Benefits of the Hadith: (… from Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) that he heard him say
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh : Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) was the servant of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and he knew of his characteristics what many people do not know. He described the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) with physical and moral characteristics.
Physical: He said: "He was not tall and distinct", meaning not tall in a way that his height was obvious, "and not short"; he was of medium height, but closer to being tall, (peace and blessings be upon him).
"And not white and fair, and not dark", meaning not black or brown leaning toward black, and not pure white and ruddy, but rather of a bright color, (peace and blessings be upon him).
Likewise, "and not tightly curled, and not straight"; this is regarding his hair. It is well known that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to style his hair. His hair was not tightly curled; tightly curled means stiff hair that you find curled and tangled. It was not straight and soft hair that flows and hangs down, but rather it was in between, (peace and blessings be upon him).
As for his saying: "Allah sent him at the age of forty", this is one of his physical characteristics, namely that he (peace and blessings be upon him), the Messenger of the Lord of the Worlds, was sent at the age of forty, when strength and perfection were complete.
But he said: "He remained in Makkah for ten years and in al-Madinah for ten years", and this is questionable, for his stay in Makkah was thirteen years, because it is agreed that he died at the age of sixty-three. Perhaps he meant he remained in Makkah for ten years after he conveyed the message and took on the burdens of the message and the call to it.
"And Allah took him at the age of sixty", but the correct is that it was at the age of sixty-three. However, this is a case of omitting the remainder, for the Arabs sometimes omit the remainder and count either from the round number preceding the remainder or from the round number following it. Whichever is closer, they attribute it to that. Here, it is closer to sixty than to seventy, so he said: "at the age of sixty".
And his saying: "There were not twenty white hairs in his head and beard" matches what was mentioned before, that if he had wished to count them, he would have counted them, for there were only a few white hairs on him (may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon him). Yes.
Physical: He said: "He was not tall and distinct", meaning not tall in a way that his height was obvious, "and not short"; he was of medium height, but closer to being tall, (peace and blessings be upon him).
"And not white and fair, and not dark", meaning not black or brown leaning toward black, and not pure white and ruddy, but rather of a bright color, (peace and blessings be upon him).
Likewise, "and not tightly curled, and not straight"; this is regarding his hair. It is well known that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to style his hair. His hair was not tightly curled; tightly curled means stiff hair that you find curled and tangled. It was not straight and soft hair that flows and hangs down, but rather it was in between, (peace and blessings be upon him).
As for his saying: "Allah sent him at the age of forty", this is one of his physical characteristics, namely that he (peace and blessings be upon him), the Messenger of the Lord of the Worlds, was sent at the age of forty, when strength and perfection were complete.
But he said: "He remained in Makkah for ten years and in al-Madinah for ten years", and this is questionable, for his stay in Makkah was thirteen years, because it is agreed that he died at the age of sixty-three. Perhaps he meant he remained in Makkah for ten years after he conveyed the message and took on the burdens of the message and the call to it.
"And Allah took him at the age of sixty", but the correct is that it was at the age of sixty-three. However, this is a case of omitting the remainder, for the Arabs sometimes omit the remainder and count either from the round number preceding the remainder or from the round number following it. Whichever is closer, they attribute it to that. Here, it is closer to sixty than to seventy, so he said: "at the age of sixty".
And his saying: "There were not twenty white hairs in his head and beard" matches what was mentioned before, that if he had wished to count them, he would have counted them, for there were only a few white hairs on him (may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon him). Yes.