When does the legitimate viewing take place: is it after inquiring about the suitor or before, and is there any evidence for that?

We mentioned that looking (at the woman) should be before the engagement, after the intention to marry, not before the intention because there is no need for it, and not after the engagement so as not to hurt the woman's feelings if the marriage does not proceed. The proof is what Ahmad, Ibn Majah, and Al-Tabarani narrated from Sahl ibn Abi Hathmah that Muhammad ibn Maslamah was looking at a woman, and he said: "Indeed, I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, say: 'If Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, casts into the heart of a man a desire to propose to a woman, there is no harm in him looking at her.'" The apparent meaning of the hadith (definition) is that looking should be before the engagement.