This is a book about what the Prophet ﷺ looked like, how he spoke, laughed, and carried himself — the classical shamā'il genre gathered into a single, careful compendium. Compiled by Shaykh Yusuf ibn Isma'il al-Nabahani, it moves through his lineage and names, then through chapters on the beauty of his form, the character of his eyes, hair, and natural fragrance, his voice, his laughter and weeping, his speech and silence, his strength, and his dress — drawn, as the shamā'il tradition is, from the classical literature on his qualities and miracles.

This English edition is translated by Abdul Aziz Suraqah. Yahya Rhodus of Al-Maqasid has praised the work itself for how eloquently it explores the Prophet's ﷺ persona, and separately welcomed its arrival in English. One description of the book calls it a work that combines scholarly erudition with mystic love for its subject, and reading it, one can see why.

At 272 pages, it is substantial enough to sit with slowly, a chapter at a time, rather than read in one sitting. For readers who want to know the Messenger ﷺ not only through his teachings but through the details of his person — his manner, his bearing, the small human particulars preserved by those who knew him — this is a fitting place to begin.