His eyebrows were continuous; his neck graceful and prominent, his beard thick and full. When he was silent, dignity enveloped him; when he spoke, majesty rose above him. His speech was sweet and measured—clear, neither curt nor prolix—his words flowing like pearls sliding from a string. From afar he was the most splendid and comely of people; from near, the sweetest and finest. Of medium height, the eye did not disdain him for being too tall nor dismiss him for being too short. He was like a branch among two branches—of the three he was the freshest in appearance and the most elegant in stature. Companions clustered around him; when he spoke, they listened attentively, and when he commanded, they hastened to obey. Honored and surrounded, he was neither sullen nor given to frivolous talk.

Her husband exclaimed, “By Allah, this is the man of Quraysh whom they are seeking! Had I met him, I would have asked to accompany him, and I would exert myself to find any way to do so.”

It is said that at daybreak a voice was heard in Mecca, echoing between heaven and earth; they heard it but saw no one, and it proclaimed:

May Allah, Lord of the Throne, grant the best reward
to the two companions who alighted at Umm Maʿbad’s tents.
They encamped in righteousness and departed with it—
successful is the one who spends the night as Muhammad’s companion.
O sons of Qusayy, how many noble deeds God has recorded of you—
deeds of generosity and honor beyond requital.
Ask your sister about her ewe and her vessel;
if you question the ewe, it will testify.
He called a barren ewe, and she gushed forth for him
pure, foaming milk of her own accord.
He left it with her as a pledge, in the hands of a milker
that would flow for her each time she drew and returned.

We have already cited Ḥassān ibn Thābit’s reply to these blessed verses, matching them in beauty.

Al-Ḥāfiẓ al-Bayhaqī transmitted this ḥadīth through the chain of ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Wahb al-Madhḥijī, who said: “Al-Ḥasan ibn al-Ṣabbāḥ narrated to us from Abū Maʿbad al-Khuzāʿī,” and he related the report in full, exactly as we have quoted it.¹ It was also narrated by al-Ḥāfiẓ Yaʿqūb ibn Sufyān al-Fasawī² and by al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū Nuʿaym³ in his book Dalāʾil al-Nubuwwah.

ʿAbd al-Malik added: “It has reached me that Abū Maʿbad later embraced Islam, and that Umm Maʿbad migrated and accepted Islam.”

Al-Bayhaqī then appended an explanation of the uncommon expressions in the ḥadīth, which we have noted previously in the footnotes; here we mention a few points:

“Manifest in radiance” means manifest in beauty; “bright-faced” means his countenance was luminous and shining.