let my beard grow full and trim my mustache.’ Ibn Jarir relates—through Zayd ibn Ḥabīb—the story of the two envoys of Chosroes: “They entered upon the Messenger of Allah ﷺ with their beards clean-shaven and their mustaches grown long. He disliked even looking at them and asked, ‘Woe to you! Who ordered you to do this?’ They answered, ‘Our lord ordered us,’ meaning Chosroes. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ replied, ‘But my Lord has commanded me to grow my beard and shorten my mustache.’ ”

Muslim transmits from Jābir: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ had a thick beard.” Al-Tirmidhī records from ʿUmar the wording: “He had a dense beard,” in another narration: “a heavy beard,” and in yet another: “a large beard.” Anas said, “His beard filled the area from here to here,” and he passed his hand over his cheeks.

Some scholars permitted taking whatever exceeds a fistful, following the practice of Ibn ʿUmar (1); yet most scholars consider it disliked, and this view is stronger in light of the foregoing evidence. Al-Nawawī said, “The preferred course is to leave it as it is and not to shorten any part of it at all.”