Al-Matalib al-'Aliyah 2583 — Good character

It is narrated from Mutarrif bin Abdullah bin al-Shikhkhir (may Allah have mercy on him) that a man came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: "Which level of faith is best?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Good character." The man asked the same question again, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) again said: "Good character." He repeated the question a third or fourth time, so he (peace and blessings be upon him) either made him stand or made him sit (to draw his attention) and said: "(Good character is) that you meet your brother with your face cheerful and joyful." The narrator said: Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) continued praising good character and saying: "It is a gift from Allah Almighty," and he (peace and blessings be upon him) would describe the evil of bad character and say: "It is from Satan." Then he (peace and blessings be upon him), pointing out the signs of anger, said: "Do you not see the redness of his eyes and the swelling of the veins of his neck?"
Al-Matalib al-'Aliyah: 2583, Musnad Abi Ya'la: 2893. The chain of this hadith contains a narrator named Abd al-Aziz bin Aban, who is matruk (abandoned); however, the importance and virtue of good character is established by other reliable hadith.