[AI] I was a Persian man from the people of Isfahan, from one of its villages called Jayy. My father was the chief landowner of his village, and I was the most beloved of Allah’s creation to him. His love for me continued until he kept me confined in his house as a young girl is confined. I strove in Magianism until I became the keeper of the fire, the one who lit it and did not let it go out for even an hour.
My father had a large estate. One day he became occupied with some construction, so he sent me to inspect his estate. I went out intending to go there, but I passed by a church of the Christians and heard their voices while they were praying. Since my father had kept me confined, I did not know much about people’s affairs. I entered to see what they were doing, and their prayer impressed me. I said, “By Allah, this is better than the religion we are upon.” I remained with them until sunset and did not go to my father’s estate. I asked them where the origin of this religion was, and they said, “In al-Sham.” When I returned, my father had already sent people looking for me. He asked where I had been, and I told him about the Christians and how their religion impressed me. He said, “My son, there is no good in that religion. Your religion and the religion of your forefathers is better than it.” I said, “No, by Allah, it is better than our religion.” He feared for me, so he shackled my leg and confined me in his house.
I sent word to the Christians asking them to inform me when merchants from al-Sham arrived. When such a caravan came and later prepared to return, they notified me. I removed the iron from my leg and left with them until I reached al-Sham.
When I reached al-Sham, I asked who was the best person of that religion. They directed me to the bishop in the church. I came to him and said, “I have become interested in this religion and would like to stay with you, serve you, learn from you, and pray with you.” He said, “Enter,” so I entered. But he turned out to be an evil man. He urged people to give charity, yet when they gathered it for him, he stored it away for himself and did not give it to the poor, until he had collected seven jars of gold and silver. When he died, the Christians gathered to bury him. I said to them, “This was an evil man. He used to command you to give charity and encourage you to do so, but when you brought it to him, he stored it away for himself and did not give any of it to the poor.” They said, “How do you know that?” I said, “I will show you his treasure.” They said, “Show us.” So I showed them its place, and they extracted from it seven jars filled with gold and silver. When they saw them, they said, “By Allah, we will never bury him.” So they crucified him and then stoned him.
Then they brought another man and put him in his place. I never saw a man who did not pray the five prayers whom I thought was better than him, nor more detached from this world, more desirous of the Hereafter, or more diligent by night and day than him. I loved him with a love unlike any I had loved before him, and I stayed with him for a time. When death came to him, I said to him, “So-and-so, I was with you and loved you with a love unlike any I had loved before you. What you see of Allah’s decree has come to you, so to whom do you advise me to go, and what do you command me?” He said, “My son, by Allah, I do not know anyone today upon what I was upon. People have perished, changed, and abandoned most of what they were upon, except for a man in Mosul, and he is so-and-so. He is upon what I was upon, so join him.”
When he died and was buried, I joined the companion of Mosul. I said to him, “So-and-so advised me at his death to join you, and he told me that you are upon his way.” He said to me, “Stay with me.” So I stayed with him and found him to be a good man upon the way of his companion. It was not long before he died. When death came to him, I said to him, “So-and-so advised me to come to you and commanded me to join you, and what you see from Allah ﷻ has come to you, so to whom do you advise me to go, and what do you command me?” He said, “My son, by Allah, I do not know any man upon the like of what we were upon except in Nisibin, and he is so-and-so, so join him.”
When he died and was buried, I joined the companion of Nisibin. I came to him and informed him of my story and what my companion had commanded me. He said, “Stay with me.” So I stayed with him and found him upon the way of his two companions. I stayed with a good man, but it was not long before death came upon him. When it came, I said to him, “So-and-so had advised me to go to so-and-so, then so-and-so advised me to come to you. To whom do you advise me to go, and what do you command me?” He said, “My son, by Allah, we do not know of anyone remaining upon our way whom I could command you to go to, except for a man in Ammuriyah, for he is upon the like of what we are upon. If you wish, go to him.”
When he died and was buried, I joined the companion of Ammuriyah and told him my story. He said, “Stay with me.” So I stayed with a man who was upon the guidance and way of his companions. I earned until I had some cows and a small flock of sheep. When Allah’s decree came upon him, I said to him, “So-and-so advised me to go to so-and-so, and so-and-so advised me to go to so-and-so, then so-and-so advised me to come to you. To whom do you advise me to go, and what do you command me?” He said, “My son, by Allah, I do not know that anyone among people has come to be upon what we were upon to whom I could command you to go. However, the time of a Prophet has come upon you. He will be sent with the religion of Ibrahim. He will emerge in the land of the Arabs, migrating to a land between two volcanic tracts, with palm trees between them. He has signs that are not hidden: he eats gifts and does not eat charity, and between his shoulders is the Seal of Prophethood. If you are able to reach that land, then do so.”
After he died and was buried, I remained in Ammuriyah as long as Allah willed. Then a group of merchants from Kalb passed by me, so I said to them, “Will you carry me to the land of the Arabs, and I will give you these cows of mine and this small flock of mine?” They said, “Yes.” So I gave them to them and they carried me, until when they brought me to Wadi al-Qura, they wronged me and sold me as a slave to a Jewish man.
I stayed with him, saw the palm trees, and hoped that it might be the land my companion had described to me, but I was not certain. While I was with him, a cousin of his from Madinah, from Banu Qurayzah, came to him. He bought me from him and took me to Madinah. By Allah, as soon as I saw it, I recognized it by the description of my companion. I stayed there. Allah sent His Messenger ﷺ. He remained in Makkah as long as he remained, but I heard no mention of him because of what occupied me of slavery. Then he migrated to Madinah.
By Allah, I was at the top of a palm cluster belonging to my master, doing some work on it while my master was sitting, when a cousin of his came and stood by him. He said, “So-and-so, may Allah fight Banu Qaylah! By Allah, they are now gathered at Quba around a man who came to them today from Makkah, claiming that he is a Prophet.” When I heard that, a trembling seized me until I thought I would fall upon my master. I came down from the palm tree and began saying, “What are you saying? What are you saying?” My master became angry and struck me with a hard blow. Then he said, “What do you have to do with this? Turn back to your work.” I said, “Nothing; I only wanted to make sure of what he said.”
I had something that I had collected. When evening came, I took it and went to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ while he was at Quba. I said to him, “It has reached me that you are a righteous man, and that with you are companions who are strangers and in need. This is something I had for charity, and I considered you more entitled to it than others.” I brought it near to him, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to his companions: “Eat.” He held back his hand and did not eat. I said to myself, “This is one.”
Then I left him, collected something, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ moved to Madinah. Then I came to him with it and said, “I saw that you do not eat charity, and this is a gift with which I honor you.” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ ate from it, and he commanded his companions, so they ate with him. I said to myself, “These are two.”
Then I came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ while he was in Baqi al-Gharqad. He had followed the funeral of one of his companions. He was wearing two rough garments and was sitting among his companions. I greeted him, then turned around to look at his back: would I see the seal that my companion had described to me? When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ saw me going behind him, he knew that I was trying to verify something that had been described to me. He cast his cloak off his back, so I looked at the seal and recognized it. I fell upon it, kissing it and crying. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to me: “Move around.” So I moved around, and I narrated my story to him just as I have narrated it to you, Ibn Abbas. It pleased the Messenger of Allah ﷺ that his companions should hear that.
Then slavery occupied Salman, so he missed Badr and Uhud with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to me: “Make a contract for your freedom, Salman.” So I made a contract with my master for three hundred palm trees that I would plant for him in prepared holes, and for forty uqiyyah. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to his companions: “Help your brother.” So they helped me with palm saplings, each man according to what he had, until three hundred saplings had been gathered for me.
Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to me: “Go, Salman, and dig the holes for them. When you have finished, come to me, and I will be the one to place them with my own hands.” So I dug the holes for them, and my companions helped me. When I had finished, I came to him and informed him. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ came out with me to them. We began bringing the saplings near to him, and he placed them with his hand. By the One in Whose hand is the soul of Salman, not a single one of those saplings died. I paid off the palm trees, but the money remained due upon me.
Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was brought a piece of gold like a chicken’s egg from one of the campaigns. He said: “What happened to the Persian who had made a contract for his freedom?” I was summoned to him, and he said: “Take this and pay with it what you owe, Salman.” I said, “How can this cover what I owe, Messenger of Allah?” He said: “Take it, for Allah will pay it off for you with it.” So I took it and weighed out from it for them, by the One in Whose hand is the soul of Salman, forty uqiyyah. I fulfilled their due and was freed.
Then I witnessed al-Khandaq with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and after that no expedition with him passed me by.