Al-Jawharī said, “Daʿaj is the intense blackness of the eyes combined with their large size. (1)
Abū Dāwūd al-Ṭayālisī (2) reported: Shuʿbah narrated to us, Simāk informed me, and I heard Jābir ibn Samurah say, ‘The Messenger of Allah ﷺ had eyes with a slight reddish tinge, little flesh on his heels, and a broad mouth.’
This is how the wording appears in Abū Dāwūd’s version from Shuʿbah: ‘eyes with a slight reddish tinge.’
Abū ʿUbayd said, ‘Shuhla is a reddish hue in the black of the eye, whereas shukla is a reddish hue in the white of the eye.’
I say: Muslim recorded this ḥadīth in his Ṣaḥīḥ (3) through Abū Mūsā and Bundār—both from Ghundar, from Shuʿbah—with the wording ‘ashkal-eyed,’ and this is the correct version. Al-Tirmidhī (4)(5) likewise transmitted it through Aḥmad ibn Manīʿ, from Abū Faṭan, from Shuʿbah, and graded it ‘sound and authentic.’
In Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim the term shukla is explained as ‘long eyelashes’; that gloss comes from one of the narrators. Abū ʿUbayd’s definition—‘a reddish hue in the white of the eye’—is more widespread and more accurate, and it points to vigor and courage. Allah, exalted is He, knows best.
Yaʿqūb ibn Sufyān said: ‘Isḥāq ibn Ibrāhīm narrated to us; ʿAmr ibn al-Ḥārith narrated to me; ʿAbd Allāh ibn…’
(1) In manuscript A I encountered this variant narrative: “Another report: Al-Hafiz Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Musa ibn Mardawayh records in his Musanid al-Shu‘ara’—via al-Bukhari in his At-Tarikh—that he said: ‘Amr ibn Muhammad al-Rubā‘i narrated to us; Abu Ubayda Mu‘ammar ibn al-Muthanna al-Tamimi related to me; al-Hisham ibn ‘Urwa from his father, from ‘A’isha: “I was sitting spinning wool while the Messenger of Allah ﷺ sat mending his sandal. I looked at him and saw his forehead sweating, and each sweat bead shone like light. I was struck with amazement. He looked at me and said, ‘What is the matter, ‘A’isha?’ I replied, ‘O Messenger of Allah, I saw your forehead sweating and each bead of sweat giving off light; if Abū Kathīr al-Hudhali could see you, he would know that you deserve his poetry more than he does.’ He said, ‘And what does Abū Kathīr say?’ I recited:
“Freed from every stain of impurity…the nurse’s flaw and the disease of decline;
And when you gaze upon the radiance of his face,
It flashes like a joyful lightning bolt.”
She continued: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ put down what was in his hand, rose, kissed my eyes and said, ‘O ‘A’isha, you rejoiced in me as I rejoice in you.’”’
Abu Ubayda Mu‘ammar ibn al-Muthanna al-Tamimi was their mawla in Basra and one of the leading masters of language and literature of his time. Al-Hafiz said he was versed in all branches of learning. Ya‘qub ibn Shayba reports hearing ‘Ali ibn al-Madini praise him and authenticate his transmissions. Al-Daraqutni remarked that while his narrations were acceptable, he was accused of adopting the Kharijite opinion and of innovation. He died in 210 AH at nearly a hundred years of age—Allah knows best. The teacher of al-Bukhari did not know him, and assigning this report to al-Bukhari is more plausible than attributing it to Abu Ubayda. I have not included it in the main text, since it appears to be a copyist’s addition, and the evidence indicates it is a later interpolation.
(2) In his Musnad (no. 765).
(3) Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim (no. 2339).
(4) In his Jāmi‘ (no. 3646).
(5) The words in parentheses were omitted in the printed edition and have been restored from the original manuscript, which corrects and completes the phrasing.