(Beauty of Creation: Describing Allahs Messenger, who passed by her
tent on his journey of migration, Umm Mabad Al-Khuzaiyah said to her husband:
He was innocently bright and had broad countenance. His manners were fine. Neither was his belly
bulging out nor was his head deprived of hair. He had black attractive eyes finely arched by continuous eyebrows. His hair
glossy and black, inclined to curl, he wore long. His voice was extremely commanding. His head was large, well
formed and set on a slender neck. His expression was pensive and contemplative, serene and sublime.
The stranger was fascinated from the distance, but no sooner he became intimate with him than
this fascination was changed into attachment and respect. His expression was very sweet and distinct. His speech was
well set and free from the use of superfluous words, as if it were a rosary of beads. His stature was neither too high nor
too small to look repulsive. He was a twig amongst the two, singularly bright and fresh. He was always surrounded
by his Companions. Whenever he uttered something, the listeners would hear him with rapt attention and whenever he issued
any command, they vied with each other in carrying it out. He was a master and a commander.
His utterances were marked by truth and sincerity, free from all kinds of falsehoods and lies.
Ali bin Abi Talib describing him said: Allahs Messenger r was neither excessively tall nor extremely
short. He was medium height among his friends. His hair was neither curly nor wavy. It was in between. It was not too
curly nor was it plain straight. It was both curly and wavy combined. His
face was not swollen or meaty-compact. It was fairly round. His mouth was white.
He had black and large eyes with long haired eyelids. His joints (limbs) and shoulder joints were rather big. He had a
rod-like little hair extending from his chest down to his navel, but the rest of his body was almost hairless.
He had thick hand palms and thick fingers and toes. At walking, he lifted his feet off the ground as if he had been walking
in a muddy remainder of water. When he turned, he turned all. The Prophethood Seal was between his shoulders. He is the Seal
of Prophets, the most generous and the bravest of all.
His speech was the most reliable. He was the keenest and the most attentive to peoples trust
and was very careful to pay peoples due in full. The Prophet (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was the most tractable
and the most yielding companion, seeing him unexpectedly you fear him and venerate him. He who has acquaintance with him
will like him. He who describes him says:
I have never seen such a person neither before nor after seeing him.
Jabir bin Samurah reported that Allâhs Messenger r had a broad face with reddish (wide) eyes
and lean heels.
Abu At-Tufail said: He was white, good-looking. He was neither fat nor thin; neither
tall nor short.
Anas bin Malik said: He had unfolded hands and was pink-colored. He was neither white
nor brown. He was rather whitish. In both his head and beard there were as many as twenty gray hairs, besides some gray hairs
at his temples. In another version: and some scattered white hairs in his head.
Abu Juhaifa said: I have seen some gray color under his lower lip. Al-Bara said: He was of medium
height, broad-shouldered, his hair went up to his earlobes. I saw him dressed in a red garment and I (assure you) I have
never seen someone more handsome. At first he used to let his hair loose so as to be in compliance with the people of
the Book; but later on he used to part it.
Al-Bara also said: He had the most handsome face and the best character. When he was
asked: Was the Messengers face sword-like? No, he said: it was moon-like. But in another version: he said, His face
was round. Ar-Rabi bint Muawwidh said: Had you seen him, you would have felt that the sun was shining. Jabir bin Samurah said,
I saw him at one full-moony night. I looked at him. He was dressed in a red garment. I compared him with the moon and found
that he was better than the moon.
Abu Huraira said: I have never seen a thing nicer than Allahs Messenger r. It seems as if the
sunlight were moving within his face. I have never seen one who is faster in pace than Allahs Messenger r. It seemed as if
the earth had folded itself up to shorten the distance for him. For we used to wear ourselves out while he was at full ease.
Kab bin Malik said: When he was pleased, his face would shine with so bright light that you
would believe that it was a moon-piece. Once he sweated hot at Aishahs, and the features of his face twinkled; so I recited
a poem by Abu Kabeer Al-Hudhali:
If you watch his face-features, you will see them twinkling like the lightning of an approaching
rain.
Whenever Abu Bakr saw him he would say:
He is faithful, chosen (by Allâh), and calls for forgiveness. He shines like a full-moon
light when it is far from dark (clouds).
Umar used to recite verses by Zuhair describing Haram bin Sinan:
Were you other than a human being, you would be a lighted moon at a full-moon night. Then he
would add: Thus was Allahs Messenger r.
When he got angry his face would go so red that you would think it were an inflected red skin-spot
with pomegranate grains on both cheeks. Jabir bin Samurah said: His legs were gentle, delicate and in conformity. His
laughter is no more than smiling. Looking at him will make you say He is black-eyed though he is not so.
Ibn Al-Abbas said: His two front teeth were splinted so whenever he speaks, light goes through
them. His neck was as pure and silvery as a neck of doll. His eyelids were long haired but his beard was thick.
His forehead was broad; but his eyebrows were like the metal piece attached to a lance, but they were unhorned. His nose was
high-tipped, middle-cambered with narrow nostrils. His cheeks were plain, but he had (little hair) running down like
a rod from his throat to his navel. He had hair neither on his abdomen nor on his chest except some on his arms and shoulders.
His chest was broad and flatted. He had long forearms with expansive palms of the hand. His legs were plain straight and stretching
down. His other limbs were straight too. The two hollows of his soles hardly touch the ground. When he walks away he vanishes
soon; but he walks at ease (when he is not in a hurry). The way he walks seems similar to one who is leaning forwards and
is about to fall down.
Anas said: I have never touched silk or a silky garment softer than the palm of the Prophets
(Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him); nor have I smelt a perfume or any scent nicer than his.
In another version, I have never smelt ambergris nor musk nor any other thing sweeter than the scent and the smell of Allahs
Messenger (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).
Abu Juhaifa said: I took his hand and put it on my head and I found that it was colder than
ice and better scented than the musk perfume.
Jabir bin Samurah who was a little child then said: When he wiped my cheek, I felt it was cold
and scented as if it had been taken out of a shop of a perfume workshop.
Anas said, His sweat was pearl-like. Umm Sulaim said: His sweat smelt nicer than the
nicest perfume.
Jabir said: Whoever pursues a road that has been trodden by Allahs Messenger r will certainly
scent his smell and will be quite sure that Allahs Messenger(Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) has already passed
it. The Seal of Prophethood, which was similar in size to a pigeons egg, was between his shoulders on the left side
having spots on it like moles.
and this...
(11: His head is as the most fine gold, his locks are bushy, and black as a raven.)
Book 30, Number 5770:
Al-Bara' reported that Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) was of medium height,
having broad shoulders, with his hair hanging down on the lobes of his ears. He put on a red mantle over him, and never
have I seen anyone more handsome than Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him).
Book 30, Number 5771:
Al-Bara' reported: Never did I see anyone more handsome than Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him)
in the red mantle. His hair had been hanging down on the shoulders and his shoulders were very broad, and he was neither
very tall nor short-statured. Ibn Kuraib said he had hair.
Book 30, Number 5773:
Qatada reported: I asked Anas b. Malik: How was the hair of Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon
him)? Thereupon he said: His hair was neither very curly nor very straight, and they hung over his shoulders and
earlobes.
(10: My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand)
Book 30, Number 5786:
Abu Juhaifa reported: I saw Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) that he had white
complexion and had some white hair, and Hasan b. 'Ali resembled him.
Book 30, Number 5779:
Ibn Sirin reported: Anas b. Malik was asked whether Allah's Messenger (may
peace be upon him) dyed his hair. He said: He had not become old enough to have white hair. Ibn Idris
said that he had a few white hair. Abu Bakr and Umar, however, dyed hair with hina' (henna).
(White hair for old man. not the main color of his hair.)
Book 49, Number 49.1.1:
Yahya related to me from Malik that Rabia ibn Abi Abd ar-Rahman heard Anas ibn Malik say,
"The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was not excessively tall or short. He was not very pallid
nor dark. He did not have curly hair or lank hair. Allah commissioned him at the age of forty. He stayed in Makka ten years
and at Madina for ten years and Allah the Mighty, the Majestic made him die when he was sixty. There were not twenty white
hairs in his hair or beard, may Allah bless him and grant him peace."
3. In Sunan al-Nasai from al-Bara ibn Azib Allah be well-pleased with him with a chain
of trustworthy (thiqa) narrators:
The Prophet Allah bless and greet him was a wide-shouldered man of proportionate/medium
build, thick-bearded (kathth al-lihya) with a reddish complexion (talûhu humratun), his long hair
reaching to the earlobes. I saw him [thus], wearing a red tunic and never saw anyone more handsome.
In none of the other wordings of this narration from al-Bara in the Sahihayn,
the Sunan, and the Musnad of Ahmad including al-Nasais own three additional versions are the words kathth al-lihya mentioned.
This is therefore likely to be a shâdhdh anomalous wording.
Nice note: Al-Bukhari and Ahmad relate that the Tabii Abu Ishaq al-Hamadani said
he heard al-Bara narrate this description many times, but always with a smile on his face.
4. In Ahmads Musnad, with three chains from Muhammad ibn Ali from Ali Allah be
well-pleased with him :
The Prophet Allah bless and greet him had a large head (dakhm al-ras) with very
large eyes (azîm al-aynayn), long eyelashes (hadib al-ashfâr/al-shifâr), and eyes with red in them (mushrab al-ayni/al-aynayn
bihumratin), he was thick-bearded (kathth al-lihya) and of pink (azhar) complexion. He walked briskly, as if down a
slope. Whenever he turned [to look], he turned with his entire body. He had fine hands and feet.
These three chains contain Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Aqil who is daîf (weak)
as in Tahrir Taqrib al-Tahdhib (2:264 #3592).
The mention of the red eyes is anomalous (shâdhdh), since (1) all narrations
other than Ibn Aqils attribute color to the face/skin, not the eyes, and (2) the Prophet Allah bless and greet him is elsewhere
described as adaj al-aynayn: His eyes were jet-black. The very large eyes are confirmed in another narration with the terms
ashkal / ashhal al-aynayn: Wide-Eyed.
5. In Ahmads Musnad, with two other chains from Nafi ibn Jubayr ibn Mutim, from
Ali:
The Prophet Allah bless and greet him was neither tall nor short. He had a large
head and beard (dakhmu al-rasi wal-lihya), fine hands and feet, his face had a reddish hue (mushrab wajhuhu humratan),
he had a long chest-to-navel line of hair (tawîl al-masruba) and large joints (karâdîs). He walked briskly, literally leaning
forward as if going downhill. I never saw anyone comparable before or after him.
These chains contain Uthman ibn Abd Allah ibn Hurmuz = Uthman ibn Muslim ibn
Hurmuz who is daîf as in the Tahrir (2:446 #4517). [This is not Imam Maliks Shaykh.]
The zeugma large head and beard suggests that by large/great head in the hadiths
nos. 4-5 and 7-8, is actually meant large head of hair so as to resemble the wording of no. 2 above, i.e. plentiful hair and
an ample/full beard.
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