Tafsir of Al-Qalam 68:10

{حلاف} (Habitual swearer): One who swears excessively, whether in truth or falsehood. This is a sufficient deterrent for anyone accustomed to swearing. Similar to the Almighty’s saying: {And do not make Allah an object of your oaths} (Al-Baqarah: 224).

{مهين} (Despicable): From mahāna (contempt), meaning lowliness and insignificance. It refers to a deficiency in judgment and discernment. Alternatively, it means a liar, because he is contemptible in the eyes of people.

{هماز} (Backbiter): One who finds fault and slanders. Al-Hasan said: He twists his mouth in mockery of people.

{مشاء بنميم} (Tale-bearer): A spreader of discord who carries speech from one group to another for the purpose of incitement and causing corruption between them. Namīm and namīmah mean incitement. An Arab poet recited to me: My youth is the youth of tale-bearing, Walking with it, blooming, to Tamīm.

{مناع للخير} (Preventer of good): A miser. "Good" here means wealth. Or, it means he prevents the people of good—which is Islam—so he mentions the thing prevented rather than the person prevented, as if saying: "Preventer from good." It is said this refers to Al-Walīd ibn al-Mughīrah al-Makhzūmī, who was wealthy and had ten sons. He would tell them and his kin: "Whoever among you accepts Islam, I will withhold my support from him." Ibn 'Abbās and others say it refers to Abū Jahl. Mujāhid says it is Al-Aswad ibn Yaghūth. Al-Suddī says it is Al-Akhnas ibn Sharīq.

{معتد} (Transgressor): One who exceeds the limits in injustice.

{أثيم} (Sinful): One who commits many sins.

{عتل} (Cruel/Brute): Harsh and coarse. Derived from ‘atala, meaning to lead someone with violence and roughness.

{بعد ذلك} (Beyond that): After these faults and defects have been counted for him.

{زنيم} (Illegitimate/Base-born): An outsider. Hassān said: And you are a base-born one attached to the family of Hāshim, As a single cup is attached to the back of a rider. Al-Walīd was an outsider among the Quraysh, not of their stock; his father claimed him eighteen years after his birth. It is said his mother committed adultery, and this was unknown until this verse was revealed. His coarseness and illegitimacy are cited as his greatest faults, for when one’s nature is coarse and hard, his heart becomes hardened and he dares to commit every sin. Usually, if the seed is corrupt, the offspring is corrupt. Hence, the Prophet (ﷺ) said: "The child of adultery, his child, and his child’s child shall not enter Paradise."

{بعد ذلك} is like "then" (thumma) in the verse: {Then he was of those who believed} (Al-Balad: 17). Al-Hasan read it as ‘utullun (nominative) to denote blame, which strengthens the implication of "beyond that." The zanīm is derived from zanama—the piece of skin on a goat that is cut off but left hanging—because he is an addition hanging onto a group that is not his own.

{أن كان ذا مال} (Because he was a possessor of wealth): This relates to {Do not obey}. Meaning: Do not obey him despite these faults, just because he is a possessor of wealth—i.e., because of his ease and share of the world. It may also relate to what follows, meaning: because he is wealthy and supported by sons, he denied Our signs. The verb "denied" does not act upon kāna because what follows a conditional particle does not act upon what precedes it; rather, it acts upon the meaning of denial implied by the sentence.

It is read as A-an kāna (interrogative): "Will you obey him because he is a possessor of wealth and sons, and he denied Our signs?" Or: "Will you obey him because he is a possessor of wealth?" Al-Zubayrī narrates from Nāfi‘: In kāna (with a kasra), making it a conditional for the addressee: "Do not obey every habitual swearer, on the condition of his wealth," for if one obeys a disbeliever because of his wealth, it is as if he made wealth a condition for obedience.

{سنسمه على الخرطوم} (We will brand him upon the snout): The face is the most honorable part of the body, and the nose is the most honorable part of the face because it projects from it. Thus, they made it the seat of honor and pride, deriving anfah (pride) from it. They say "nose for nose," "his nose was protected," and "so-and-so is haughty." For the humiliated, they say "his nose was cut" or "his nose was rubbed in the dirt." Thus, branding the snout expresses the ultimate humiliation and insult, for a mark on the face is a disgrace, and how much more so on its most honorable part! The Prophet (ﷺ) said: "Honor the faces," when he saw ‘Abbās branding camels on their faces, so he branded them on their haunches instead. "Snout" (khurṭūm) is used to show contempt and belittlement.

It is said it means: We will mark him on the Day of Resurrection with a distorted sign to distinguish him from other disbelievers. It is said he was struck on the nose with a sword at Badr, leaving a mark. It is said: We will make him famous with this insult in both worlds so he cannot be hidden, just as a brand on the snout cannot be hidden. Al-Naḍr ibn Shumayl said khurṭūm means wine, and it means We will punish him for drinking it, but this is forced. Wine is called khurṭūm as it is called sulāfah (the first pressing), or because it rises into the nostrils.