Further clarification of technical terms:
• daʿj designates the deep, lustrous blackness of the iris.
• jalīl al-mashāsh refers to the prominent heads of the bones—the knees, elbows, and shoulders.
• katad is the upper back, beginning with the withers and the adjoining portion of the torso.
• shathn al-kafayn means that the palms were thick and substantial.
• ṣabb denotes a downward slope or descent.
• qaṭaṭ describes hair like that of the Abyssinians: tightly curled.
• azhar is a fair complexion shot through with a hint of redness.
• amhaq is an unblemished, striking whiteness.
• shabaḥ al-dhirāʿayn indicates strong, broad-boned forearms.
• masraba is the fine, tapering line of hair that runs from the upper chest to the navel.
• al-Aṣmaʿī explains that taqalluʿ means to walk with power and determination.

Yaʿlā ibn ʿUbayd narrated from Majmaʿ ibn Yaḥyā al-Anṣārī, from ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿImrān, from an Anṣārī man who asked ʿAlī about the appearance of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. ʿAlī replied:

“He was fair with a rosy undertone, his eyes large and strikingly dark, his hair straight and plentiful, falling in thick locks. A delicate masraba traced a line down his torso. It was as though his neck were a pitcher of silver. From the base of his throat to his navel ran a line of hair, straight as a rod; no other hair covered his chest or abdomen. His palms and feet were thick-set. When he walked, it seemed as though he were descending a slope; when he advanced, it was as if he were lifting his feet from solid rock. When he turned, he turned with his whole body. His perspiration resembled pearls, and its fragrance was sweeter than musk. He was neither tall nor short, neither weak nor base. I have seen no one like him, before him or after him.”