I say: he was older than al-Ḥasan by more than ten years.
He was very dark-skinned, light-spirited, quick-witted, and brave. The Prophet ﷺ reared him and loved him greatly.
He was the son of the Prophet’s nursemaid, Umm Ayman, while his father was fair-skinned. The Messenger of Allah rejoiced over him when Mujazziz al-Mudliji looked at his feet and said, “These feet are of the same stock.” (1)
Abū ʿAwanah narrates—through ʿUmar ibn Abī Salamah, from his father—that Usāmah ibn Zayd told me:
ʿAlī asked, “O Messenger of Allah, which member of your family is dearest to you?”
He replied, “Fāṭimah.”
ʿAlī said, “I am asking about the men.”
He said, “The one upon whom Allah has bestowed favor and upon whom I have bestowed favor—Usāmah ibn Zayd.”
ʿAlī asked, “And who after him?”
He answered, “Then you.” (2)
Mughīrah reports, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, that ʿĀʾishah said: “No one should dislike Usāmah after I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, ‘Whoever loves Allah and His Messenger should love Usāmah.’” (3)
(1) Reported by al-Bukhari, 7/69 (Book of Merits, chapter: The Merits of Zayd ibn Haritha) and 12/48 (Book of Inheritance); and by Muslim (no. 1459) through Ibn Shihab, from Urwa, from Aisha, who said: “A qāʾif (physiognomist) came to see me while the Prophet ﷺ was present and while Usama ibn Zayd and Zayd ibn Haritha were lying down. He examined their feet and declared: ‘These feet belong to one another.’ The Prophet ﷺ was pleased and delighted by this and related it to Aisha.” The hadith is also found in Musnad Ahmad 6/82, 226; Sunan Abi Dawud (2267); al-Nasaʾi 6/184; al-Tirmidhi (2129); Ibn Majah (2349); and Ibn Saʿd 4/63. Abu Dawud comments: Ahmad ibn Salih reported from the people of Egypt that, in the pre-Islamic period, some people cast doubt on Usama’s lineage because he was intensely dark-skinned while his father Zayd was as white as cotton. When the qāʾif uttered his remark despite the difference in complexion, the Prophet ﷺ rejoiced, since it put an end to their slander.
(2) Reported by al-Tirmidhi (3819), al-Tabarani (369) and al-Hakim 3/596. The author judges it weak in his Mukhtasar, noting that Umar ibn Abi Salama is unreliable.
(3) Cited by al-Haythami in Majmaʿ al-zawaʾid 9/286, who states: “Reported by Ahmad, and its transmitters are those of the sound collections.”