Regarding the phrase, “When he walked he ​takaffaʾa,” it means that he swayed slightly as he moved—walking with gentleness and poise, never in an affected or haughty manner.

As for the expression “fakhman mufakhkhaman” (stately and made stately), Abū ʿUbayd said: “Fakhāmah in the face is its nobility and fullness, combined with beauty and an awe-inspiring presence.” Ibn al-Anbārī added: “Its sense is that he was great and greatly esteemed in people’s hearts and eyes, though his physical build was not bulky.”

“Aqnā al-ʿarnīn” describes a nose that rises slightly with a graceful curve—close to what Arabs call shamm, a high-bridged form.

“Al-shanab” denotes the fresh lustre and delicacy of the teeth, while “al-falaj” is the slight spacing between them.

“Al-dumya” means a finely fashioned likeness or image.

Abū Bakr al-Bayhaqī also related the ḥadīth of Umm Maʿbad, saying: “Abū Naṣr ibn Qatādah informed us; Abū ʿAmr ibn Maṭar informed us; Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn Mūsā ibn ʿĪsā al-Ḥalawānī informed us; Makram ibn Miḥriz ibn Mahdī informed us; my father narrated to me from Ḥizām ibn Hishām.” He then reported a version similar to the one above.

Abū Zayd ʿAbd al-Wāḥid ibn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb ibn al-Ḥakam al-Khuzaʿī also transmitted it at Qudayd, dictating to Abū ʿAmr ibn Maṭar, who said: “My uncle Sulaymān ibn al-Ḥakam narrated it to us.”

Ibn Maṭar likewise heard it at Qudayd from Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ibn Sulaymān ibn al-Ḥakam, from his father.

Among those who narrated it from Makram ibn Miḥriz al-Khuzaʿī—whose kunya was Abū al-Qāsim—are Yaʿqūb ibn Sufyān al-Fasawī (an early transmitter), Muḥammad ibn Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq ibn Khuzaymah, and others, the last of whom was al-Quṭīʿī.