Al-Matalib al-'Aliyah 4217 — The description of the Prophet ﷺ

It is narrated from an elder of Bal'adawiyyah (his grandfather) that he stated: I set out for Madinah and camped near the valley. There I saw two men between whom a deal over a single goat was going on. The buyer was saying to the seller: "Be lenient and good to me in the deal." Only a short while had passed when the buyer, seeing the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), called out and said: "O Messenger of Allah, tell him to deal well with me in the sale." He (peace and blessings be upon him) stretched out his blessed hand and said: "You are yourselves the owners of your wealth. Indeed, I hope from Allah Almighty that on the Day of Resurrection none of you will be claiming from me anything in which I wronged him in the matter of his wealth, his life or his honour, except what is by right." Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "May Allah have mercy on a person who is gentle when selling, lenient when buying, accommodating when taking his due, generous when giving another his due, easy when repaying a debt and lenient when demanding his own debt." Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) went on ahead, and I said to myself: "Is this the Hashimi who has led people away from the right path? Yes, it is he!" I looked, and he was a handsome man with a well-proportioned body, a broad forehead, a fine nose and thin eyebrows. From the hollow of his throat to his navel ran a thin line of hair like a black thread, and he was wearing two old wrappers. That elder relates: He (peace and blessings be upon him) came near us and said: «As-salamu 'alaykum» "Peace be upon you," and we returned his greeting. Only a short while had passed when I thought to myself: "By Allah, I will certainly relate this incident, for this speech is most captivating." So I followed him (peace and blessings be upon him) and called out: "O Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him)!" He (peace and blessings be upon him) turned towards me completely and asked: "What do you want?" I said: "Are you the one who has misguided and ruined the people and stopped them from worshipping the deities that their forefathers used to worship?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The matter of guidance and misguidance is in the Hand of Allah." I asked: "To what do you call?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I call the servants of Allah to Allah." I asked: "What else do you say?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "That you bear witness that there is no god worthy of worship but Allah and that Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is the Messenger of Allah, that you believe in what has been revealed to me, reject al-Lat and al-Uzza, establish the prayer and pay the zakah." I asked: "What is zakah?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "That wealth be taken from our rich and returned to our own needy." I said: "What you are calling to is excellent indeed." That elder says: Before this there was no living being on the face of the earth more hateful to me than him, but I had not even moved from there before he became dearer to me than my children, my parents and all people.
He says: I said: "I have recognised the truth." He (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: "Have you truly recognised it?" I said: "Yes." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Then do you bear witness that there is no true god but Allah and that Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is the Messenger of Allah, and do you believe in what has been sent down to me?" I said: "Yes, O Messenger of Allah. I go to a watering place where a great number of people gather; I will invite them too to what you have called me to, and I fully hope that they will follow you." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Yes, invite them."
So all the men and women who lived at that watering place believed, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) passed his blessed hand over the head of that Companion.