His fragrance…

‘Utba Al-Sulami is a great Sahabi who entered Islam before Fatih Makkah. He witnessed two battles under the leadership of the Prophet, salah allahu ‘alayhi wa salam. I translated the following from a book, ‘Men that history won’t forget’ by Shaikh Mahmoud Al-Masri, 2/318:

Reported by Um ‘Asim, the wife of ‘Utba bin Farqad Al-Sulami, she said, ‘We (his four wives) were all sitting with him one day, and we were all competing to smell of fragrance, and whenever our oil fragrance would touch him, he would wipe it on his beard. Yet, he always smelled better than us. Whenever he would go out to people, they would say: we never smelt a fragrance better than ‘Utba’s.

So I said to him one day, ‘We always struggle to smell pleasant for you while you always smell better than us. Why is that?’

He said, ‘I was once sick with Al-Shara [skin allergy] during the time of the Prophet, salah allahu ‘alayhi wa salam. I told him about my sickness and he ordered me to sit down and remove my clothes. He blew into his hands and wiped it over my stomach and back. His fragrance has remained on me until this day.”

[Tahthib Al-Kamal Fi Asma' Al-Rejal, Al-Hafith Al-Mazi, 321/19]

Salah allahu ‘alayhi wa salam..