Sunan Ibn Majah
Sunan Ibn Majah 3495
حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو سَلَمَةَ، يَحْيَى بْنُ خَلَفٍ حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو عَاصِمٍ، حَدَّثَنِي عُثْمَانُ بْنُ عَبْدِ الْمَلِكِ، قَالَ سَمِعْتُ سَالِمَ بْنَ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ، يُحَدِّثُ عَنْ أَبِيهِ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ " عَلَيْكُمْ بِالإِثْمِدِ فَإِنَّهُ يَجْلُو الْبَصَرَ وَيُنْبِتُ الشَّعَرَ " .
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abū Salamah—Yaḥyā ibn Khalaf—narrated to us: Abū ʿĀṣim narrated to us: ʿUthmān ibn ʿAbd al-Malik narrated to me: I heard Sālim ibn ʿAbd Allāh relate from his father, who said: The Messenger of Allah said, ‘Use ithmid, for it clears the eyesight and makes the hair grow.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
الإثمد (ithmid) is a named mineral cosmetic traditionally used around the eyes; the Arabic states that it clears eyesight and promotes hair growth, without specifying an application method here.
قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ " عَلَيْكُمْ بِالإِثْمِدِ فَإِنَّهُ يَجْلُو الْبَصَرَ وَيُنْبِتُ الشَّعَرَ " .
الإثمد is a named mineral substance commonly rendered antimony/kohl, but the exact composition of historical ithmid is not specified in the text.
Should ithmid be transliterated or rendered as antimony/kohl?