babylon
description: Biblical figure described as standing at the parting of the way and
using divination with arrows and images.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: St. Jerome
description: Commentator quoted as explaining the biblical arrow-divination passage
through casting marked arrows into a quiver.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Christians
description: Group said to regard meat offered to idols as unlawful or a cause of
scandal.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: idolaters
description: Group associated with the practice of eating meat offered to idols
as part of worship.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
roles:
- id: role:1
label: users of divining arrows
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The passage says old Arabs consulted divining arrows before important undertakings.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: role:2
label: religious lawgiver in commentary
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The passage says Mohammed made regulations about meats and lists Qur'anic
prohibitions.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:3
label: comparative dietary-law tradition
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The passage compares Qur'anic dietary rules and necessity exceptions with
Jewish law and Jewish doctors.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: role:4
label: scriptural diviner
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The passage cites the king of Babylon as using divination at a road junction.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:5
label: idol-associated ritual practitioners
assigned_to:
- fig:1
- fig:7
basis: The passage describes idolaters, and especially Arabs, killing and eating
meat in connection with idols.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:6
label: textual commentator
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: St. Jerome is cited as commenting on the biblical divination passage.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:7
label: religious evaluators of idol-offered meat
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: Christians are said to esteem idol-offered meat as unlawful or scandalous.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: divining arrows
literal_form: arrows mixed and drawn to obtain a decisive answer
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:4
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: sym:2
label: quiver
literal_form: container into which marked arrows are cast and mixed in Jerome's
explanation
associated_figures:
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:3
label: prohibited foods
literal_form: blood, swine flesh, carrion, idol-slain animals, strangled animals,
and animals killed by blows, falls, or beasts
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:4
label: blood food
literal_form: blood drawn from a live camel, placed in a gut, cooked, and eaten
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:5
label: idol-offered meat
literal_form: meat killed in the name or honor of an idol
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:6
- fig:7
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:6
- id: sym:6
label: ritual stones around the Caaba or houses
literal_form: stones erected for killing animals while invoking an idol
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:7
label: fire used for cooking blood
literal_form: fire used to broil blood prepared in a gut
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs:
- fire
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Consulting divining arrows
summary: Old Arabs mix and draw arrows to obtain a decisive answer before important
actions such as marriage or travel.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Comparative arrow divination
summary: The passage compares Arab divining arrows with Greek practice and with
a biblical/Babylonian example interpreted by St. Jerome as casting marked arrows
into a quiver.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:4
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:3
label: Dietary prohibitions and exceptions
summary: The passage lists prohibited foods in Qur'anic law, compares them with
Jewish law, notes camels as an allowed difference, and describes emergency permission
in cases of starvation.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: scene:4
label: Blood preparation among some pagan Arabs
summary: Some pagan Arabs are described as drawing blood from a live camel, putting
it into a gut, cooking it by fire or boiling it, and eating it under the name
Moswadd.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
- sym:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: scene:5
label: Idol-associated slaughter and communal eating
summary: Meat offered to idols is described as a form of worship-communion, and
Arabs are described as slaughtering animals on stones around the Caaba or near
houses while invoking idols.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:6
- fig:7
symbol_refs:
- sym:5
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: Divination by arrows before major undertakings
taxonomy_refs:
- forbidden_knowledge
basis: The passage describes arrows mixed and drawn to obtain a decisive answer
before marriage, travel, or similar matters.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
confidence: medium
cautions: The taxonomy reference is broad; the passage calls the practice superstitious
but does not itself develop a narrative of forbidden knowledge.
- id: motif:2
label: Marked-lot divination for choosing action or target
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Jerome's cited explanation describes marked arrows cast into a quiver and
drawn to decide which people or city should be attacked first.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
confidence: high
cautions: This is reported as comparative commentary rather than a primary narrative
scene in the Qur'an.
- id: motif:3
label: Dietary taboo with emergency exception
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The passage lists forbidden foods and then states that danger of starvation
permits otherwise prohibited foods.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
confidence: high
cautions: This is legal commentary rather than mythic narrative.
- id: motif:4
label: Idol-associated sacrificial meal as communion
taxonomy_refs:
- sacrifice
- sacred_exchange
basis: The passage describes meat offered to idols as a sort of communion in worship
and describes Arabs killing animals on stones while invoking idols.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
confidence: medium
cautions: The terms 'communion' and the evaluation are from the commentator; the
passage is descriptive and polemical rather than a ritual manual.
- id: motif:5
label: Blood as prohibited food and transgressive preparation
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The passage prohibits eating blood but also reports some pagan Arabs preparing
and eating camel blood.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:5
confidence: medium
cautions: The reported practice is ethnographic commentary and not elaborated as
a symbolic episode.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: The passage explicitly compares old Arab divining arrows with divination
by arrows among ancient Greeks and in a biblical/Babylonian example.
claim_level: same_function
target: Greek and biblical/Babylonian arrow divination
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: high
limitations: The comparison is reported by the translator/commentator and does not
establish direct historical contact.
- id: claim:2
claim: The passage says Mohammed's dietary prohibitions chiefly resemble or imitate
Jewish law while allowing some foods, such as camel flesh, that Mosaic law did
not.
claim_level: historical_contact
target: Jewish/Mosaic dietary law
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The wording reflects the commentator's assertion; the passage excerpt
alone does not demonstrate the historical mechanism of influence.
- id: claim:3
claim: The passage compares Muslim and Jewish legal treatment of necessity by saying
both allow otherwise prohibited foods in danger of starvation.
claim_level: same_function
target: Jewish emergency exception for prohibited foods
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: high
limitations: The comparison is limited to the stated case of necessity.
- id: claim:4
claim: The passage relates idol-offered meat to a broader pattern of ritual communion
in idol worship and notes Christian concern about scandal or unlawfulness.
claim_level: same_function
target: Idol-offered meat in idolater practice and Christian evaluation
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The statement is general and evaluative; it does not describe a detailed
shared rite across named traditions.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 6116-6120
quote_or_summary: Divining arrows are mixed and drawn again until a decisive answer
is given; they are consulted before matters such as marriage or a journey.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 6120-6133
quote_or_summary: The passage says divining by arrows was used by ancient Greeks
and appears in scripture concerning the king of Babylon; Jerome explains casting
marked arrows into a quiver to decide which city to attack.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 6134-6141
quote_or_summary: The Qur'an is said to prohibit blood, swine flesh, carrion, idol-slain
animals, strangled animals, and animals killed by blows, falls, or beasts; the
passage compares these rules to Jewish law and notes camels as an allowed difference.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 6141-6144
quote_or_summary: In danger of starvation, Mohammedan law is said to allow otherwise
prohibited foods; Jewish doctors are said to grant the same liberty.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 6144-6152
quote_or_summary: Some pagan Arabs are said to have eaten blood, sometimes drawn
from a live camel into a gut, then broiled in fire or boiled and eaten as Moswadd.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 6153-6163
quote_or_summary: Meat offered to idols is described as a sort of communion in worship;
Arabs are said to kill animals on stones around the Caaba or near their houses
while calling on an idol's name, and Christians are said to view such meat as
unlawful or scandalous.
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: medium
notes: The extraction is based on a commentary-heavy passage rather than a single
narrative episode. Literal legal and ethnographic details are clear; broader motif
taxonomy assignments require review.
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 and metadata. All generated interpretations are kept as candidate motifs or comparison claims rather than literal observations.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:islamic-koran-sale-gutenberg__l6116-l6169
passage_sha256=ec687bcba53d16b847b259eb9e0ff24923c41e2c1ba625e398e7dd4e7820420b