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Sūrah 68 · Verse 16

Al-Qalam 68:16

القلم

سَنَسِمُهُۥ عَلَى ٱلْخُرْطُومِ

Meaning

We will soon brand him on the snout[3].

[3] Lit., "trunk," meaning the nose of an elephant or pig. These verses refer to Al-Walīd ibn al-Mughīrah, a leader of the pagans of Makkah and a staunch enemy of Islam. He called the Prophet (ﷺ) a madman, so the Qur’an responded by mentioning ten of Al-Walīd’s qualities. (See 53:33-35 and 74:11-26). Two of those qualities were not known to him: the fact that he was an illegitimate child and that his nose would be chopped off years later at the Battle of Badr. Khālid ibn al-Walīd and two of his brothers embraced Islam.

Meaning: English Translation - Rowwad Translation Center. Translated by the team of the Rowwad Translation Center, in cooperation with the Rabwah Dawah Association, the Islamic Content Service Association in Languages, and the IslamHouse.com website. Version 1.0.19, 2026-03-12. QuranEnc.com

Meaning

We will brand him upon the snout.[1726]

[1726] Literally, "trunk," meaning the nose of an elephant or pig.

Meaning: English Translation - Noor International Center. Issued by Noor International Center. Version 1.1.2, 2025-06-24. QuranEnc.com

Meaning

16. We shall brand him on the snout (nose)!

Meaning: English Translation - Hilali and Khan. Translated by Taqi-ud-Din al-Hilali and Muhammad Muhsin Khan. Version 1.1.2, 2025-09-04. QuranEnc.com

Meaning

We shall brand him on the nose.

Meaning: English Translation - Mohammed Marmaduke Pickthall. The Meaning of the Glorious Koran (1930), as distributed by the Tanzil Project (last update 4 September 2010). Version 2010-09-04, 2010-09-04. Tanzil

Al-Qalam

The Arabic is Tanzil’s text, unchanged. The meanings are their publishers’ editions, unchanged; Sabīl’s own reviewers have not yet examined them. Arabic: Tanzil Uthmani text, version 1.1. Source: tanzil.net