About The Book
The Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) is both the moral exemplar for mankind—sent by Allah as a mercy to the worlds (Qur’an 21:107)—and the ultimate possessor of physical beauty. His Companion ʿAli ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) said—as did many others—that ‘Never have I seen the like of him; not before or since’. Naturally, Muslims, beginning first and foremost with his contemporaries (i.e. the Companions), have meticulously conveyed the fine details of his beauty and character, including his physical form, seal of prophethood, clothing, and his manner of walking, reclining, eating, drinking, speaking and laughter, sleeping and devotion and so forth.
The earliest and most famous work of this genre was the Shamā’il of the great Hadith master Imam al-Tirmidhī. This latter work was later abridged and annotated by Shaykh al-Sharnūbī, of which this is the English translation.
About The Author
Abd al-Majid Ibn Ibrahim al-Sharnubi Was an Egyptian Azhari Maliki Jurist, an erudite scholar and author. He was born in the town al-Sharnub which is affiliated with the city of Damanhur, in Egypt.
Al-Sharnabi enrolled at al-Azhar al-Sharif and received his education under the tutelage of its scholars. He worked as an editor firstly at the Egyptian publishing house Dar al-Amiriyyah, and then at publishing house Dar al-Kutub al-Azhariyyah. He was constantly engaged in teaching at Al Azhar, writing and distributing books, and contributing in the fields of fiqh, Hadith, Sufism, linguistics, grammar, and so forth.
He personally wrote a number of works, in addition to abridging and commentating on already existing scholarly works, amongst them:
Irshad al-Salik Sharh Alflyyah Ibn Malik (Arabic grammar)
Dilalah al-Salik Ila Aqrab al-Masalik (Maliki Fiqh)
Sharh al-Arbain al-Nawawiyyah (Hadith)
Sharh Mukhtasar al-Bukhari By Ibn Abi al-Jamrah
Sharh Hikam Ibn Ata Allah al-Sakandari (Sufism)
He passed away in the year 1348 AH at an elderly age.