Al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū Bakr al-Bayhaqī also recorded this narration in his work Dalāʾil al-Nubuwwah, quoting it verbatim as it was read to Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Ḥākim al-Nīsābūrī. He said: “Abū Muḥammad al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā ibn al-Ḥasan ibn Jaʿfar ibn ʿUbayd Allāh ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib al-ʿAqīqī—the author of the book al-Nasab in Baghdad—narrated to us. Abū Muḥammad Ismāʿīl ibn Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq ibn Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib related to us in Madinah, in 266 AH. He told me that ʿAlī ibn Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad narrated from his brother Mūsā ibn Jaʿfar, from Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad, from ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī, from his father Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn, who said: ‘Al-Ḥasan said, I asked my maternal uncle Hind ibn Abī Hālah…,’ and he recounted the ḥadīth.”

Our teacher, the ḥāfiẓ Abū al-Ḥajjāj al-Mizzī—may Allah have mercy on him—remarked in his book al-Aṭrāf, after citing these two chains: “Ismāʿīl ibn Muslimah ibn Qaʿnab al-Qaʿnabī narrated from Isḥāq ibn Ṣāliḥ al-Makhzūmī, from Yaʿqūb al-Taymī, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbbās, that he said to Hind ibn Abī Hālah—who was famed for describing the Messenger of Allah—‘Describe for us the Messenger of Allah, ﷺ.’ So he related part of this ḥadīth.”

Al-Bayhaqī has likewise transmitted, through Ṣabīḥ ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Farghānī—who is weak—from ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn ʿAbd al-Ṣamad, from Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad, from his father, and through Hishām ibn ʿUrwah from his father, from ʿĀʾishah, a lengthy report describing the Prophet ﷺ that closely resembles the narration of Hind ibn Abī Hālah. Al-Bayhaqī set it out in full, supplying explanations of the rare expressions it contains. What we have cited is sufficient, and Allah, exalted is He, knows best.

Al-Bukhārī also related, through Abū ʿĀṣim al-Ḍaḥḥāk, from ʿUmar ibn Saʿīd ibn Aḥmad ibn Ḥusayn, from Ibn Abī Mulaykah, on the authority of ʿUqbah ibn al-Ḥārith: “Abū Bakr led the ʿAṣr prayer a few nights after the Prophet ﷺ had passed away. He and ʿAlī went out walking, and they came upon al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī playing with the boys. Abū Bakr hoisted him onto his shoulder and kept saying, ‘By my father, he resembles the Prophet; he does not resemble ʿAlī,’ while ʿAlī laughed at them.”

Al-Bukhārī further said: “Aḥmad ibn Yūnus narrated to us; Zuhayr narrated to us; Ismāʿīl narrated to us from Abū Juḥayfah, who said: ‘I saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī resembled him.’”