حَدَّثَنَا أَحْمَدُ بْنُ عَبْدَةَ الضَّبِّيُّ الْبَصْرِيُّ، وَعَلِيُّ بْنُ حُجْرٍ، وَأَبُو جَعْفَرٍ مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ الْحُسَيْنِ وَهُوَ ابْنُ أَبِي حَلِيمَةَ، وَالْمَعْنَى وَاحِدٌ، قَالُوا: حَدَّثَنَا عِيسَى بْنُ يُونُسَ، عَنْ عُمَرَ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللهِ مَوْلَى غُفْرَةَ، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنِي إِبْرَاهِيمُ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ مِنْ وَلَدِ عَلِيِّ بْنِ أَبِي طَالِبٍ
قَالَ: كَانَ عَلِيٌّ إِذَا وَصَفَ رَسُولَ اللهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، قَالَ: لَمْ يَكُنْ رَسُولُ اللهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ بِالطَّوِيلِ الْمُمَّغِطِ، وَلا بِالْقَصِيرِ الْمُتَرَدِّدِ، وَكَانَ رَبْعَةً مِنَ الْقَوْمِ، لَمْ يَكُنْ بِالْجَعْدِ الْقَطَطِ، وَلا بِالسَّبْطِ،
كَانَ جَعْدًا رَجِلا، وَلَمْ يَكُنْ بِالْمُطَهَّمِ، وَلا بِالْمُكَلْثَمِ، وَكَانَ فِي وَجْهِهِ تَدْوِيرٌ، أَبْيَضُ مُشَرَبٌ، أَدْعَجُ الْعَيْنَيْنِ، أَهْدَبُ الأَشْفَارِ، جَلِيلُ الْمُشَاشِ وَالْكَتَدِ، أَجْرَدُ، ذُو مَسْرُبَةٍ، شَثْنُ الْكَفَّيْنِ وَالْقَدَمَيْنِ، إِذَا مَشَى كَأَنَّمَا يَنْحَطُّ فِي صَبَبٍ،
وَإِذَا الْتَفَتَ الْتَفَتَ مَعًا، بَيْنَ كَتِفَيْهِ خَاتَمُ النُّبُوَّةِ، وَهُوَ خَاتَمُ النَّبِيِّينَ، أَجْوَدُ النَّاسِ صَدْرًا، وَأَصْدَقُ النَّاسِ لَهْجَةً، وَأَلْيَنُهُمْ عَرِيكَةً، وَأَكْرَمُهُمْ عِشْرَةً، مَنْ رَآهُ بَدِيهَةً هَابَهُ، وَمَنْ خَالَطَهُ مَعْرِفَةً أَحَبَّهُ، يَقُولُ نَاعِتُهُ: لَمْ أَرَ قَبْلَهُ، وَلا بَعْدَهُ مِثْلَهُ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ
1 have been told by Ibrahim ibn Muhammad, one of the offspring of Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be well pleased with him): “When Ali described the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam), he said: ‘The Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) was neither assertively tall, nor reticently short, and he was an average-sized member of the population.
His hair was neither crisply curled nor lank; it was loosely curled. He was neither plump nor chubby-cheeked, and in his face there was a rounded quality. He was white with a reddish tinge, dark black-eyed, with long eyelashes. He had splendid kneecaps, elbow joints and shoulder blades, free from hair. He had a strip of hair from the top of the chest to the navel.
The palms of his hands and the soles of his feet were thickset. When he walked, he moved as if he were descending a declivity, and when he looked around, he looked around altogether. Between his shoulders was the Seal of Prophethood, for he is the Seal of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) s. He was the best of the people in generosity, the most truthful of the people in speech, the gentlest of them in temperament, and the noblest of them in social intercourse.
If someone saw him unexpectedly, he was awestruck by him, and if someone came to know him, he loved him. His describer says: ‘I have never seen the like of him (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam), neither before him nor after him.’’”