Al-Bayhaqī states: Abū ʿAlī al-Rawdhbārī reported to us, saying, “ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar ibn Shawdhab narrated to us,” and he in turn said, “Shuʿayb ibn Ayyūb al-Ṣarīfīnī conveyed it from him.”
Hafs ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Naysābūrī said, “Ibrāhīm ibn Ṭahmān related to me, from Ḥumayd, from Anas, who said: ‘The Prophet ﷺ was neither very dark-skinned nor stark white. He was a little above medium height and shorter than what would be called tall. Of all God’s creation he was the most handsome I have ever seen, the sweetest in fragrance, and the gentlest to the touch. He let his hair hang to the middle of his ears and, when he walked, he would lean on a staff.’”
Maʿmar narrated from al-Zuhrī that Abū Hurayrah, when asked to describe the Prophet ﷺ, replied, “He was the finest and most beautiful of people in appearance. He was of medium stature inclining toward tall, broad-shouldered, with smooth cheeks, jet-black hair, eyes naturally rimmed as though with kohl, and long eyelashes. When he stepped, he placed his foot firmly on the ground; his sole was not hollowed. If he laid his cloak aside from his shoulder, it looked like a bar of silver, and when he laughed it sparkled. I have never seen anyone like him, before or after.” ʿAbd al-Razzāq recorded this from Maʿmar.
Abū Hishām Muḥammad ibn Sulaymān ibn al-Ḥakam ibn Ayyūb ibn Sulaymān al-Kaʿbī al-Khuzaʿī said: My uncle Ayyūb ibn al-Ḥakam told me, from Ḥizām ibn Hishām, from his father, from his grandfather Ḥubaysh ibn Khālid—who fell at al-Baṭḥāʾ on the day of the Conquest and was the brother of ʿĀtika—that the Prophet ﷺ departed from Mecca accompanied by Abū Bakr, Abū Bakr’s freedman ʿĀmir ibn Fuhayrah, and their guide ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Urayqiṭ al-Laythī. They came upon the two tents of Umm Maʿbad al-Khuzaʿiyyah, a sturdy, strong woman who would sit with her knees drawn up at the entrance of her tent and then offer water and food to passers-by. They asked her if they could buy some dates or meat, but she had nothing to sell, for the people were in the grip of drought and hardship. The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ noticed a ewe standing in the corner