Sālim—on the authority of al-Zubaydī—reported: al-Zuhrī told me, from Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab, that he heard Abū Hurayrah describe the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, saying, “He had a broad, open forehead (1) and long eyelashes (2).”
Yaʿqūb ibn Sufyān said: Abū Ghassān narrated to us; Jumayʿ ibn ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-ʿIjlī narrated to us; a man in Mecca related to me, from a son of Abū Hālah al-Tamīmī, from al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī, from his maternal uncle, who said: “The Messenger of Allah had a wide forehead, finely arched eyebrows (4) that were full (5) yet not joined together (6); between them was a vein that would swell (7) when he became angry. He had an aquiline, prominent nose (8) upon which a light could be seen; anyone who did not scrutinize him would think it was merely high-bridged (9). His cheeks were smooth (10); his mouth was broad; his teeth were bright (11) and evenly spaced (12 13).”
Yaʿqūb further said: Ibrāhīm ibn al-Mundhir narrated to us; ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Abī Thābit al-Zuhrī narrated to us; Ismāʿīl ibn Ibrāhīm ibn ʿUqbah narrated to us, from his uncle Mūsā ibn ʿUqbah, from Kurayb, from Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: “The Messenger of Allah had slightly separated upper incisors, and whenever he spoke it was as though light shone between them (14).”
Al-Tirmidhī (15) likewise transmitted this report through ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān from Ibrāhīm ibn al-Mundhir.
(1) “mufad al-jabeen”: wide forehead.
(2) Dalāʾil al-Nubuwwa by al-Bayhaqi (vol. 1, p. 214) and Tahdhīb Tārīkh Ibn ʿAsākir (vol. 1, p. 336); this hadith is ḥasan.
(3) In the printed edition it appears as ʿUmar, which is more accurate than Ibn Hajar’s rendering “ʿAmr” in at-Taqrīb, since Dalāʾil al-Bayhaqi and Tahdhīb al-Kamāl by al-Mizzī (vol. 5, p. 122) record it as ʿUmar, as I noted in my commentary on Tahrīr al-Taqrīb (vol. 1, p. 222). The narrator Bashshār is a Shīʿī and weak.
(4) “azj al-hawājib”: arching of the eyebrows with length and extension at the ends.
(5) “sawābigh”: plural of sābiġ, denoting something complete and elongated.
(6) “fī ghayr qarn”: qarn refers to the joining of the eyebrows.
(7) “yudarruhu al-ghaḍab”: it makes it stand out and move. When the Prophet ﷺ became angry, that vein would fill with blood, swelling like an udder when milk flows, thus becoming prominent and raised.
(8) “aqnā al-ʿirnayn”: al-ʿirnayn refers to the nose; aqnā indicates its length and the delicacy of its tip, with a slight prominence in the middle.
(9) “ashamm”: shamm denotes a raised nasal bridge, a flat top, and a slight projection of the nasal tip.
(10) “sahl al-khidhayn”: smooth cheeks without any protuberance or elevation.
(11) “ashnabb”: shanab refers to whiteness, luster, and definition of the teeth.
(12) “mufallaj al-asnān”: falaj denotes a gap between the incisors and the premolars.
(13) Dalāʾil al-Nubuwwa by al-Bayhaqi (vol. 1, pp. 214–215); its isnad is weak due to the weakness of Jamīʿ ibn ʿUmar and the obscure status of his teacher.
(14) Dalāʾil al-Nubuwwa by al-Bayhaqi (vol. 1, p. 215); al-Haythami mentions it in Majmaʿ al-Zawāʾid (vol. 9, p. 279), noting that al-Tabari narrated it in al-Awsat and that ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Abī Thābit is weak.
(15) Narrated by al-Tirmidhi in al-Shamāʾil (no. 15), chapter “What pertains to the creation of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ”; its isnad is very weak, and ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Abī Thābit is to be abandoned.