were light-coloured; whenever a serious matter occupied him, he would twist them.

Smāk ibn Ḥarb said: “ʿUmar was arwaḥ—he looked as though he were mounted while the people were on foot, and he resembled a man of Banū Sadūs. Arwaḥ describes someone whose feet draw close together when he walks.”

Anas stated: “He used to dye his hair with henna.”

Smāk also said: “ʿUmar walked briskly.”

It is related from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Kaʿb ibn Mālik that “ʿUmar would seize his left ear with his right hand and vault onto his horse, as though he had been created upon its back.”

From Ibn ʿUmar and others—through sound chains—it is reported that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “O Allah, strengthen Islam through ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb.” We have already mentioned his conversion in The Prophetic Biography.

ʿIkrimah said: “Islam remained in concealment until ʿUmar embraced it.”

Saʿīd ibn Jubayr commented that the verse, “and the righteous among the believers” (Quran 66:4), was revealed specifically about ʿUmar.

Ibn Masʿūd remarked, “From the day ʿUmar became Muslim, we have been honoured.”

Shahr ibn Ḥawshab narrated from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Ghanm that Abu Bakr and ʿUmar said to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, “People’s eagerness for Islam will grow if they see you wearing some finery of this world.” He replied, “I will do so. By Allah, if the two of you were to agree upon a single matter for me, I would never disregard your counsel.”

Layth ibn Abī Sulaym transmitted from Mujāhid, from Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: