batch.motif.islamic-koran-sale-gutenberg-l6172-l6223
---
record_id: batch.motif.islamic-koran-sale-gutenberg-l6172-l6223
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 6172-6223
start: '6172'
end: '6223'
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 prohibitions or abolished practices: abstention
from swine''s flesh among Arabs, prohibition of usury compared with Jewish law,
and the abolition of several pre-Islamic Arab cattle customs involving named camels
or sheep set at liberty, marked, or restricted from ordinary use.'
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Foreign writers are said to report that Arabs abstained from swine's flesh
and considered eating it unlawful.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The passage states that Mohammed prohibited usury and that the author presumes
he followed Jewish law in doing so.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: The passage says Mohammed abolished several cattle customs described as peculiar
to pagan Arabs.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: The Koran is said to mention four names—Bahra, Sba, Wasla, and Hmi—for certain
camels or sheep left at liberty and not used like other cattle.
category: object
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: A Bahra could be marked by slitting the ear and then turned loose to pasture,
with restrictions on eating, milking, riding, or other use varying by account.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: obs:6
text: A Sba is described as a she-camel turned loose to go where she will, sometimes
because of repeated female births, a vow, recovery from sickness, safe return
from a journey, or escape from danger.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:7
text: For the Sba, one account says a vertebra or bone was removed from her back,
after which she could not be driven from pasture or water or ridden.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Mohammed
description: Presented as prohibiting usury and abolishing pagan Arab cattle customs.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Arabs / the nation
description: Described as having a common aversion to swine's flesh and as largely
abstaining from it.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Jews
description: Described as strictly forbidden by their law to practice usury among
one another.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: pagan Arabs
description: Described as having cattle customs that were later abolished.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Bahra
description: A named camel or sheep category associated with ear slitting, free
pasture, reproductive conditions, and restrictions on use.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Sba
description: A named she-camel category turned loose under stated conditions and
protected from ordinary riding or expulsion from pasture or water.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:6
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: swine / hog
description: An animal whose flesh is described as avoided by Arabs and considered
unlawful to eat.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
roles:
- id: role:1
label: prohibiting or abolishing religious authority
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The passage attributes the prohibition of usury and the abolition of cattle
customs to Mohammed.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: role:2
label: abstaining community
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The Arabs are reported to abstain from swine's flesh.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:3
label: legal comparison community
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Jewish law is cited as a parallel or precedent for the prohibition of usury.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:4
label: former practitioners of abolished cattle customs
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The cattle customs are described as peculiar to pagan Arabs and as abolished
by Mohammed.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:5
label: marked or released cattle category
assigned_to:
- fig:5
- fig:6
basis: Bahra and Sba are described as cattle categories marked, turned loose, or
restricted from ordinary use.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: role:6
label: forbidden food animal
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: The passage says swine's flesh was considered unlawful to eat.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: swine's flesh as forbidden food
literal_form: swine's flesh
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:7
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:2
label: slit ear as release mark
literal_form: slit ear of camel or sheep
associated_figures:
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: sym:3
label: milk withheld from use
literal_form: milk of the released female animal
associated_figures:
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs:
- milk
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:4
label: pasture and water protection
literal_form: pasture and water from which the animal may not be driven
associated_figures:
- fig:5
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: sym:5
label: removed back bone as status mark
literal_form: one vertebra or bone removed from the she-camel's back
associated_figures:
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:6
label: repeated births as qualifying number
literal_form: five or ten births, including repeated female births
associated_figures:
- fig:5
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: sym:7
label: vow or deliverance condition
literal_form: vow, recovery from sickness, safe return from a journey, or escape
from danger
associated_figures:
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Prohibitions concerning swine and usury
summary: The passage reports Arab abstention from swine's flesh and discusses Mohammed's
prohibition of usury in relation to Jewish law.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:7
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: scene:2
label: Abolition of pagan Arab cattle customs
summary: Mohammed is said to have abolished customs in which certain camels or sheep
were given special names and left free from ordinary use.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:4
- fig:5
- fig:6
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:3
- sym:4
- sym:5
- sym:6
- sym:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: scene:3
label: Bahra marking and restrictions
summary: Accounts of the Bahra describe ear slitting, release to pasture, reproductive
qualifications, and restrictions on eating, milking, riding, or carriage use.
figure_refs:
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:3
- sym:4
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: scene:4
label: Sba release after birth pattern, vow, or deliverance
summary: The Sba is described as a she-camel released after certain events, with
a removed back bone and protection from riding or expulsion from pasture and water.
figure_refs:
- fig:6
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
- sym:5
- sym:6
- sym:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: Food taboo against swine's flesh
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The passage reports Arab abstention from swine's flesh and says it was thought
unlawful to eat.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
confidence: high
cautions: The passage is Sale's explanatory discussion, not a quoted Qur'anic verse
in this excerpt.
- id: motif:2
label: Prohibition of usury in religious law
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The passage states that Mohammed prohibited usury and compares this to Jewish
legal restriction.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
confidence: medium
cautions: The comparison is presented as the author's presumption; details of the
Qur'anic passage are not quoted here.
- id: motif:3
label: Marked animal released from ordinary human use
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Bahra and Sba are described as camels or sheep marked or specially designated,
then left at liberty and exempted from ordinary uses such as riding, milking,
or being driven from pasture and water.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: The passage reports multiple variant explanations for the cattle categories.
- id: motif:4
label: Vowed or delivered animal set loose
taxonomy_refs:
- sacred_exchange
basis: The Sba may be released in satisfaction of a vow or after recovery, safe
return, or escape from danger.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage does not fully describe the vow's recipient or ritual framework;
the taxonomy link is provisional.
- id: motif:5
label: Ritual bodily marking as status designation
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The Bahra may be designated by a slit ear, and the Sba by removal of a back
bone or vertebra.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: The passage describes reported customs and variant accounts rather than
a single fixed ritual sequence.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: The passage compares Mohammed's prohibition of usury with Jewish law, presenting
both as religious restrictions on usury, though Jewish law is described as applying
among Jews to one another while Mohammed is said to make no such distinction.
claim_level: same_function
target: Jewish legal prohibition of usury among one another
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The claim depends on the translator-commentator's wording and presumption;
the excerpt does not quote the underlying Qur'anic verse or Jewish legal text.
- id: claim:2
claim: The passage frames the Qur'anic or Mohammedan treatment of named cattle categories
as an abolition of earlier pagan Arab customs.
claim_level: historical_contact
target: pre-Islamic pagan Arab cattle customs involving Bahra, Sba, Wasla, and Hmi
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The passage gives a later explanatory account and several variants;
it does not independently document the full historical practice.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: 6172-6177
quote_or_summary: Foreign writers are cited for the claim that Arabs abstained from
swine's flesh, considered it unlawful, and had few swine in their country.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized evidence.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: 6178-6182
quote_or_summary: The passage says Mohammed prohibited usury, and the author presumes
he followed Jewish law, which forbids usury among Jews; Mohammed is said not to
distinguish by religious group.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized evidence.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: 6183-6188
quote_or_summary: Several pagan Arab cattle customs are said to have been abolished
by Mohammed; the Koran is said to mention Bahra, Sba, Wasla, and Hmi as names
for camels or sheep left at liberty and not used like other cattle.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized evidence.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: 6189-6205
quote_or_summary: Accounts of Bahra include a she-camel or sheep whose ear is slit
after repeated births and who is released to pasture; variants restrict who may
eat its flesh, whether its milk or riding may be used, and how its offspring are
treated.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized evidence.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: 6206-6213
quote_or_summary: Further Bahra variants include ear slitting after five births,
release to pasture and water without carriage use, and an invocation that a newborn,
if it lives, is for use, but if it dies, is rightly slain and eaten.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized evidence.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: 6214-6223
quote_or_summary: Sba is defined as a she-camel turned loose, including after ten
female births, a vow, recovery from sickness, safe return, or escape from danger;
a back bone may be removed, and she may not be driven from pasture or water or
ridden.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized evidence.
confidence:
extraction: medium
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: medium
notes: The passage is an English public-domain explanatory note with several reported
variants and authorial comparisons; extraction is limited to what the excerpt
states.
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 figures, objects, or comparisons beyond the supplied passage were added. Taxonomy references are used only where the passage directly supports the literal element or a cautious motif-family alignment.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:islamic-koran-sale-gutenberg__l6172-l6223
passage_sha256=6ba89d6e5403bf208d228ffd5b3c1a71b79a4f5958e687a76a26534add9820c0