Biography of Salman al-Farisi

91 - Story of Salman al-Farisi (may Allah be pleased with him).

The hafiz Abou al-Qasim Ibn 'Asakir said: he is Salman ibn al-Islam, Abou Abdallah al-Farisi, the forerunner of the Persians to Islam.

He was the companion of the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and served him, and he reported from him.

Reported from him: Ibn Abbas, Anas ibn Malik, Abou at-Toufayl, Abou Othmane an-Nahdi, Chourahbil ibn as-Simt, Abou Qourra Salama ibn Mou'awiya al-Kindi, Abd ar-Rahman ibn Yazid an-Nakha'i, Abou 'Omar Zadhan, Abou Dhibyan Houssayn ibn Joundoub al-Janbi, and Qarth'a' ad-Dabbi the Kufan.

In "the Musnad of Baqi": sixty hadiths.

Al-Boukhari reported for him four hadiths, and Mouslim three hadiths.

He was intelligent, resolute, among the wisest of men, their greatest worshippers and their most notable ones.

Yahya ibn Hamza al-Qadi said: from Ourwa ibn Rouwaym, al-Qasim Abou Abd ar-Rahman narrated to him, and he said:

Salman al-Farisi paid us a visit; the imam prayed dhouhr, then went out and the people went out, welcoming him as the caliph is welcomed; we met him having already prayed al-'asr with his companions, while he was walking; we halted to greet him, and there remained among us no notable but that he offered him to lodge at his home.

He said: "I have set for myself, on this occasion, to stay with Bachir ibn Sa'd."

When he arrived, he asked about Abou ad-Darda; they said: "He is on ribat duty."

He said: "Where is your ribat?"

They said: "Beirut."

He therefore set out toward him.

He said: Salman said: "O people of Beirut, shall I not tell you a hadith by which Allah would remove from you the inconveniences of the ribat?

I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, say: the ribat of one day

and one night equals the fasting of a month and its night standing; and whoever dies while on ribat duty will be guarded from the trial of the grave, and the good of his deed will flow for him until the Day of Resurrection."

Abou al-Ma'ali Ahmad ibn Ishaq informed us, Abd al-Qawi ibn Abd al-Aziz al-Aghlabi informed us, Abdallah ibn Rifa'a informed us, Abou al-Hasan al-Khila'i informed us, Abou Muhammad ibn an-Nahhas informed us, Abou Muhammad ibn al-Ward informed us, Abou Sa'id ibn Abd ar-Rahim informed us, Abd al-Malik ibn Hicham informed us, Ziyad ibn Abdallah narrated to us, from Ibn Ishaq (h).

Abou Muhammad ibn Qoudama informed us, and Abou al-Ghana'im ibn 'Allan, by license, that Hanbal ibn Abdallah informed them, Abou al-Qasim ach-Chaybani informed us, Abou Ali al-Wa'iz informed us, Abou Bakr al-Maliki informed us, Abdallah ibn Ahmad narrated to us, my father narrated to me, Ya'qoub ibn Ibrahim narrated to us, my father narrated to us (h).

And Muhammad ibn Abdallah ibn Noumayr and others, from Younous ibn Boukayr (h).

And Sahl ibn 'Othman: Yahya ibn Abi Za'ida narrated to us (h).

And from Yahya ibn Adam, from Abdallah ibn Idris (h).

And Hajjaj ibn Qoutayba: Zoufar ibn Qourra narrated to us; all of them: from Ibn Ishaq, from 'Asim ibn 'Omar ibn Qatada, from Mahmoud ibn Labid, from Ibn Abbas, who said:

His quest for the truth, from Persia to Syria

Salman al-Farisi narrated to me, and he said: I was a Persian man of the people of Isfahan, of the people of one of its villages called Jayy; my father was its dehqan, and I was the creature dearest to Allah to him; his love for me never ceased until he confined me in his house as a young slave girl is confined.

I strove in the Magian religion until I was the keeper of the fire that maintains it: I did not let it lapse for an hour. And

my father had a great estate; one day he was taken up with a building of his, and said to me:

"O my son, I have been kept today by this building of mine from my estate: go then, and inspect it."

And he commanded me part of what he wished. I went out, then he said:

"Do not be detained for me: were you detained for me, you would matter more to me than my estate, and would divert me from every business of mine."

I went out toward his estate, and passed by a church among the churches of the Christians: I heard their voices within it, while they prayed, and I knew nothing of the matter of the people kept by my father in his house.

When I passed by them and heard their voices, I entered among them to see what they did.

When I saw them, their prayers pleased me, and I desired their religion, and I said:

"This, by Allah, is better than the religion we follow."

By Allah, I did not leave them until the sun set: I left my father's estate and never came to it.

I said to them: "Where is the root of this religion?"

They said: "In Syria."

He said: I then returned to my father, who had sent men seeking me, and I had diverted him from all his work.

When I came to him, he said: "O my son, where were you? Had I not given you the charge I gave you?"

I said: "O my father, I passed by people praying in a church of theirs: what I saw of their religion pleased me, and by Allah I did not cease being with them until the sun set."

He said: "O my son, there is no good in that religion: your religion and that of your fathers is better than it."

I said: "No, by Allah! it is far better than our religion."

He said: he therefore feared me, put an iron band upon my foot, then confined me in his house.

He said: I sent word to the Christians, and I said:

"When a caravan from Syria comes to you, merchants among the Christians, inform me of them."

A caravan from Syria came to them.

He said: they informed me of them.

I said: "When they have settled their needs and wish to return, inform me."

He said: they did so; I therefore took off the iron from my foot, then went out with them until I arrived in Syria.

When I arrived there, I said: "Who is the best of the people of this religion?"

They said: "The bishop who is in the church."

I came to him, and I said: "I have desired this religion, and I love to be with you: I shall serve you

in your church, learn from you, and pray with you."

He said: "Enter then."

I entered with him: he was an evil man; he commanded them charity and urged them to it; then, when they gathered something of it to him, he hoarded it for himself and did not give it to the poor, until he gathered seven jars of gold and silver: I therefore conceived an intense hatred of him for what I saw him do.

Then he died, and the Christians gathered to bury him.

I said to them: "This is an evil man: he commands you charity and urges you to it; then, when you bring it, he hoards it for himself and does not give it to the poor."

And I showed them the place of his treasure: seven full jars. When they saw it, they said: "By Allah, we shall never bury him."

They crucified him therefore, then stoned him, then brought a man whom they put in his place: I never saw a man (he means one who does not pray the five) whom I judged better than him, more detached from this world, nor more desirous of the Hereafter, nor more assiduous by night and day; to my knowledge I had never loved anything with the love I bore him, and I did not cease being with him until death came upon him.

I said: "O so-and-so, there has come upon you what you see of the order of Allah; and by Allah I never loved anything with the love I bear you: what do you command me then? and to whom do you bequeath me?"

He said to me: "O my son, by Allah I know none but a man at Mosul: go to him, you will find him in my state."

When he died and was buried, I made for Mosul, came to its man, and found him in his state, in effort and detachment.

I said to him: "Such a one recommended me to come to you and be with you."

He said: "Stay then, O my son!"

I remained therefore with him according to the command of his predecessor, until death came upon him.

I said to him: "Such a one recommended me to you, and there has come upon you what you see of the order of Allah: to whom then do you bequeath me? and what do you command me?"

He said: "By Allah, O my son, I know none but a man at Nassibin."

When we had buried him, I made for the other, and I remained with him in their state, until death

came upon him; he bequeathed me to a man of the people of Amorium, among the Byzantines; I came to him and found him in their state, and I earned until I had small flocks and cows.

Then death came upon him, and I spoke with him: to whom do you bequeath me?

He said: "O my son! by Allah I know none who remained upon what we followed, that I order you to come to him; but there has covered you the era of a prophet who will arise from the sanctuary, whose place of emigration is between two stony deserts, toward a salt marsh land bearing palm trees; and he has in him signs that cannot be hidden: between his two shoulders, the seal of prophethood; he eats the gift, and does not eat the alms; if you can make your way to that land, do so: his era has covered you."

When we had buried him, I remained until men, merchants among the Arabs, of the tribe of Kalb, passed by me.

I said to them: "Will you carry me to the land of the Arabs, and I give you these small flocks and cows of mine?"

They said: "Yes."

I gave them to them, and they carried me; when they brought me to the valley of al-Qura, they wronged me: they sold me as a slave to a Jewish man of the valley of al-Qura; by Allah, I saw the palm trees, and I hoped it would be the land my master had described to me.

And it was not confirmed to me until a man of the Banu Qurayza of the valley of al-Qura came, and bought me from my master; he went out with me until we arrived at Medina: by Allah, scarcely had I seen it than I recognized its description.

His meeting with the Messenger of Allah

I remained therefore in my slavery, and Allah sent His prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, to Mecca; nothing of his affair was mentioned to me, despite my slavery, until the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, arrived at Quba; I was then working for my master in a palm grove of his: by Allah, I was in it when a cousin of his came to him and said:

"May Allah ruin the Banu Qayla! by Allah, at this very hour they are gathered at Quba around a man come from Mecca, and they claim he is a prophet."

By Allah, scarcely had I heard it than the shiver seized me (he says: the trembling), until I thought I would fall upon my master; I went down saying: "What is this news?"

My master raised his hand and struck me a violent blow, and said:

"What have you to do with this? Attend to your work."

I said: "Nothing: I only heard a piece of news, and wished to know it."

When evening came, I had some food: I carried it and went to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, who was at Quba.

I said to him: "It has reached me that you are a virtuous man, and that you have with you companions who are strangers; and I had something as alms: I saw you the most deserving of anyone in this land; take then this, and eat of it."

He said: he withheld his hand, and said to his companions: "Eat."

I said to myself: this is the first sign of what my master described to me.

Then I returned; the Messenger of Allah moved to Medina; I gathered what I had, then came to him with it, and I said:

"I have seen that you do not eat the alms: this is a gift."

The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, ate, and his companions ate.

I said: "This is the second sign."

Then I came to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, while he was following a funeral procession; upon me were two shawls of mine, and he was among his companions; I slipped around to look at his back: would I see the seal described?

When he saw me, I slipped behind him; he knew that I sought to confirm something described to me: he therefore cast his cloak from his back, and I looked at the seal, and recognized it; I threw myself upon him, kissing him and weeping.

He said to me: "Come to me."

I came therefore, and I narrated to him my story as I have narrated it to you, O Ibn Abbas; it pleased the companions of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, to hear that.

His manumission

Then slavery held Salman busy, so that there escaped him, with the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, Badr and Uhud.

Then the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said: "Write your manumission, O Salman."

I therefore wrote the manumission to my master upon three hundred palm trees,

which I would make bear for him, and upon forty uqiya.

The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said to his companions: "Help your brother."

They helped me with the palms: this man with thirty offshoots, that one with twenty, that one with fifteen, until three hundred offshoots gathered.

He said: "Go, O Salman, dig their holes; when you have finished, come to me: it will be I who plant them with my hand."

I therefore dug their holes, and my companions helped me; when I had finished, I came to him and informed him; he went out with me toward them: we would place the offshoot for him, and he would set it with his hand; by Him who holds the soul of Salman in His hand, not one single offshoot of them died.

I delivered the palms, and the money remained owed upon me; there was brought to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, a piece of gold like a hen's egg, from one of the expeditions.

He said: "What has the Persian freed by contract done?"

I was called to him, and he said: "Take it, and pay with it what is owed by you."

I said: "But where will this be placed, O Messenger of Allah, of what is owed by me?"

He said: "Take it: Allah will acquit you with it."

I took it therefore, and weighed out for them forty uqiya of it; I paid them their due, and I was freed; I then witnessed, with the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, the trench, a free man; then no event escaped me with him.

Added: Ibrahim ibn Sa'd, from Ibn Ishaq, who said:

from Yazid ibn Abi Habib, from a man of Abd al-Qays, from Salman, who said:

When I said to him: "But where will this be placed of what is owed by me?"

he took it, turned it upon his tongue, then said: "Take it."

In the narration of Ibn Idris: from Ibn Ishaq, from 'Asim ibn 'Omar, from a man

of Abd al-Qays:

that he heard 'Omar ibn Abd al-Aziz say:

Narrated to me the one to whom Salman narrated: that Salman, in his account, at the time he unrolled it to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said:

that the man of Amorium said to him: "When you see a man such and such, from the land of Syria, between two water-bearing mounts, coming out of this spring toward that spring, once each year, whom the people accost, and who heals sicknesses, invoking for them and they are healed: go to him, and ask him about the religion that is sought."

I came therefore, and remained with the people between those two mounts.

When came the night of his coming out of the spring, he came out, and the people thronged upon him before me, until he entered the other spring and hid from me, save his two shoulders; I reached him therefore, and seized his two shoulders; he did not turn to me, and said: "What is your matter?"

I said: "I ask about the religion of Ibrahim, the pure one."

He said: "You ask about a thing the people no longer ask about today; there has covered you a prophet who will arise from beside this house that is in Mecca, bringing the religion you ask about: join yourself to him." Then he turned away.

The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said: "If you have told me true, you have met the entrusted one of 'Issa son of Maryam."

Unique to Ibn Ishaq.

The keeper of the fire: the one who attends it constantly.

The Banu Qayla: the Ansars.

The faqir: the hole.

The wadiyy: the offshoot.

Younous said: from Ibn Ishaq, 'Asim narrated to me, the one who heard 'Omar ibn Abd al-Aziz narrated to me in terms similar to what preceded.

And it contains: there has covered you a prophet who will arise among the people of this house,

and who will be sent with the shedding of blood.

When that was mentioned to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, he said: "If you have told me true, O Salman, you have seen the apostles of 'Issa."

Ubaydallah ibn Moussa and 'Amr al-'Anqazi said:

Isra'il narrated to us, from Abou Ishaq, from Abou Qourra al-Kindi, from Salman, who said:

"My father was among the asawira; he engaged me at the school, and I went and came; with me were two young boys who, upon their return, entered upon a priest or a monk, and I entered with the two of them.

He said to the two: did I not forbid you to bring in to me anyone, or to inform anyone of me?

I did not cease going and coming, until I was dearer to him than the two of them.

He said to me: O Salman, I love to leave this land.

I said: I am with you.

He came to a village and lodged there; a woman used to visit him.

When death came upon him, he said: dig near my head.

I brought out from it a jar of dirhams, and he said: place it upon my chest.

He said: he began striking his hand upon his chest, saying: woe to the hoarders!

He said: he died, and the priests and the monks gathered; I intended to carry away the money, then Allah protected me.

I said to them: he has left money.

Young men of the village people leapt and said: this is our father's money: his intimate used to visit him.

I said: "O assembly of priests and monks, direct me to a scholar with whom I may stay."

They said: "We know none more learned than a monk at Homs."

I came to him, and I narrated to him; he said: "Nothing but the seeking of knowledge has brought you?"

I said: "Yes."

He said: "I know none on earth more learned than a man who comes each year, in this month, to the Holy House; set out, you will find his donkey standing."

I set out therefore, and found his donkey standing at the door of the Holy House; I sat until he came out, and I narrated to him; he said:

"Sit until I return to you."

He went, and did not return the following year.

I said: "What have you done?"

He said: "So you are still here?"

I said: "Yes."

He said: "I know none on earth more learned than a man who goes out toward the land of Tayma, and he is a prophet: this is his era; if you set out now you will meet him; he has three signs: the seal of prophethood; he does not eat the alms, but eats the gift; the seal of prophethood is at the hollow of his shoulder, like the egg of a pigeon, of the color of his skin."

I set out therefore; people among the Bedouins seized me, enslaved me and sold me, until I fell to Medina; I heard them mention the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and I asked my people to grant me a day, and they did.

I went out, gathered firewood, sold it for a small sum, then brought food I had bought and set it before the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and he said: "What is this?"

I said: "Alms."

He refused to eat, and commanded his companions, who ate; and livelihood was, on that day, scarce.

I said: "This is one sign."

Then I remained as long as Allah willed I remain, then I said to my people: grant me a day.

They granted me a day; I went out, gathered firewood, sold it for better than that for which I had sold (he means the first), bought food with it, then I came and set the food before the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and he said: "What is this?"

I said: "A gift."

He said: "Eat", and he ate.

I said: "This is the second."

Then I stood behind him; he cast off his cloak, and I saw at the hollow of his shoulder the seal of prophethood.

I said: "I bear witness that you are the Messenger of Allah."

He said: "What is this?"

I narrated to him, and I said: "O Messenger of Allah, this monk, is he in Paradise, he who claims you are the prophet of Allah?"

He said: "None shall enter Paradise but a soul Muslim."

I said: "He informed me that you are a prophet."

He said: "None shall enter Paradise but a soul Muslim."

Reported by the imam Ahmad in "his Musnad", from Abou Kamil.

And reported by Abou Qilaba ar-Raqachi, from Abdallah ibn Raja', both of them, from Isra'il.

Sa'id ibn Abi Maryam: Ibn Lahi'a narrated to us, Yazid ibn Abi Habib narrated to us, as-Salm ibn as-Salt al-'Abdi narrated to me, from Abou at-Toufayl al-Bakri:

that Salman the good one narrated to him, and he said:

"I was a man of the people of Jayy, the city of Isfahan; I came to a man who withdrew from the words of the people, and I asked him: which religion is best?

He said: I know none but a monk at Mosul.

I went to him, and I was with him, until he said:

I came therefore to a man of the Hijaz, and I said:

"Will you carry me to Medina, and I be your slave?"

When I arrived, he set me in his palm grove, and I watered as the camel waters, until my back wore raw; and I found no one who understood my speech, until there came an old Persian woman drawing water; I spoke with her, and I said:

"Where is he who has gone out?"

She said: "He will pass by you tomorrow morning."

I gathered dates, then came to him and presented the dates to him.

He said: "Is it alms or a gift?"

Abou Isma'il at-Tirmidhi, Ishaq ibn Ibrahim ibn Jamil and others said:

Abdallah ibn Abi Ziyad al-Qatwani informed us, Sayyar ibn Hatim narrated to us, Moussa ibn Sa'id ar-Rasibi narrated to us, Abou Mou'adh narrated to us, from Abou Salama ibn Abd ar-Rahman, from Salman al-Farisi, who said:

"I was among those born at Ram-Hormoz, and there I grew up; as for my father, he was of Isfahan,

and my mother had wealth there: she engaged me at the school, and I set out with young boys of our village people, until the end of learning writing drew near me.

Among the boys there was none older nor taller than I; and there was there a mountain in which was a cave on our way; I passed one day alone: behold, I was in it with a man, wearing garments of wool, and his sandals were of wool; he beckoned to me, I drew near him, and he said:

"O young boy, do you know 'Issa son of Maryam?"

I said: "No."

He said: "He is the Messenger of Allah: believe in 'Issa, and in a Messenger who will come after him, whose name is Ahmad.

Allah has brought you out from the gloom of this world into the freshness of the Hereafter and its felicity."

I said: "What is the felicity of the Hereafter?"

He said: "A felicity that does not perish."

I then saw sweetness and light coming out of his two lips: my heart clung to it; I left my companions, and I did not cease going and coming but alone; my mother would send me to the school, but he cut me off from it.

He taught me the testimony that there is no deity but Allah, alone, without partner, that 'Issa is the Messenger of Allah, and that Muhammad after him is the Messenger of Allah, and belief in the resurrection; he taught me the standing in prayer, and he would say to me:

"When you stand in prayer and face the qibla, should the fire surround you, do not turn around; and should your mother and your father call you, do not turn around, unless a messenger among the messengers of Allah call you; and should he call you while you are in an obligatory prayer, cut it short: for he calls you only by revelation."

And he commanded me the length of the qunut, and claimed that 'Issa, peace be upon him, said:

"The length of the qunut is a safeguard upon the bridge; and the length of the prostration, a safeguard from the punishment of the grave."

And he said: "Never lie, neither in jest nor in earnest, until the angels of Allah greet you; and never disobey Allah, neither in greed nor in anger: you shall not be veiled from Paradise the blink of an eye."

Then he said to me: "If you reach Muhammad son of Abdallah, who will come forth from the mountains of the Tihama, believe in him, and convey to him the salam from me; for it has reached me that 'Issa son of Maryam, peace be upon him,

said: whoever greets Muhammad, whether he has seen him or not, shall have Muhammad as intercessor and as one who shakes his hand."

The sweetness of the Gospel entered therefore into my chest.

He said: he remained in his abode a year.

Then he said: "O my son, you have loved me and I have loved you; but I came to this your land because I had a near kinsman there, and he died, and I wished to be near his grave, that I might pray upon him and greet him, because of what Allah magnified for us in the Gospel of the right of kinship; Allah says:

whoever maintains his kinship has maintained Me, and whoever cuts his kinship has cut Me.

And it has appeared good to me to withdraw from this place: if you wish my company, I am at the command of your hand."

I said: "You have magnified the right of kinship, and here are my mother and my kin."

He said: "If you wish to emigrate with the emigration of Ibrahim, peace be upon him, leave the mother and the kin."

Then he said: "Allah will set right between you and them, until the mother invoke not against you."

I went out therefore with him, and we came to Nassibin; twelve monks came to him, hurrying upon him and spreading their cloaks, and they said:

"Welcome to our master, and to the warner of the book of our Lord."

He praised Allah, his eyes shed tears, and he said:

"If you magnify me with the magnification of the majesty of Allah, then receive the good news of the beholding of Allah."

Then he said: "I wish to devote myself in this prayer niche of yours for a month: entrust this young boy to me, for I have seen him fine, quick to obey."

He remained a month without turning to us; the monks gathered behind him, hoping he would yield, and he did not yield.

They said: "What if you address him?"

I said: "You have upon him a greater right than I."

They said: "You are weak, a stranger, a son of a traveler, and he lodges with us: we shall not interrupt his prayer, for fear he see that we find him burdensome."

I addressed him therefore: he trembled, then fell upon his knees, then said:

"What is your matter, O my son! are you hungry? are you thirsty? are you deceived? do you long for your people?"

I said: "Rather I have obeyed these scholars."

He said: "Do you know what the Gospel says?"

I said: "No."

He said: "It says: whoever obeys the scholars, whether corrupt or reforming, then dies, is a truthful one." And it appeared good to me to direct myself toward the Holy House.

The scholars came therefore,

and said: "O our master, stay your day: you will narrate to us and speak with us."

He said: "The Gospel has told me that whoever purposes a good must not delay it."

He rose, and the scholars began kissing his two palms and his garment, saying all the while:

"I commend you not to slight the disobedience of Allah, and not to pride yourselves upon a good deed you do."

He walked from Nassibin to the Holy Land a month, walking his day and standing his night, until he entered the Holy House; he stood there a month praying night and day; the scholars of the Holy House gathered to him, and they sought of me that I address him; I did so, and he came to me, and said to me as the first time.

When he had spoken, the scholars of the Holy House gathered about him, and they interposed between me and him their day and their night until morning; they wearied, and dispersed, and he said to me:

"O my son, I wish to lay my head a little: when the sun reaches my feet, wake me."

He said: between him and the sun were two cubits; the sun reached him, and I pitied him for the length of his toil and his weariness in worship; when the sun reached his mat, he woke at its heat.

He said: "What is your matter, did you not wake me?"

I said: "I pitied you for the length of your toil."

He said: "I love not that an hour pass over me in which I mention not Allah and worship Him not; had you not pitied me for the length of the standing? O my son, I wish to withdraw to a mountain in which are one hundred and fifty men, the worst of whom is better than I: will you accompany me?"

I said: "Yes."

He rose; a blind man clung to him at the door, and said:

"O Abou al-Fadl, you depart, and I have received nothing good from you?"

He wiped his hand upon his face, and he became seeing.

An impotent man leapt to the side of the blind man, clung to him, and said:

"Grant me the grace of that with which Allah graced you: Paradise."

He wiped his hand upon him, and he stood; and he went away (he means the monk).

I rose looking right and left, seeing no one; I entered the Holy House, and behold, with a man in a corner, wearing the mantle; I sat until he withdrew.

I said: "O servant of Allah, what is

your name?"

He said: he mentioned his name.

I said: "Do you know Abou al-Fadl?"

He said: "Yes, and I would that I die not until I see him: he it is who graced me with this religion; but I await the prophet of mercy whom he described to me: he will come forth from the mountains of the Tihama, called Muhammad son of Abdallah; he will ride the camel, the donkey, the horse and the mule; and the free man and the enslaved shall be equal with him; mercy shall be in his heart and his limbs: were it divided among the whole world, there would be no place for it; between his two shoulders, like the egg of a dove, upon which is written: within it, Allah alone, without partner, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah; and upon its outside: go where you will, you are the one given victory; he eats the gift, and eats not the alms; he is neither rancorous nor envious, and wrongs neither the covenant-keeper nor the Muslim."

I rose from him, and I said: "Perhaps I shall be able over my master."

I walked not far, turning right and left, seeing nothing.

Bedouins of Kalb passed by me: they carried me until they brought me to Yathrib, and named me Maysara; I did not cease conjuring them, but they understood not my speech; a woman called Khulayssa bought me for three hundred dirhams, and said: "What can you do?"

I said: "I pray to my Lord, I worship Him, and I strip the palm fronds."

She said: "And who is your Lord?"

I said: "The Lord of Muhammad."

She said: "Woe to you: that one is in Mecca; but attend to this palm tree, and pray to your Lord, I shall not forbid you; strip the palms, and labor for my daughters: your Lord, if you are sincere to Him in worship, will give you what you ask."

I remained with her sixteen months, until the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, arrived at Medina; that reached me while I was at the farthest part of Medina, in the season of the khalal; I picked out a portion of it, placed it in my garment, and set out asking about him, until I entered upon him while he was at the abode of Abou

Ayyoub; rainwater had gathered and run off; Abou Ayyoub and his wife stood gathering the water with a velvet cloth of theirs, which did not suffice the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.

The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, went out and said: "What do you do, O Abou Ayyoub?"

He informed him, and he said: "To you and to your wife, Paradise."

I said: "This, by Allah, is Muhammad, the Messenger of mercy."

I greeted him, then took the khalal and set it before him.

He said: "What is this, O my son?"

I said: "Alms."

He said: "We eat not the alms."

I took it, and grasped my izar, in which was something else, and I said: "This is a gift."

He ate, and fed those around him, then looked at me and said: "Are you free or enslaved?"

I said: "Enslaved."

He said: "Why have you come to me with this gift?"

I said: "I had a master who said this to me, and a master who said this to me, and I informed you of the affair of the two."

He said: "Your two masters are among those of whom Allah said: {Those to whom We gave the Book before it believe in it, and when it is recited to them...}, the verse: have you not seen in me what they told you?"

I said: "Yes, except one thing between your two shoulders."

He cast off his garment therefore, and behold, the seal; I kissed it, and I said:

"I bear witness that there is no deity but Allah, and that you are the Messenger of Allah."

He said: "O my son, you are Salman."

He called Ali, and said: "Go to Khulayssa, and say to her:

Muhammad says to you: either you free this one, or I free him: for wisdom forbids you his service."

I said: "O Messenger of Allah, I bear witness that she has not accepted Islam."

He said: "O Salman, know you not what happened after you? Her cousin entered upon her, offered her Islam, and she accepted it."

Ali set out therefore, and behold, she was mentioning the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him; Ali informed her.

She said: "Go to my brother (he means the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and say to him:

if I wish, I free him; and if I wish, he is yours."

He said: I would go and return to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and Khulayssa would hold me back.

The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said to me one day: "Let us go and reward Khulayssa."

I was with him fifteen days in her orchard: he would teach me and I would help him, until we planted for her three hundred offshoots.

When the heat of the sun bore hard upon him, the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, would place upon his head a small awning of wool for me: he sweated in it many a time; I never placed it upon my head after that, in magnification of him and to preserve his scent, and I did not cease hiding it and drawing fibers from it, until there remained of it four fingers; I went out once upon an expedition, and it fell from me.

This hadith is half-forged.

Abou Mou'adh is unknown, as is Moussa.

Isma'il ibn 'Isa al-'Attar: Ishaq ibn Bichr narrated to us, Abou 'Oubaydallah at-Taymi narrated to me, from Ibn Lahi'a, from Abou Qabil, who said:

Salman was told: "Inform us of your Islam."

He said: "I was a Magian; I saw as if the Resurrection had risen, and the people gathered each to his form, and the Magian gathered to the forms of dogs: I was terrified.

I saw also of the seer that the people were gathered each to his form, and that the Magians were gathered to the forms of swine: I left my religion, fled, and came to Syria.

I found Jews there, entered their religion, read their books, approved their religion, and I was among them a master of debate.

I saw in what the sleeper sees that the people were gathered, and that the Jews were brought: they were flayed, then cast into the fire wherein they were burned, then brought out, their skins changed, then returned into the fire.

I awoke, fled from Judaism, came to a people of Christians, entered their religion, was with them in their association, and I was among them a master of debate; I saw as if an angel seized me, and brought me upon the bridge, over the fire, and he said: cross here."

The master of the bridge said: "Look: if his religion is Christianity, cast him into the fire."

I awoke, terrified.

Then I inquired of a monk who was

truthful to me, and he said:

"That upon which you are is the religion of the king; but attend to the yaqubiyya." I rejected that, made for the peninsula (Jazira), and attached myself to a monk of Nassibin who followed the opinion of the yaqoubiyya, and I was among them a master of debate.

I saw in what the sleeper sees that Ibrahim, the friend of the Merciful, stood by the Throne, distinguishing him who followed his creed that he might make him enter Paradise, and him who followed another creed: he was carried to the fire; I fled therefore from that monk, and came to a monk one hundred and fifty years old, and informed him of my story; he said:

"That which you seek is no longer today upon the back of the earth: that is the religion of purity, the religion of the people of Paradise; it is near, and its era has covered you: a prophet of Yathrib calls to this religion."

I said: "What is the name of this man?"

He said: "He has five names, written upon the Throne: Muhammad; in the Gospel: Ahmad; on the Day of Resurrection: Mahmoud; upon the bridge: Hammoud; and at the gate of Paradise: Hamid; and he is of the descendants of Ismail, and he is of Quraysh."

And he unrolled much of his description, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.

He said: I journeyed therefore through the wilderness; the Arabs took me captive and employed me for years; I fled from them, until he said:

"When I embraced Islam, Ali kissed my head, and Abou Bakr clothed me with what he wore..., until he said: O Salman, you are the mawla of Allah and of His Messenger."

And this last saying is munkar.

In its chain a liar, who is Ishaq, besides his irsal, the weakness of Ibn Lahi'a and of at-Taymi.

Samawayh reported: 'Amr ibn Hammad al-Qannad narrated to us, Asbat ibn Nasr narrated to us, from as-Soudi, from Abou Malik, and from Abou Salih, from Ibn Abbas, and from Mourra, from Ibn Mas'oud, and from people among the companions of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, concerning His saying: {Those who believed, and those who became Jews...}, the verse: it was revealed concerning the companions of Salman; he was of the people of the Jund of

Sabour, and he was among their nobles; and the son of the king was his truthful friend, of like age, and the two of them would ride out to the hunt.

While they were hunting, a tent of cloaks was raised for them; they came to it: behold, a man, before him a codex, reading in it and weeping.

They asked him: "What is this?"

He said: "Whoever wishes to know this cannot stand in your station: alight."

They alighted to him, and he said: "This is a book come from with Allah: in it He commands His obedience and forbids His disobedience; in it, that you not fornicate, nor steal, nor take the wealth of people without right." He unrolled to the two of them what was in it: it was the Gospel; they followed him therefore, and they embraced Islam.

And he said: "The slaughtered beast of your people is forbidden to you two." And they did not cease learning from him until it was the festival of the king; he prepared food, gathered the people and the nobles, and sent to the son of the king, inviting him to eat; he refused, and said: I am withheld from you.

When he insisted much upon him, he informed that he ate not of their food.

The king said to him: "Who informed you of this?"

He mentioned to him the monk; the monk was sought, and questioned, and he said:

"Your son has spoken true."

He said: "Were not the blood so grave, I would kill you: depart from our land."

He granted him a respite; we rose weeping over him, and he said:

"If you two speak true, then I have a house at Mosul with sixty men, worshipping Allah: come to us."

The monk went out, and Salman and the son of the king remained; Salman began saying to the son of the king: "Let us go,"

and the son of the king said: "Yes."

He began selling his goods intending the equipment, and was slow; Salman went out therefore until he joined them, and lodged with his companion, who was the master of the house.

Salman was with him, striving in worship; the elder said to him:

"You are a young lad, and I fear you slacken: be gentle with yourself."

He said: "Leave me."

Then the master of the house called him, and said:

"You know that this house is mine, and that, were I to wish

to expel these, I would do so; but I am a man too weak for the worship of these, and I wish to move to a house whose people are lighter in worship: if you wish to remain here, remain."

He remained there therefore, devoting himself with them.

Then his elder wished to come to the Holy House; he called Salman and informed him; he set out with him; they passed by an impotent man upon the road, who cried:

"O master of the monks, have mercy upon me."

He spoke not to him until he came to the Holy House, and said to Salman:

"Go out, and seek knowledge: to the mosque come the scholars of the people of the earth."

Salman went out to hear from them.

He went out one day sorrowful, and the elder said to him: "What is your matter?"

He said: "I see all the good carried off by those who were before us, of the prophets and their followers."

He said: "True: grieve not, for there remains a prophet, and no prophet has a following more excellent than his; this is his era, and I see not that I reach him; perhaps you will reach him; he will arise in the land of the Arabs: if you reach him, believe in him."

He said: "Inform me of his sign."

He said: "Marked upon his back with the seal of prophethood; he eats the gift, and eats not the alms."

Then the two returned until they reached the place of the impotent man, who called them:

"O master of the monks, have mercy upon me, may Allah have mercy upon you."

He bent his donkey toward him, took his hand, then raised it, struck the earth with it, invoked for him, and said: "Rise, by the permission of Allah."

He rose sound, strengthening; the monk went out and vanished from Salman, and Salman sought him.

Two men of Kalb met him, and he said: "Have you seen the monk?"

One of the two made his mount kneel, and said: "Yes: the herdsman of this ewe."

He set out with him toward Medina.

Salman said: "A sorrow seized me such as nothing had ever seized me.

A woman of Jouhayna bought him, and he shepherded for her, he and a young lad of hers, taking turns with the sheep; Salman gathered dirhams, awaiting the going forth of Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him."

While he shepherded, his companion came to him and said: "Have you learned that there has come to Medina a man who claims to be a prophet?"

He said: "Stay with the sheep until I come back."

He went down to Medina, looked at the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and saw the seal of prophethood; then he set out, bought for a dinar, for half of it, a sheep, and roasted it, and for half of it bread, and came with it.

The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said: "What is this?"

He said: "Alms."

He said: "I have no need of it: take it out, that the Muslims may eat it."

Then he went back, bought for another dinar bread and meat, and came with it; he said: "This is a gift."

The two of them ate, and Salman informed the Prophet of the account of his companions; he said: "They fasted, prayed, and bore witness that you would be sent."

He said: "O Salman, they are people of the Fire."

That weighed upon Salman, whereas he had said: had they reached you, they would have believed you and followed you.

Allah therefore sent down: {Those who believed, and those who followed Judaism, and the Christians, and the Sabeans...}, the verse, sourate al-Baqara, verse 62.

Al-Hasan ibn Ya'qoub al-Boukhari and al-Asamm said:

Yahya ibn Ja'far narrated to us, Ali ibn 'Asim narrated to us, Hatim ibn Abi Saghira narrated to us, from Simak ibn Harb, from Zayd ibn Souhan:

that two men of the people of Koufa were his friends; they came to him that he might speak for the two of them

to Salman, that he narrate to them his story.

They came therefore with him, and met Salman at the Mada'in as governor: behold, he upon a chair, and before him palm fronds that he was stripping.

He said: we greeted him, and we sat.

Zayd said to him: "O Abou Abdallah, what was the beginning of your Islam?"

He said: "I was an orphan of Ram-Hormoz; the son of its dehqan came to a teacher who instructed him, and I attached myself to him to be under his wing; I had a brother older than I, who was self-sufficient, and I was a young boy; when the teacher rose from his seat, those who kept them dispersed; when they dispersed, he went out, covered his head with his garment, then climbed the mountain: he did that more than once, in disguise.

I said to him: you do such and such: why do you not take me with you?

He said: you are a young boy, and I fear something appear from you.

I said: fear not.

He said: in this mountain are people in a hermitage: they have worship and righteousness; they claim that we are worshippers of fires and idols, and that we follow a religion other than theirs.

I said: take me then with you to them.

He said: I have no power over that until I consult them; I fear something appear from you and be known, or that these people be killed: their loss would be upon my hand.

I said: that will not appear from me: consult them then.

He said: I have at home an orphan young boy who has loved to come to you and hear your words.

They said: if you trust him.

He said: I hope so.

He said to me: come to me at the hour you saw me go out, and let no one know of you.

When the hour came, I followed him; he climbed the mountain, and we reached the people.

Ali ibn 'Asim said: I see him saying: they were six or seven.

He said: and as if the spirit had gone out of them in worship: they fasted the day, stood the night, and ate at dawn what they found.

We sat with them, and they spoke: they praised Allah, and mentioned those of the prophets and messengers who had passed, until they came to the mention of 'Issa; they said:

Allah sent 'Issa as a messenger, and made subject to him what he did: bringing the dead to life, creating the bird, healing the blind-born and the leper; a people disbelieved in him, a people followed him, whereas he was but the servant of Allah and His messenger: Allah tried by him

His creation.

And they had said before: "O young boy, you have indeed a Lord, and you shall indeed have a return; before you are a Paradise and a Fire, toward which you shall come; and these who worship fires are people of disbelief and error: they follow no religion."

When came the hour in which the young boy withdrew, I withdrew with him; then we came to them in the morning, and they said that and better, and I attached myself to them.

They said to me: "O Salman, you are a young boy, and you cannot do as we do: pray and sleep, eat and drink."

The king inquired after the deed of his son, and rode on horseback until he reached them in their hermitage.

He said: "O you there, you have dwelt as neighbors of mine, and I made your neighborliness good; you saw no evil of me, and you deliberately corrupted my son against me: I grant you three days; if I prevail over you after that, I shall burn for you your hermitage."

They said: "Yes." And he restrained his son from coming to them.

I said to him: "Fear Allah: you know this religion is the religion of Allah, and that your father is in a religion other: sell not therefore your Hereafter for another's world."

He said: "It is as you say; but I remain behind the people to outlast them."

He said: I came to them on the day they wished to break camp, and they said:

"O Salman, we feared what you saw: fear Allah, and know the religion is what we recommended to you: let none deceive you concerning your religion."

I said: "I shall not leave you."

They said: "Take then something to eat: you cannot do what we can."

I did so, and met my brother, and proposed to him that I walk with them; Allah granted safety until we arrived at Mosul; we came to a house; when they entered it, people thronged them and said: where were you?

They said: "We were in a land where the fire-worshippers mention not Allah, the Most High: we were driven from it, and came to you."

Later, they said: "O Salman, here is a people in these mountains: they are people

of religion, and we wish their meeting: remain you then here."

I said: "I shall not leave you."

They went out, and I with them; at morning they were between mountains: behold much water, much bread, and a rock, beside which we sat.

When the sun rose, they came out from among those mountains, man after man from his station, as if the spirits had been torn from them, until they were many; they welcomed them, thronged them, and said: "Where were you?"

They said: "We were in a land wherein are fire-worshippers."

They said: "And this young boy, what is he?"

They began praising me, and said: "He is of our companions come from that land."

By Allah, they were just so, when a man came out of a cave upon them; he came, greeted, they thronged him, my companions magnified him, and he said: "Where were you?"

They informed him, and he said: "And this young boy, what is he?"

They praised me; he praised Allah, glorified Him, mentioned His messengers, mentioned the birth of 'Issa son of Maryam, that he was born without a male, that Allah sent him as a messenger, made to flow between his hands the bringing back of the dead to life, that he creates from clay the form of a bird, breathes into it, and it becomes a bird by the permission of Allah, that the Gospel was sent down upon him, that he taught him the Torah, and that he sent him a messenger to the Banu Israil: a people disbelieved in him, a people believed..., until he said:

"Hold fast then to what 'Issa brought, and do not differ, else you be made to differ."

Then he said: "Whoever wishes to take of this something, let him take."

The man began rising, taking the jar of water, the food and the thing.

My companions with whom I had come rose to him, greeted him, magnified him, and he said to them:

"Hold fast to this religion, and beware you differ; and entrust this young boy with good."

And he said to me: "O young boy, this is the religion of Allah that you hear me speak: whatever is besides it is disbelief."

I said: "I shall not leave you."

He said: "You cannot be with me: I go out of this cave of mine but one day in one."

I said: "I shall not leave you."

His companions said to him: "O Abou so-and-so, this is a young boy, and he is feared for."

He said to me: "You know best."

I said: "I shall not leave you then."

My companions wept at my parting, and he said: "O young boy, take of this food what suffices you for the other day, and take of water wherewith you suffice."

I did so; I never saw him sleeping nor eating, save bowing

and prostrating, until the other day.

When morning came, he said: "Take this your jar, and go."

I went out following him, until we reached the rock; behold, they had come out from among those mountains awaiting his going out; they hastened, he returned to his discourse, and said:

"Hold fast to this religion, do not differ, mention Allah, and know that 'Issa was a servant of Allah whom He favored."

They said: "How did you find this young boy?"

He praised me; behold, much bread and much water: they took what sufficed them, and I did the same; they dispersed into those mountains, and we returned to the cave; we remained as long as Allah willed: he went out each day, and they thronged him.

One day he went out, praised Allah, the Most High, exhorted them, then said:

"O you there, my years have grown great, my bone has thinned, my term has drawn near; and I have no engagement to this house since such and such, and it must be visited: entrust then this young boy with good, for I have seen him: no harm in him."

The people grieved, and said: "You are old, and you are alone: we cannot be sure that something befall you while we are not with you. How we have had need of you!"

He said: "Do not gainsay me."

I said: "I shall not leave you."

He said: "O Salman, you have seen my state and what I was upon; and this is not so: I walk, I fast the day and stand the night, and I cannot carry with me provisions nor anything else; and you cannot do this."

I said: "I shall not leave you."

He said: "You know best."

They wept, bade him farewell, and I followed him mentioning Allah, neither turning, nor pausing upon anything, until we came to evening.

He said: "Pray you, and sleep and rise, and eat and drink."

Then he rose praying, until we reached the Holy House; he did not raise his gaze to the sky: behold, at the door of the mosque an impotent man, and he said:

"O servant of Allah, you see my state: bestow upon me something as charity."

He turned not to him, entered the mosque, and began seeking places wherein to pray.

Then he said: "O Salman, I have not slept since such and such: if you engage yourself to wake me when the shade reaches such and such a place, I shall sleep; for I love to sleep in this mosque, else I sleep not."

I said: "I shall do so."

He slept, and I said to myself: this one has not slept since such and such: I shall let him sleep.

When he walked and I was with him, he would turn to me, exhort me, inform me that I have a Lord, that before me are a Paradise, a Fire and a reckoning, and remind me much as he reminded the people the first day.

Until he said: "O Salman, Allah shall send a messenger whose name is Ahmad, who will come forth by the Tihama." And he was a non-Arab man unable to say Muhammad: "His sign is that he eats the gift and eats not the alms; between his two shoulders, the seal of prophethood; and this is his era, that in which he will come forth, which has drawn near; as for me, I am a very old man, and I think not to reach him: if you reach him, believe him, and follow him."

I said: "And if he commands me to abandon your religion and that upon which you are?"

He said: "Yes: for the pleasure of the Merciful is in what he will say."

Scarcely a little time had passed before he awoke frightened, mentioning Allah, the Most High, and said:

"O Salman, the light has passed from this place, and I mentioned not Allah: where were you, what did you set upon yourself?"

I said: "Because you had not slept since such and such, I wished you complete your due of sleep."

He praised Allah, rose, went out, and I followed him; he passed by the impotent man and said:

"O servant of Allah, you entered, I asked you and you gave me not; you went out, I asked you and you gave me not."

He rose to look whether he saw anyone: he saw none; he drew near him, and said to him: "Give me your hand."

He gave it, and he said: "In the name of Allah."

He rose as if he sprang from a fetter, sound, without flaw; he went on his way, leaning upon no one, and supporting himself on nothing.

The impotent man said to me: "O young boy, carry my garments upon you until I go and bear good tidings to my family."

I carried his garments upon me, and he went without leaning upon me; I went out on his trail seeking him: whenever I asked of him, they said: "He is before you."

Until a caravan of Kalb met me; I asked them,

when they heard my tongue, a man of them made his camel kneel, set me behind him, until they brought me to their land and sold me; a woman of the Ansars bought me, and set me in an orchard of hers.

The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, arrived; I was informed of him; I took dates from my orchard and came to him, and found with him people, and Abou Bakr was the nearest of people to him; I set them before him.

He said: "What is this?"

I said: "Alms."

He said: "Eat", and he ate not.

Then I remained as long as Allah willed, then took the like of that and came to him with it, and found with him people, and set it before him.

He said: "What is this?"

I said: "A gift."

He said: "In the name of Allah", and he ate, and the people ate.

I said to myself: this is of his signs.

My master was a non-Arab man, unable to say Tihama: he said "Touhma."

He said: I circled behind him: he was alert to me, let down his garment, and behold, the seal at the corner of his left shoulder; I examined it, then circled until I sat before him, and I said:

"I bear witness that there is no deity but Allah, and that you are the Messenger of Allah."

He said: "Who are you?"

I said: "An enslaved one." And I narrated to him my story and the story of the one with whom I was, and what he had commanded me.

He said: "Of whom are you?"

I said: "Of a woman of the Ansars, who set me in an orchard of hers."

He said: "O Abou Bakr!"

He said: "At your service."

He said: "Buy him."

Abou Bakr bought me therefore and freed me; I remained as long as Allah willed, then came to him, greeted him, sat before him, and I said: "O Messenger of Allah, what do you say of the religion of the Christians?"

He said: "There is no good in them, nor in their religion."

A great grief entered me, and I said to myself: the one who raised the impotent man: there is no good in these, nor in their religion.

I departed therefore with in myself what Allah willed, and Allah sent down upon His prophet: {That is because among them are priests and monks, and they are not arrogant} (sourate al-Ma'ida, verse 82).

The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said: "Salman must be brought to me."

The messenger came to me, and I was fearful,

I came to him; he recited: "In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate: {That is because among them are priests...}

Then he said: "O Salman, those with whom you were, and your companion, were not Christians: they were Muslims."

I said: "By Him who sent you with the truth, it is he who commanded me to follow you." And I said to him: "And if he had commanded me to abandon your religion and that upon which you are? He said: yes: abandon it then, for it is the truth."

This hadith has a good chain: al-Hakim judged it authentic.

Sa'dawayh al-Wasiti, Ahmad ibn Hatim at-Tawil and a group said:

Abdallah ibn Abd al-Qoudous ar-Razi narrated to us, 'Oubayd al-Mouktib narrated to us, Abou at-Toufayl 'Amir ibn Wathila narrated to me, Salman al-Farisi narrated to me, who said:

"I was a man of the people of Jayy, and the people of my village worshipped the balq horses; and I knew they followed nothing; it was said to me: what you seek is only in the Maghreb.

I came to Mosul, asked after the best man there, and was directed to a man in a cell; I came to him, and I said to him:

"I am a man of the people of Jayy, and I have come seeking knowledge: take me to you, I shall serve you, be your companion, and you shall teach me what Allah has taught you."

He said: "Yes."

He put me through what he was put through: he was given salt, oil and grains; I did not cease being with him until death came down upon him; I sat at his head weeping.

He said: "What makes you weep?"

I said: "It makes me weep that I went out from my land seeking good, that Allah granted me to be your companion, that you taught me and kept my company well, and that death comes down upon you: and I know not where to go?"

He said: "I have a brother in the peninsula, at such and such

a place: he is upon the truth; go to him, convey to him the salam from me, inform him that I recommended you to him, and that I recommended to you his company."

When he was taken, I came to the man he described to me and informed him; he took me to him, and I was his companion as long as Allah willed, then death came down upon him, and he bequeathed me to a man near the Byzantines.

When he was taken, I came to him, and he took me to him; when death came upon him, I wept, and he said:

"There remains none upon the religion of 'Issa whom I know; but this is the era when a prophet will come forth, or has come forth, by the Tihama; you are upon the road: let none pass by you but that you ask him of him; and when it reaches you that he has come forth, go to him: he is the prophet whom 'Issa announced, and the sign of that is..., and he mentioned the seal, the gift, and the alms."

He said: "He died, and people of the people of Mecca passed by me, and I asked them.

They said: yes: there has appeared among us a man who claims to be a prophet."

I said to one of them: "Would you accept that I be your slave, on condition that you carry me behind you and feed me of the crumbs?"

A man said: "I."

I became his slave therefore, until he brought me to Mecca; he set me in an orchard of his with two Abyssinians who were in it; I went out questioning, and met a woman of my country people; I asked her, and the people of her house had accepted Islam.

She said to me: "The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, sits in the Hijr, he and his companions: when the little bird of Mecca cries, and dawn shines upon them, they disperse."

I set out therefore to the orchard, and I would come by night.

The two Abyssinians said to me: "What is your matter?"

I said: "I complain of my belly, and I only did that so that they not lose me." When the hour came that she told me of, I went out walking, until I saw the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him: behold, he crouched, his companions around him; I came to him from behind, and he let hang his mantle, and I saw the seal of prophethood between his two shoulders.

I said: "Allah is greater! This is the first."

Then I departed; the next night I gleaned good dates, came to the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, with them and set them before him, and he said: "What is this?"

I said: "Alms."

Until he said: "Go then, and buy your soul."

I set out to my master, and I said: "Sell me my soul."

He said: "Yes: on condition that you make bear

for me a hundred palm trees; when you have made them bear, come to me with the weight of a pit of gold."

I came to the Messenger of Allah and informed him, and he said: "Buy your soul with that, and bring me a bucket of water from the well from which you used to water those palms."

The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, invoked in it for me, then I watered them: by Allah, I planted a hundred palms, and left not a single palm but it sprouted.

I informed the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and he gave me a piece of gold; I set out with it, placed it in the pan of the balance, and they placed in the other side a pit: by Allah, the piece of gold did not lift from the ground; I came to the Messenger of Allah and informed him, and he freed me.

This hadith is munkar, not authentic.

And Abdallah ibn Abd al-Qoudous: abandoned in narration.

Ath-Thawri and Charik sustained him in part of the hadith; as for him, he named the hadith and corrupted it: he mentioned Mecca, the Hijr, that there are orchards there, and he erred in the places.

Reported part of it: Abou Ahmad az-Zoubeiri, from Soufyan, from al-'Ala', from Abou at-Toufayl.

And reported it: al-Moubarak, brother of ath-Thawri, from his father, from 'Oubayd al-Mouktib, who said:

from Abou al-Bakhtari, from Salman.

In all these narrations: I was of the people of Jayy.

And al-Firyabi and others said: from Soufyan, from 'Awf, from Abou Othmane, from Salman, who said:

"I was a man of Ram-Hormoz; and the Persian version, Ibn Manda named it: Ummat Allah."

At-Tabarani, in "his Musjam al-Kabir": Ahmad ibn Dawoud al-Makki narrated to us, Qays ibn Hafs ad-Darimi narrated to us, Maslama ibn 'Alqama narrated to us, Dawoud ibn Abi Hind narrated to us, from

Simak ibn Harb, from Salama al-'Ijli, who said:

"There came to me from the desert a son of my sister, called Qoudama, who said: I love to meet Salman.

We set out to him, and greeted him; we found him at the Mada'in; he was that day governor of twenty thousand, and we found him upon a bed of fibers, stripping palm fronds.

I said: "O Abou Abdallah, this is the son of my sister who has come: he wished to greet you."

He said: "And upon him the salam, the mercy of Allah and His blessings."

I said: "He claims he loves you."

He said: "Allah has loved him."

We conversed, and we said: "Will you not narrate to us your origin?"

He said: "I am of the people of Ram-Hormoz: we were a Magian people; a Christian came to me from the peninsula, whose mother was of us; he lodged among us and took a monastery; I was at the school of the Persian tongue, and a young boy with me at school did not cease coming back beaten and weeping.

One day I said to him: what makes you weep?

He said: my parents beat me.

I said: why?

He said: I go to this monastery: when they know it, they beat me; and you, were you to go to him, you would hear from him a wondrous account.

I said: take me then with you.

We went to him, and he narrated to us the beginning of creation, Paradise and the Fire; and I went to him with him; young boys of the school became aware of us, and began coming with us.

When the people of the village saw that, they said to him: O Hana, you have dwelt as our neighbor and seen of us only good; we see our young boys coming to you, and we fear you corrupt them: depart from us.

He said: "Very well."

And he said to that young boy: "Come out with me."

He said: "I cannot: you know the severity of my parents upon me."

I said: "I shall go out with you: I was an orphan, I have no father."

I went out therefore; we took the mountain of Ram-Hormoz, walking and relying [on Allah], eating of the fruit of trees, until we arrived at the peninsula, and arrived at Nassibin.

He said: "Here is a people, worshippers, the most devout of the people of the earth."

We came to them on Sunday, and they had gathered; he greeted them, they returned his greeting, rejoiced in him, and said: "Where was your absence?"

He said: "I was among brothers of mine from the side of Persia."

Then my companion said: "Rise, O

Salman."

I said: "No, leave me with these."

He said: "You cannot endure what these endure: they fast from Sunday to Sunday, sleep not this night, and among them is a man of the sons of kings who left the kingship and entered into worship." I was among them until we came to evening; they began going one by one to the cave wherein each is.

He said to me: "O Salman, this is bread, and this is a relish: eat when you tire, fast when you are strong, and pray as seems good to you."

Then he stood in his prayer, spoke not to me, and looked not at me; sorrow seized me those seven days, until it was Sunday: we went to their gathering place.

Until my companion said: "I intend going out to the Holy House": I rejoiced, and said: we shall travel and meet the people.

We went out; he fasted from Sunday to Sunday, prayed the whole night, and walked by day; that did not cease being his habit until we reached the Holy House; at its door was an impotent man asking the people, and he said: "Give me."

He said: "I have nothing with me."

We entered the Holy House; they rejoiced in him and rejoiced, and he said to them:

"This my young boy: entrust him well."

They fed me bread and meat, and he entered into prayer, and did not yield until it was Sunday; he said to me:

"O Salman, I wish to sleep: when the shade reaches such and such a place, wake me."

He slept, and I woke him not, sparing him his habit.

He awoke aggrieved, and said: "Had I not said to you?"

Then he said to me: "Know that the best of religion today is Christianity."

I said: "And there will be after today a religion better than it (a word cast upon my tongue)?"

He said: "Yes: it is near that a prophet be sent..., until he said:

"There met me a company of Kalb: they took me captive, and at Medina a man of the Ansars bought me, and set me among palms; from there I learned the work of the fronds: I buy fronds for a dirham, work them, sell them for two dirhams: I return one dirham into the fronds, and spend one dirham which I love to be of the work of my hand."

He said: "It reached us that a man had gone forth in Mecca, claiming that Allah sent him.

He said: he emigrated therefore to us..., until he said:

I said: "O Messenger of Allah, which are the people, the Christians?"

He said: "There is no good in them, nor in whoever loves them."

I said to myself: "I, by Allah, love them."

He said: and that at the time he sent out the light troops and unsheathed the sword: a troop entering, a troop going out, and the sword dripping.

I said: "It will be said of me that I love them, and he will send to me and strike my neck."

I remained therefore in the house; the messenger came to me: "Answer the Messenger of Allah."

I feared, and said: "Go, I shall join you."

He said: "No, by Allah, until you come."

I set out therefore; when he saw me he smiled, and said: "O Salman, receive good news: Allah has already relieved you."

Then he recited to me: {Those to whom We gave the Book before it believe in it, and when it is recited to them they say: we believe in it...} until His saying: {We seek not the ignorant} (sourate al-Qasas, verse 52).

I said: "By Him who sent you with the truth, I did hear my companion say (he means the monk): were I to reach him and he command me to cast myself into the fire, I would cast myself into it: he is a prophet, he says only truth, and commands only right."

Very gharib.

And Salama: unknown.

Baqi ibn Makhlad said in "his Musnad": Yahya al-Himmani narrated to us, Charik narrated to us, from 'Oubayd al-Mouktib, from Abou at-Toufayl, from Salman, who said:

"I went out seeking knowledge to Syria, and they said to me:

a prophet has appeared by the Tihama.

I went out therefore to Medina, and sent to him quarter-measures of dates, and he said: "Is it a gift or alms?"

I said: "Alms."

He withheld his hand, and gestured to his companions to eat.

Then I followed him with quarter-measures of dates, and I said: "This is a gift."

He ate, and they ate.

I stood at his head: he was aware of me, cast his cloak from his back, and behold, in his back the seal of prophethood; I cast myself upon him, and pronounced the two testimonies.

Its chain is sound.

Al-Boukhari extracted from the hadith of Soulayman at-Taymi, from Abou Othmane an-Nahdi, from Salman al-Farisi, who said:

"I was passed about seventeen times, from master to master."

Yahya al-Himmani: Charik narrated to us, from 'Oubayd al-Mouktib, from Abou at-Toufayl, from Salman, who said:

"I wrote my manumission, and the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, helped me with an egg of gold: were it weighed with all of Uhud, it would be heavier than it."

Hammad ibn Salama: Ali ibn Zayd informed us, from Abou Othmane, from Salman, who said:

"I wrote manumission to my people upon condition that I plant for them five hundred offshoots: when they take hold, I am free."

The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said: "When you intend to plant, let me know."

I let him know; he planted with his hand, save one alone which I planted; all took hold save the one I had planted.

Qays ibn ar-Rabi' reported: Abou Hashim narrated to us, from Zadhan, from Salman, who said:

"I read in the Torah that blessing descends in ablution before the meal; I mentioned that to the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and he said: it descends before the meal in ablution, and in ablution after it."

Abou Badr as-Sakouni reported, from Qabous ibn Abi Dhibyan, from his father, from Salman:

the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said to me: "O Salman, hate me not, else you part from your religion."

I said: "May my father and mother be my ransom! How should I hate you, by whom Allah guided me?"

He said: "You will hate the Arabs, and you will hate me."

His merits and his rank

Qabous ibn Hasana:

at-Tirmidhi said: Yahya ibn 'Oqba ibn Abi al-'Ayzar is among the weak; from Muhammad ibn Jouhada, from Anas, who said:

The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said: "I am the forerunner of the sons of Adam, and Salman the forerunner of the Persians."

Ibn 'Oulayya reported, from Younous ibn 'Oubayd, from al-Hasan:

the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said: "Salman is the forerunner of the Persians."

This hadith is mursal, and its meaning is authentic.

Ibn Abi Foudayk reported, from Kathir ibn Abdallah ibn 'Amr ibn 'Awf, from his father, from his grandfather:

that the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, traced the trench in the year of the confederates, and the Emigrants and the Ansars disputed

over Salman al-Farisi, who was a strong man.

The Emigrants said: "Salman is of us."

The Ansars said: "Salman is of us."

The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said: "Salman is of us, the people of the house."

Kathir: abandoned.

Hammad ibn Salama reported, from Thabit, from Mou'awiya ibn Qourra, from 'A'idh ibn 'Amr:

that Abou Soufyan passed by Salman, Bilal and Souhayb in a company, and they said:

"The swords of Allah have not taken from the neck of the enemy of Allah the taking they should."

Abou Bakr said: "Do you say this to the elder of Quraysh and its chief?!"

Then he came to the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and informed him, and he said: "O Abou Bakr, perhaps you angered them: if you angered them, you angered your Lord."

Abou Bakr came to them therefore and said: "O my two brothers, have I angered you?"

They said: "No, O Abou Bakr: may Allah forgive you."

Al-Waqidi said: the first expedition of Salman al-Farisi was the trench.

Ahmad, in "his Musnad": Ibn Noumayr narrated to us, Charik narrated to us, Abou Rabi'a narrated to us, from Ibn Bourayda:

from his father, raised [to the Prophet]: "Allah loves four of my companions, and commanded me to love them: Ali, Abou Dhar, Salman and al-Miqdad."

Unique to Abou Rabi'a.

Al-Hasan ibn Salih ibn Hayy reported, from Abou Rabi'a al-Basri, from al-Hasan, from Anas, who said:

The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said: "Paradise yearns after three: Ali, Ammar and Salman."

Ya'la ibn 'Oubayd reported: al-A'mach narrated to us, from 'Amr ibn Mourra, from Abou al-Bakhtari, who said:

Ali was asked: "Inform us of the companions of Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him."

He said: "Which of them do you ask about?"

It was said: "Abdallah."

He said: "He knew the Quran and the Sunna, then stopped: his knowledge suffices."

They said: "Ammar?"

He said: "A believer who forgets: remind him and he remembers."

They said: "Abou Dhar?"

He said: "He retained knowledge the others could not retain."

They said: "Abou Moussa?"

He said: "He was dyed in knowledge, then went out of it."

They said: "Houdayfa?"

He said: "The most knowing of the companions of Muhammad of the hypocrites."

They said: "Salman?"

He said: "He attained the first knowledge and the last knowledge: a sea whose depth cannot be reached; and he is of us, the people of the house."

They said: "And you, O Commander of the Believers?"

He said: "When I asked, I was given; and when I kept silent, I was taught."

Mouslim ibn Khalid az-Zanji and others, from al-'Ala' ibn Abd ar-Rahman, from his father, from Abou Hourayra:

that the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, recited this verse: {And if you turn away, He will replace you by a people

other than you}.

They said: "O Messenger of Allah, who are these?"

He said: he struck the thigh of Salman al-Farisi, then said: "This one and his people: were religion at the Pleiades, men of the Persians would reach it."

Its chain is middle.

Waki' reported, from al-A'mach, from Abou Salih, who said:

There reached the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, the saying of Salman to Abou ad-Darda: "Your family has a right upon you."

He said: "May the mother of Salman lose her son: he has taken of knowledge amply."

Chayban reported, from Qatada, of His saying: {And with him is knowledge of the Book}: he said: Salman, and Abdallah ibn Salam.

Ishaq al-Azraq reported, from Ibn 'Awn, from Ibn Sirin:

that the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said to Abou ad-Darda: "O 'Owaymir, Salman is more learned than you: do not single out the night of Friday for standing, nor its day for fasting."

Mis'ar reported, from 'Amr ibn Mourra, from Abou al-Bakhtari, from Ali, who said:

"Salman pursued the first knowledge and the last knowledge, and what he has cannot be reached."

Hibban ibn Ali reported: Ibn Jurayj narrated to us, from Abou Harb ibn Abi al-Aswad, from his father, and from a man, from Zadhan; the two said:

"We were with Ali, and we said: tell us about Salman.

He said: who among you matches Luqman the wise? That is a man of us and toward us, the people of the house: he attained the first knowledge and the last knowledge, a sea that is not drained."

Mou'awiya ibn Salih reported, from Rabi'a ibn Yazid, from Abou Idris al-Khawlani, from Yazid ibn 'Oumayra, who said:

When death came upon Mou'adh, we said: "Bequeath us."

He said: "Seat me."

Then he said: "Faith and knowledge have their place: whoever seeks them finds them (he said it thrice); seek then knowledge with four: Abou ad-Darda, Salman, Ibn Mas'oud, and Abdallah ibn Salam, who was a Jew then embraced Islam; for I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, say: he is the tenth of ten in Paradise."

Al-Layth reported it, and his scribe from him.

And al-Mada'ini reported that Salman al-Farisi said:

"Were I to narrate to them all that I know, they would say: may Allah have mercy upon the slayer of Salman."

Ma'mar reported, from Qatada: between Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas and Salman there was something, and he said: "Give yourself a lineage, O Salman."

He said: "I know for myself no father in Islam, but I am Salman son of Islam."

That was carried to 'Omar, who met Sa'd and said: "Give yourself a lineage, O Sa'd."

He said: "I adjure you by Allah, O Commander of the Believers."

He said: and as if he understood; he refused to leave him until he gave himself a lineage.

Then he said: "Quraysh know that al-Khattab was the noblest of them in the Jahiliya, and I am Omar son of Islam, brother of Salman son of Islam; by Allah, but for one thing I would punish you: do you not know that a man who attaches himself to nine fathers in the Jahiliya shall be their tenth in the Fire?"

'Affan reported: Ja'far ibn Soulayman narrated to us, from Thabit, who said:

'Omar wrote to Salman: "Visit me."

Salman went out to him; when 'Omar learned of his coming, he said: "Let us go and meet him."

'Omar met him, attached himself to him, questioned him, and they returned.

Then 'Omar said to him: "O my brother, has anything reached you of me that you dislike?"

He said: "It reached me that you gather upon your table butter and meat; and it reached me that you have two garments: one you wear among your family, and another in which you go out."

He said: "Is there anything else?"

He said: "No."

He said: "You have been spared this."

Al-Hasan ibn Soufyan, in "his Musnad": Muhammad ibn Bakkar as-Sayrafi narrated to us, Hajjaj ibn Farrroukh narrated to us, Ibn Jurayj narrated to us, from 'Ata, from Ibn Abbas, who said:

Salman arrived from an absence of his; 'Omar met him and said: "You have pleased me for Allah as a servant."

He said: "Marry me then."

He fell silent before him.

He said: "You please me for Allah as a servant, and you do not please me for yourself?"

At morning, the people of 'Omar came to him that he turn away the marriage petition of 'Omar, and he said:

"By Allah, neither his command nor his authority moved me to this; but I said: a virtuous man: perhaps Allah will bring forth from among us a virtuous soul."

Hajjaj: exhausted.

Sa'id ibn Soulayman al-Wasiti reported: 'Oqba ibn Abi as-Sahba narrated to us, Ibn Sirin narrated to us, 'Abida as-Salmani narrated to us:

that Salman passed before a stone village of the Mada'in on expedition, being commander of the army, and he was the outrider behind a man of Kinda upon a saddled mule.

His companions said: "Give us

the banner, O commander: we shall carry it."

He refused, until he finished his expedition and returned, and he was the outrider behind the man.

His conduct and his detachment

Abou al-Malih ar-Raqqi reported, from Habib, from Houzaym (or Houthaym), who said:

"I saw Salman al-Farisi upon a chestnut donkey, wearing a striped shirt, narrow at the bottom, and his legs were long; the children followed him.

I said to them: stand aside from the commander.

He said: leave them: the good and the evil are in what follows today."

Hammad ibn Salama reported, from 'Ata ibn as-Sa'ib, from Maysara:

that when the Persians prostrated before Salman, he lowered his head and said: "I am humbled to Allah, I am humbled to Allah."

Abou Nou'aym reported: Yazid ibn Mardanba narrated to us, from Khalifa ibn Sa'id al-Mouradi, from his uncle, who said:

"I saw Salman in one of the streets of the Mada'in: a load of reeds pressed upon him and hurt him; he took the arm of its bearer, moved him, then said:

you shall not die until you attain the command of youth."

Jarir ibn Hazim: "I heard an elder of the Banu 'Abs mention from his father, who said:

I came to the market, bought fodder for a dirham, and saw Salman without knowing him: I set him to work, and loaded the fodder upon him.

He passed by people who said: we carry it for you, O Abou Abdallah.

I said: who is this?

They said: this is Salman, the companion of the Messenger of Allah.

I said to him: I did not know you: set it down.

He refused until he reached the halting place."

Thabit al-Bounani reported the like of it, and in it:

"I thought him a sluggard"; and in it:

he said to him: "set no one to work after me then."

Ja'far ibn Soulayman reported, from Hicham ibn Hassan, from al-Hasan, who said:

"The stipend of Salman was five thousand, and he was commander of thirty thousand people: he preached in a cloak, spreading half of it and wearing half of it; and when his cloak went out, he wore it through, and he ate from the palm of his hand, may Allah be pleased with him."

Shou'ba reported, from Simak ibn Harb, who heard an-Nou'man ibn Houmayd say:

"I entered with my uncle upon Salman at the Mada'in, while he worked the palm fronds, and I heard him say:

I buy fronds for a dirham, work them, sell them for three dirhams: I return a dirham into them, spend a dirham upon my family, and give a dirham as alms; and had Omar forbidden me it, I would not have stopped."

And Simak reported the like of it from his uncle, and in it:

I said to him: why then do you work?

He said: "Omar constrained me: I wrote to him, and he refused me twice; I wrote to him, and he threatened me."

Ma'n reported, from Malik:

that Salman sheltered in the shade wherever he turned, and had no house.

It was said: "Shall we not build you a house wherein you shelter?"

He said: "Yes."

When the speaker had turned away, Salman asked him: "How would you build it?"

He said: "If you stand in it, it reaches your head; and if you lie in it, it reaches your feet."

Za'ida reported, from Abd al-Aziz ibn Roufay', from Abou Dhibyan, from Jarir ibn Abdallah, who said:

"I alighted at as-Sifah on a day of intense heat, and behold, a man sleeping in the heat of the sun, sheltering by a tree, with something of food, his waterskin beneath his head, wrapped in a cloak; I commanded that he be shaded, and we alighted; he awoke: behold, it was Salman; I said to him:

we shaded you without knowing you.

He said: O Jarir, humble yourself in this world: whoever humbles himself, Allah will raise him on the Day of Resurrection; and whoever magnifies himself in this world, Allah will abase him on the Day of Resurrection. Were you to strive to find in Paradise a dry twig, you would not find it.

I said: and how so?

He said: its roots are gold and silver, and at its top the fruits. O Jarir, know you what is the darkness of the Fire?

I said: no.

He said: the injustice of people."

Shou'ba reported: Habib ibn ach-Chahid narrated to us, from Abdallah ibn Bourayda:

that Salman worked with his hand: when he earned something, he bought with it meat or fish, then called the Moujaddamites, and they ate with him.

Soulayman ibn al-Moughira reported, from Houmayd ibn Hilal, who said:

"Brotherhood was made between Salman and Abou ad-Darda; Abou ad-Darda dwelt in Syria, and Salman dwelt in Koufa; Abou ad-Darda wrote to him:

Salam be upon you; as to what follows: Allah has granted me, after you, wealth and child, and I have settled in the Holy Land.

Salman wrote to him: know that good is not in abundance of wealth and child; but good is that your forbearance be magnified and your knowledge profit you; and the earth labors for none: act as one who sees, and count yourself among the dead."

Malik, in "the Mouvatta": from Yahya ibn Sa'id:

that Abou ad-Darda wrote to Salman: "Come then to the Holy Land."

He wrote to him: "The land sanctifies no one: it is the deed of a man that sanctifies him; and it reached me that you were made a physician: if you heal, how good for you; and if you play the physician, beware you kill a human being and enter the Fire."

When Abou ad-Darda had judged between two, and they turned away from him, he looked at the two and said:

"A physician indeed, by Allah: return, repeat your story to me."

Abou 'Oubayda ibn Ma'n reported, from al-A'mach, from Abou al-Bakhtari, who said:

"Ach'ath ibn Qays and Jarir ibn Abdallah came, entered upon Salman in a field of palm fronds, greeted him and returned his greeting, then said:

are you the companion of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him?

He said: I know not.

They doubted.

He said: his companion is only he who entered with him into Paradise.

They said: we come from Abou ad-Darda.

He said: and where is his gift?"

They said: "We have no gift with us."

He said: "Fear Allah, you two, and fulfill the trust, you two: none came to me from him but with a gift."

They said: "Raise not this above us: we have wealth: judge then."

He said: "I want only the gift."

They said: "By Allah, he sent with us nothing, except that he said:

among you is a man, with whom the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, when he was alone with him, desired none other; when you two reach him, convey to him the salam from me."

He said: "What gift then did I want of you two other than this? and what gift is better than it?"

Waki' reported, from al-A'mach, from Soulayman ibn Maysara and al-Moughira ibn Chibl, from Tariq ibn Chihab, from Salman, who said:

"When night comes, the people are in it in three

stations: among them is he who has for himself and nothing against him; among them is he who has against him and nothing for him; and among them is he who has neither against him nor for him.

I said: and how is that?

He said: as for he who has for himself and nothing against him: a man who seized upon the heedlessness of the people and the darkness of the night: he performed ablution, and prayed: that is for him and nothing against him.

And a man who seized upon the heedlessness of the people and the darkness of the night, and walked in the disobediences of Allah: that is against him and nothing for him.

And a man who slept until morning: that is neither for him nor against him."

Tariq said: I then said: "I shall surely be the companion of this one."

A levy was proclaimed among the people: he went out in it, and I accompanied him; and I did not surpass him in labor: sometimes I kneaded and he baked, sometimes I baked and he kneaded; we alighted at a camp and passed the night there; Tariq had an hour of the night in which he stood: I would wake for it, and find him asleep; I would say: the companion of the Messenger of Allah, better than I, sleeps: so I slept; then I rose, and found him asleep; I slept, save that when he coughed in the night, he said, as he lay:

"Glory be to Allah, and praise be to Allah, and there is no deity but Allah, and Allah is greater; there is no deity but Allah alone, without partner: His is the dominion, His the praise, and He is over all things powerful."

Until, a little before dawn, he rose, performed ablution, then bowed in four bowings.

When we had prayed the dawn, I said:

"O Abou Abdallah, I had an hour of the night in which I stood, and I would wake for it, and find you asleep."

He said: "O son of my brother, what did you hear me saying?"

I informed him, and he said:

"O son of my brother, that is the prayer: the five prayers are expiations of what lies between them, provided the great sins are avoided. O son of my brother, hold to moderation: it is more complete."

Shou'ba reported, from 'Amr ibn Mourra: I heard Abou al-Bakhtari narrate:

that Salman invited a man to his food.

He said: a wretched man came; the man took a morsel and handed it to him.

Salman said:

"Set it down: we invited you that you eat: what pleasure have you that the reward be another's, and the sin upon you?"

Soulayman ibn Qarm reported, from al-A'mach, from Abou Wa'il, who said:

"I went with a companion of mine to Salman, and he said:

were it not that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, forbade us affectation, I would make an effort for you."

He brought us bread and salt.

My companion said: "Were there in our salt some thyme."

Salman sent for his ewer, pawned it, and brought thyme.

When we had eaten, my companion said:

"Praise be to Allah who has contented us with what He provided us."

Salman said: "Had you been content, my ewer would not have been pawned."

Al-A'mach reported, from 'Oubayd ibn Abi al-Ja'd, from a man of the Ashja', who said:

"It was learned at the Mada'in that Salman was at the mosque: they came to him hastening to him, until about a thousand gathered; he rose, opened the sourate Youssouf: they began to crack and leave, until about a hundred remained; he grew angry, and said:

do they want ornament? a verse of such a sourate, and a verse of such a sourate."

And Habib ibn Abi Thabit reported, from Nafi' ibn Joubayr:

that Salman sought a place wherein to pray.

A frivolous woman said to him: "Seek a pure heart, and pray where you will."

He said: "You are the one who was disappointed."

Soulayman at-Taymi reported, from Abou Othmane, from Salman, who said:

"The wife of Pharaoh was tormented: when they turned away, the angels shaded her with their wings, and she saw her house in Paradise while she

was tormented."

He said: "And Ibrahim was made to hunger two lions, then they were loosed upon him: they began licking him and prostrating before him."

Mou'tamir ibn Soulayman reported, from his father, from Abou Othmane an-Nahdi:

that Salman's speech could not be understood, so strong was his foreignness.

He said: "and he called wood khouchban."

The trustworthy Ya'qoub ad-Dawraqi reported it uniquely.

And Abou Muhammad ibn Qoutayba denied it (I mean his foreignness) and achieved nothing, and said:

"He had an eloquence rivaling that of the most eloquent of the Arabs."

I say: the existence of eloquence does not negate the existence of foreignness in pronunciation, as the existence of eloquent pronunciation among many scholars does not perfect declension.

He said: as for "khouchban": it is the plural of the plural, or it is "khachab" to which the alif and the nun were added, like "soud" and "soudan."

Abd ar-Razzaq reported, from Ja'far ibn Soulayman, from Thabit, from Anas, who said:

"Sa'd and Ibn Mas'oud entered upon Salman at the time of death, and he wept.

He was told: what makes you weep?

He said: a pledge the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, took from us, and which we did not keep."

He said: "Let the provision of one of you from this world be like the provision of the rider."

As for you, O Sa'd, fear Allah in your judgment when you judge, in your division when you divide, and in your concern when you are concerned.

Thabit said: it reached me that he left nothing but twenty-five dirhams: provisions he had.

Chayban reported, from Firas, from ach-Cha'bi, from al-Harith, from Bouqayra the wife of Salman, that she said:

"When death came upon him, he called me while he was in a chamber of his having four doors, and said:

open these doors: I have today visitors, and I know not by which of these doors they will enter upon me.

Then he called for musk, and said: place it in a cloth, then sprinkle it around my bed.

I looked upon him: his spirit had been taken: he was as one sleeping upon his bed."

Baqi ibn Makhlad reported: Ibn Abi Chayba narrated to us, Abou Mou'awiya narrated to us, from 'Asim, from

Abou Othmane, from Salman, who said:

"They came to Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and said:

O prophet of Allah, you are the one by whom Allah opened and sealed, and who was forgiven your sin former and later, and you came this day believing: you see then what we are in: rise then, and intercede for us with our Lord.

He says: I am your companion.

He rises then, goes out leaving the people, until he reaches the gate of Paradise: he takes hold of a ring in the gate, of gold, and knocks the gate.

It is said: who is this?

He says: Muhammad.

It is opened to him, and he comes until he stands before Allah: he asks permission to prostrate, permission is granted him, and it is called out:

O Muhammad, raise your head: ask, you shall be given; intercede, you shall be granted intercession; invoke, you shall be answered.

Allah opens to him of praise, gratitude and glorification what He opened to none of the creatures, and he says: my Lord, my community, my community.

Then he asks permission to prostrate.

Salman said: he intercedes then for everyone who has in his heart the weight of a grain of wheat of faith.

Or he said: the weight of a grain of barley.

Or he said: the weight of a seed of mustard of faith."

Abou 'Awana reported, from 'Asim, from Abou Othmane an-Nahdi, from Salman, who said:

"The interval between 'Issa and Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, was six hundred years."

His death

Al-Waqidi said: Salman died during the caliphate of 'Outhman, at the Mada'in.

And thus said Ibn Zanjawayh.

And Abou 'Oubayd, and Chabab in a narration from him, and others, said:

"He died in the year thirty-six

at the Mada'in."

And Chabab said in another narration: in the year thirty-seven; and that is an illusion: Salman witnessed neither the Camel nor Siffin.

Al-'Abbas ibn Yazid al-Bahrani said:

"The people of knowledge say: Salman lived three hundred and fifty years; as for two hundred and fifty, they do not doubt it."

Abou Nou'aym al-Asbahani said: it is said the name of Salman was Mahouwayh.

It is said: Maya.

It is said: Bouhboud ibn Badhkhachan ibn Adharjichich, of the descendants of Manoujehr the king.

It is said: of the descendants of Ab the king.

It is said: he died in the year thirty-three, at the Mada'in.

He said: and the date of the writing of his manumission was Monday, in joumada al-oula, of the emigration of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.

And his master who sold him: 'Outhman ibn Achhal al-Qouradhi the Jew.

It is said that he returned to Isfahan in the time of 'Omar.

It is said he had a brother named Bachir, and a daughter at Isfahan having descendants, and two daughters in Egypt.

It is said he had a son named Kathir.

From the saying of the Bahrani to here, this is transmitted from the book "at-Tawalat" of Abou Moussa the hafiz.

I searched, and found nothing on his age except the saying of the Bahrani, and that is discontinuous, having no chain.

The whole of his affair, his states, his expedition, his exertion, his conduct, his stripping of the fronds, and things of what preceded, indicate that he was neither octogenarian nor decrepit: he left his homeland young, and perhaps he arrived in the Hijaz being forty years old or less; scarcely had he heard of the mission of the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, then

emigrated: perhaps he lived seventy-five years; and I do not see him reach one hundred: whoever has knowledge, let him inform us.

His great longevity was reported by: Abou al-Faraj ibn al-Jawzi and others; and I know nothing therein firm to lean upon.

Ja'far ibn Soulayman reported, from Thabit al-Bounani, and that is in "al-'Ilal" of Ibn Abi Hatim, who said:

"When Salman fell ill, Sa'd went out from Koufa to visit him; he arrived and found him dying and weeping; he greeted, sat, and said:

what makes you weep, O my brother? do you not remember the companionship of the Messenger of Allah? do you not remember the righteous scenes?

He said: by Allah, one of two things makes me weep: I weep neither from love of this world, nor from hatred of meeting Allah.

Sa'd said: what then makes you weep, after eighty years?

He said: it makes me weep that my friend took a pledge from me, and said: let the provision of one of you from this world be like the provision of the rider; and we fear we have exceeded it."

Some of them reported it, from Thabit, saying:

from Abou Othmane, and his irsal is more likely.

Abou Hatim said it, and this makes clear to you that he was of the sons of the eighties.

I mentioned in "my Tarikh al-Kabir" that he lived two hundred and fifty years; and at this hour I do not approve that, nor authenticate it.

Abou Salih: al-Layth narrated to us, Yahya ibn Sa'id narrated to me, from Sa'id ibn al-Moussayib, who said:

"Salman and Abdallah ibn Salam met: one of the two said to his companion: if you meet your Lord

before me, inform me of what you found with him.

One of the two died, and met the living one in sleep: as if he asked him, and he said:

"Trust and receive good news: I never saw the like of trust in Allah."

I say: Salman died before Abdallah by years.

Soungour az-Zaynabi informed us, Ali ibn Muhammad al-Jazari and Ya'ich ibn Ali informed us, who said:

Abdallah ibn Ahmad al-Khatib informed us (h).

And I was informed of Abd al-Mou'min ibn Khalaf the hafiz, al-A'azz ibn Fada'il informed us, Chouhda informed us, who said:

Ja'far ibn Ahmad as-Sarraj informed us, al-Hasan ibn 'Isa ibn al-Mouqtadir informed us, Ahmad ibn Mansour al-Yachkouri informed us, Abou Abdallah ibn 'Arafa narrated to us, Muhammad ibn Moussa as-Sami narrated to me, Rawh ibn Aslam informed us, Hammad ibn Salama informed us, from 'Ata ibn as-Sa'ib, from Abou al-Bakhtari, from Salman, who said:

"Among the Banu Israil was a woman of beauty, with a man who worked the broom; whenever night came, she set before him his food, and spread for him his bed.

Her account reached the king of that era, who sent to her an old woman of the Banu Israil, who said to her:

would you do this with the man who works the broom! Were you with the king, he would clothe you in silk, and spread for you brocade.

When the talk fell into her ears, her husband came by night: she set before him not his food, and spread not for him his bed.

He said to her: what is this character, O wretched one?

She said: it is what you see.

He said: shall I divorce you?

She said: yes.

He divorced her therefore, and that king married her; when she was led to him in procession, he looked at her and became blind, and he stretched his hand to her and it withered.

The prophet of that era raised their story to Allah, and Allah revealed to him:

inform the two that I am not the pardoner of them: did they not know that in My eye is what they did

to the man of the broom?"

By His help, the Most High, and His success, the first volume of "Siyar A'lam an-Nubala" is completed, and it is followed by the second volume, whose beginning is the biography of 'Oubada ibn as-Samit.