The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "When one of you proposes to a woman, if he is able to look at what will draw him to marry her, let him do so."He said, "So I proposed to a Jariya, and I used to hide myself to catch sight of her, until I saw of her what drew me to marry her, and I married her."
حدثنا مسدد حدثنا عبد الواحد بن زياد حدثنا محمد بن إسحق عن داود بن حصين عن واقد بن عبد الرحمن يعني ابن سعد بن معاذ
قال رسول الله ﷺ إذا خطب أحدكم المرأة فإن استطاع أن ينظر إلى ما يدعوه إلى نكاحها فليفعل قال فخطبت جارية فكنت أتخبأ لها حتى رأيت منها ما دعاني إلى نكاحها وتزوجها فتزوجتها
[Hasan] Ahmad narrated it in his Musnad, 3/334, from the hadith of Abdul-Wahid bin Ziyad, by the same route, and Muhammad bin Ishaq explicitly stated that he heard it directly, at 3/360. Hakim graded it sahih according to the criteria of Muslim, 2/165, and Dhahabi agreed with him, and Hafiz graded it hasan in Fath al-Bari, 9/181.