one of the people—neither tall nor short—the most radiant in complexion. When he faced someone he faced him with his whole body, and when he turned away he turned away with his whole body. I have never seen anyone like him, nor have I ever heard of anyone like him (1).

Al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū Bakr al-Bayhaqī said:

Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Sulamī informed us; Abū al-Ḥasan al-Maḥmūdī al-Marwazī narrated to us; Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī al-Ḥāfiẓ narrated to us; Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā narrated to us; ʿUthmān ibn ʿUmar narrated to us; Ḥarb ibn Surayj, the confectioner, narrated to us; a man from Balʿadawiyyah narrated to me, saying that his grandfather said:

“I travelled to Madinah to discuss ḥadīth concerning the vision of the Messenger of Allah. There I encountered a man of handsome build, with abundant locks, a fine, slender nose and delicate eyebrows. From the base of his throat to his navel ran a thin line of hair, like an extended thread. I saw him dressed in two worn garments. He approached me and said, ‘Peace be upon you.’” (2)

Concerning his hair ﷺ

It is established in the two Ṣaḥīḥs (3), through al-Zuhrī, from ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿAbd Allāh, from Ibn ʿAbbās, who said:

“The Messenger of Allah liked to agree with the People of the Book in matters about which no specific command had been revealed. The People of the Book let their hair hang down, whereas the idolaters parted their hair. So the Messenger of Allah ﷺ let his forelock hang down, and later on he parted it.”

Imām Aḥmad (4) said: “Ḥammād ibn Khālid narrated to us; Mālik narrated to us; Ziyād ibn Saʿd narrated to us, from al-Zuhrī, from Anas: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ let his forelock hang down for as long as he wished, then afterwards he parted it.” This chain is unique to this route.

Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq reported, from Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar ibn al-Zubayr, from ʿUrwah, from ʿĀʾishah who said:

“I myself parted the Messenger of Allah’s hair. I drew the parting straight from the crown of his head and let his forelock fall between his eyes.”

Ibn Isḥāq added: “Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar ibn al-Zubayr—who was a learned Muslim—said, ‘It is merely one of the prophetic marks which some of the Christians adopted.’”

The two Ṣaḥīḥs also record, from al-Barāʾ, that the hair of the Messenger of Allah reached his shoulders (5). Another authentic report from him—and from other Companions—states that it reached the middle of his ears (6).