Al-Tirmidhī remarks (1): “This ḥadith is ḥasan; we know it only through the narration of Ashʿath ibn Sawwār. I asked Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl—meaning al-Bukhārī—‘Which is more reliable: Abū Isḥāq’s report from al-Barrāʾ or his report from Jābir?’ He judged both traditions to be sound.”

It is likewise recorded in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī (2), in the story of the repentance of Kaʿb ibn Mālik, that he said: “Whenever the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was happy, his face would glow as though it were a piece of the moon.” The report in full has already been cited.

Yaʿqūb ibn Sufyān relates (3): “Saʿīd narrated to us; Yūnus ibn Abī Yaʿfūr al-ʿAbdī narrated to us; from Abū Isḥāq al-Hamdānī; from a woman of Hamdān—he mentioned her name—who said: ‘I performed ḥajj with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. I saw him circumambulating the Kaʿbah on his camel, a hooked staff (mihjan) in his hand. He was wearing two red mantles, and his hair almost touched his shoulders. Whenever he passed the Black Stone, he would touch it with the staff, then raise the staff to his mouth and kiss it.’

Abū Isḥāq adds: ‘I said to her, “Describe him to me.” She replied, “Like the moon on the night it is full; I never saw the like of him before or after.”’ (4)

Yaʿqūb ibn Sufyān also reports (5): “Ibrāhīm ibn al-Mundhir narrated to us; ʿAbdullāh ibn Mūsā al-Taymī narrated to us; Usāmah ibn Zayd narrated to us, from Abū ʿUbaydah ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAmmār ibn Yāsir, who said: ‘I asked al-Rubayyiʿ bint Muʿawwidh, “Describe the Messenger of Allah ﷺ for me.” She said, “My son, had you seen him, you would have thought the sun had risen.”’

Al-Bayhaqī transmits this report as well (6) through Yaʿqūb ibn Muḥammad al-Zuhrī, from ʿAbdullāh ibn Mūsā al-Taymī, with his chain, in which she says: ‘If you had seen him, you would have said, the sun has risen.’ (7)

It is also authentically recorded in the two Ṣaḥīḥs (8), through al-Zuhrī from ʿUrwah, from ʿĀʾishah, that she said: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ entered upon me in a joyful state, and the brightness of happiness was shining from his face …” and the ḥadith continues.