Describing the Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him), who
passed by her tent on his journey of migration, Umm Ma‘bad Al-Khuza‘iyah 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: “The Messenger of
Allah (Peace be upon him) 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 Prophet hood
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 people’s trust and was very careful to pay people’s due
in full. The Prophet (Peace 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 Allah’s Messenger (Peace be
upon him) 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 grey hairs, besides some grey hairs at his
temples.” In another version: “and some scattered white hairs in his head.”
Abu Juhaifa said: “I have seen some grey 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 Messenger’s 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-moon
night. I looked at him. He was dressed in a red garment. I compared him with
the moon and found that — for me — he was better than the moon.”
Abu Huraira said: “I have never seen a thing nicer than
the Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him). It seems as if the sunlight were
moving within his face. I have never seen one who is faster in pace than the
Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him). 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.”
Ka‘b 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 at ‘Aishah’s (house), 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 the Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him) . 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: “Between his two front teeth were
gaps, 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 Prophet’s (Peace 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
the Messenger of Allah (Peace 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 the Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him), will certainly scent his smell
and will be quite sure that the Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him) has
already passed it.” The Seal of Prophet hood, which was similar in size to a
pigeon’s egg, was between his shoulders on the left side having spots on it
like moles.””
Source: Ar-Raheeq Al-Makhtum
