963 – Umm Salamah—may Allah be pleased with her—said: “After Abū Salamah died I put ṣabr on my eye. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, ‘It freshens the face, so apply it only at night and remove it in the daytime. Do not comb your hair with perfume or with henna, for henna is a dye.’ I asked, ‘With what should I comb it?’ He replied, ‘With sidr.’” Related by Abū Dāwūd and al-Nasāʾī, and its chain is ḥasan. (1)

Grade of the ḥadīth
The chain of transmission is ḥasan. In al-Talkhīṣ it is recorded that al-Shāfiʿī reported it from Mālik, and it is likewise in Abū Dāwūd and al-Nasāʾī. ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq and al-Mun­dhirī critiqued it because one of its narrators, al-Mughīra ibn al-Ḍaḥḥāk, is unknown. The author of Bulūgh al-Marām, however, judged the isnād to be ḥasan.

Vocabulary
• ṣabr: Aloe sap extracted from a certain tree and applied to the edges of the eyes as a remedy.
• yashubbu l-wajh (“it freshens the face”): meaning that ṣabr beautifies the complexion, giving it a bright, youthful look.
• sidr: The lote tree (species Ziziphus); singular sidrah.