batch.motif.islamic-koran-sale-gutenberg-l9159-l9242
---
record_id: batch.motif.islamic-koran-sale-gutenberg-l9159-l9242
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
passage_locator:
label: CHAPTER I. / IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD / CHAPTER II. / IN THE
NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.; lines 9159-9242
start: '9159'
end: '9242'
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 includes commentary on salvation and abrogation, a tradition
that God lifted a mountain over the Israelites to compel acceptance of Moses'
law, a story of Sabbath-breakers at Ailah transformed into apes and destroyed,
and Qur'anic narration of Moses conveying God's command to sacrifice a specified
cow. After a murder dispute, the dead body is struck with part of the sacrificed
cow and God raises the dead to life. The passage also compares hardened hearts
to stones and says some people hear and pervert God's word while concealing what
God knows.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Some commentators are described as debating whether a passage about Jews,
Christians, and Sabians being saved is abrogated or requires becoming Muslim.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: A tradition says the Israelites refused Moses' law and God tore up a mountain
by the roots and shook it over their heads to frighten them into compliance.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: In a story set at Ailah or Elath on the Red Sea, fish came to shore on the
Sabbath and returned to the sea afterward.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: Some inhabitants caught, dressed, and ate fish on the Sabbath and later made
canals and sluices to trap fish on the Sabbath.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: David cursed the Sabbath-breakers, and God transformed them into apes; after
three days they were destroyed by a wind that swept them into the sea.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:6
text: 'God commands Moses'' people to sacrifice a cow, and Moses conveys detailed
identifying features: middle-aged, intensely red, not trained for ploughing or
watering, sound, and without blemish.'
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:7
text: Moses' people repeatedly ask for clarification about the cow before sacrificing
it, and they nearly leave the command undone.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:8
text: After a man is slain and people dispute concerning him, God brings to light
what had been concealed.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:9
text: The dead body is struck with part of the sacrificed cow, and God raises the
dead to life as a sign.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:10
text: Hearts are described as hardened like stones or harder; some stones send forth
rivers, some split and issue water, and some fall down for fear of God.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:11
text: A group is accused of hearing God's word and then perverting it knowingly,
and of concealing what God has revealed.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: God
description: Divine actor who commands sacrifice, raises the dead, reveals signs,
knows what is concealed and published, and in traditions lifts a mountain and
transforms offenders.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:7
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Moses
description: Prophetic speaker who tells his people God's command to sacrifice a
cow and answers their questions with God's specifications.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Moses' people
description: The addressed community that questions Moses about the commanded cow,
sacrifices it, and is connected with the dispute over a slain man.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: The sacrificial cow
description: A middle-aged, intensely red, sound, unblemished cow not broken to
plough or water the field.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: The slain man / dead body
description: A man who has been killed; his body is struck with part of the sacrificed
cow and is raised to life.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: David
description: Figure in the note who curses the Sabbath-breakers in the Ailah story.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Sabbath-breakers at Ailah
description: Inhabitants who catch and trap fish on the Sabbath, become obstinate,
are transformed into apes, and are destroyed by wind into the sea.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: Observant inhabitants at Ailah
description: Inhabitants who strictly observe the Sabbath and try by persuasion
and force to stop the impiety.
role_refs:
- role:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:9
name_or_label: Fish at Ailah
description: Fish that come in great numbers to the shore during the Sabbath and
return to the sea afterward.
role_refs:
- role:11
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:10
name_or_label: A friend of a transformed offender
description: A person who visits a transformed friend, recognizes him in ape form,
asks whether he is the same person, and says he had advised him to desist.
role_refs:
- role:12
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:11
name_or_label: People accused of perverting God's word
description: A part of them hear God's word, pervert it after understanding, and
speak differently to believers than in private assemblies.
role_refs:
- role:13
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
roles:
- id: role:1
label: divine commander
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: God commands the sacrifice of a cow.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:2
label: divine judge and punisher
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: God terrifies Israelites with a mountain and transforms Sabbath-breakers
into apes in the cited traditions.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: role:3
label: giver of life and revealer of hidden things
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: God brings concealed matters to light and raises the dead to life.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:4
label: prophetic mediator
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Moses conveys God's command and specifications to his people.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:5
label: commanded community
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Moses' people are commanded to sacrifice the cow and question its identity.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:6
label: sacrificial animal
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The cow is specified by divine command and then sacrificed.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:7
label: restored dead person
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The dead body is struck with part of the sacrificed cow and God raises the
dead to life.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:8
label: curse pronouncer
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: David curses the Sabbath-breakers.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:9
label: transgressors under punishment
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: They break the Sabbath, are transformed into apes, and are later destroyed.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:10
label: observant admonishers
assigned_to:
- fig:8
basis: They strictly observe the Sabbath and try to stop the offenders.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:11
label: tempting abundance
assigned_to:
- fig:9
basis: The fish come to shore in great numbers on the Sabbath, described as tempting
the inhabitants.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:12
label: witness to transformation
assigned_to:
- fig:10
basis: The friend sees the transformed offender in ape form and speaks to him.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:13
label: concealers and perverters of revelation
assigned_to:
- fig:11
basis: They hear and pervert God's word and conceal what has been revealed.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: uprooted mountain
literal_form: A mountain torn up by the roots and shaken over the Israelites' heads.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs:
- mountain
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:2
label: Sabbath fish
literal_form: Fish that come to the Red Sea shore in great numbers on the Sabbath
and return afterward.
associated_figures:
- fig:9
- fig:7
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:3
label: red unblemished sacrificial cow
literal_form: A middle-aged, intensely red, sound cow without blemish and not used
for field labor.
associated_figures:
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs:
- sacrifice
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: sym:4
label: part of the sacrificed cow
literal_form: A part of the sacrificed cow used to strike the dead body.
associated_figures:
- fig:4
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs:
- sacrifice
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:5
label: water from stones
literal_form: Rivers bursting from stones and water issuing from split stones.
associated_figures: []
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:6
label: hardened hearts as stones
literal_form: Hearts described as like stones or harder than stones.
associated_figures:
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:7
label: ape form
literal_form: Sabbath-breakers transformed into apes, including one who signals
recognition and weeps.
associated_figures:
- fig:7
- fig:10
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Debate over salvation and abrogation
summary: Commentary presents differing interpretations of whether a salvation passage
is abrogated and whether salvation requires becoming Muslim.
figure_refs: []
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Mountain raised over the Israelites
summary: A tradition says God uproots a mountain and shakes it above the Israelites
to frighten them into accepting Moses' law.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:3
label: Sabbath fish and punishment at Ailah
summary: Fish appear on the Sabbath; some inhabitants violate the Sabbath by catching
and trapping them, resist admonition, are cursed by David, transformed into apes
by God, and destroyed by wind into the sea.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:6
- fig:7
- fig:8
- fig:9
- fig:10
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:4
label: Specification and sacrifice of the cow
summary: Moses relays God's command to sacrifice a cow; the people ask repeated
questions, receive detailed identifying features, and finally sacrifice her though
nearly leaving it undone.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: scene:5
label: Hidden murder revealed and dead raised
summary: After a slain man becomes the subject of dispute, God reveals what was
concealed; the corpse is struck with part of the sacrificed cow and God raises
the dead to life as a sign.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: scene:6
label: Hearts hardened like stones
summary: The passage compares hardened hearts to stones while noting that stones
may release rivers or water or fall from fear of God.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:5
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: scene:7
label: Perverting and concealing revelation
summary: A group is accused of hearing God's word, perverting it knowingly, speaking
differently to believers and in private, and concealing what God knows.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:11
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: Commanded sacrifice of a selected animal
taxonomy_refs:
- sacrifice
basis: God commands the sacrifice of a cow, whose age, color, labor status, soundness,
and lack of blemish are specified before it is sacrificed.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
confidence: high
cautions: The passage gives no broader ritual system beyond this specific commanded
sacrifice.
- id: motif:2
label: Restoration of the dead through a sacrificial object
taxonomy_refs:
- resurrection
basis: The dead body is struck with part of the sacrificed cow and God raises the
dead to life.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
confidence: high
cautions: The resurrection is presented as a divine sign, not as an extended afterlife
journey.
- id: motif:3
label: Divine judgment on transgressors
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
basis: The Sabbath-breakers are transformed into apes and destroyed after violating
the Sabbath; the murder concealment is also exposed by God.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:5
confidence: high
cautions: The Ailah material is supplied in a commentary note rather than in the
main translated verses of this line range.
- id: motif:4
label: Punitive human-to-animal transformation
taxonomy_refs:
- shapeshifter
basis: God transforms Sabbath-breakers into apes after David curses them.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
confidence: medium
cautions: This is an involuntary punishment transformation rather than voluntary
shapeshifting.
- id: motif:5
label: Law accepted under an overshadowing mountain
taxonomy_refs:
- covenant
basis: A tradition says God lifts a mountain over the Israelites' heads to terrify
them into compliance with Moses' law.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage does not use the word covenant in this excerpt; the motif
assignment rests on the law-acceptance scene.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 9159-9174
quote_or_summary: Commentary describes disputes over whether a salvation passage
is abrogated and how Jews, Christians, and Sabians may or may not be included
in salvation.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary used.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 9175-9177
quote_or_summary: A tradition says Israelites refused Moses' law, so God tore up
a mountain by the roots and shook it over their heads to terrify them into compliance.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary used.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 9178-9199
quote_or_summary: At Ailah on the Red Sea, Sabbath fish tempted inhabitants; some
trapped and ate them, resisted correction, were cursed by David, transformed into
apes by God, remained three days, and were swept into the sea by wind.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary used.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 9208-9223
quote_or_summary: Moses tells his people God commands them to sacrifice a cow; after
repeated questions, the cow is specified as middle-aged, intensely red, not used
for ploughing or watering, sound, and unblemished; they sacrifice her but nearly
fail to do so.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary used.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 9224-9227
quote_or_summary: After a man is slain and disputed over, God reveals what was concealed;
the people are told to strike the dead body with part of the sacrificed cow, and
God raises the dead to life.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary used.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 9228-9230
quote_or_summary: Hearts become hardened like stones or harder; some stones release
rivers or water, and others fall down for fear of God.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary used.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: lines 9231-9242
quote_or_summary: A group hears God's word and perverts it knowingly; they speak
belief to true believers but privately discuss withholding revelation, while God
knows what they conceal and publish.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary used.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: uncertain
notes: Main narrative elements are explicit in the provided passage. Motif assignments
are limited to the supplied taxonomy and should be reviewed, especially where
commentary notes rather than the main translated verses supply the tradition.
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 comparison claims were added because the passage does not itself support a specific comparative-mythology claim beyond internal commentary and doctrinal cross-reference.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:islamic-koran-sale-gutenberg__l9159-l9242
passage_sha256=67bf2b44f3251b1acbfaf1c4ba903763eada115860b5b5a21661ceb588df6b38