It is narrated from Zayd bin Suhan that two men from the people of Kufah were his friends. They both came to him so that he might speak to Salman (may Allah be pleased with him) on their behalf, asking him to tell them the story of how he came to accept Islam. So they set off with Zayd until they met Salman (may Allah be pleased with him), who at that time was the governor of al-Mada'in. He was sitting on a chair, and in front of him were palm leaves which he was plaiting. The two of them said: We greeted him with salam and sat down. Zayd said to him: "O Abu Abdullah! These two are my friends and brothers, and they wish that you would tell them the story of how your Islam began." At this Salman (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I was an orphan boy from Ramahurmuz, and the son of the dihqan (local chief) of Ramahurmuz used to go to a teacher to study, so I attached myself to him in order to be under his protection. I had an elder brother who was self-sufficient, and I was a boy of short stature. When the dihqan's son rose from his lesson and his fellow students dispersed, he would go out covering his face with his garment and head towards the mountain. He did this several times in disguise. I said to him: "Why do you go out secretly like this? Why do you not take me with you?" He said: "You are still a child, and I fear that something might come out from you." I said: "Do not be afraid." He said: "On this mountain, in a place of worship, there are some people who are great worshippers and righteous. They remember Allah and remember the Hereafter, and they hold that we are worshippers of fire and idols, and that we are not upon their religion." I said: "Take me with you to them as well." He said: "I cannot do that without asking them, and I fear that if you tell anyone and my father comes to know, he will kill those people, and their destruction will be at my hands." I said: "Nothing of the sort will come out from me; ask them for permission." So he went to them and said: "I have an orphan boy with me, and I would like him to come to you as well and hear what you say." They said: "If you trust him, bring him." He said: "I hope that nothing will come from him but what I would like." They said: "Then bring him." After that he said to me: "I have taken permission from these people for you to come, so at the time when you see me going out, come to me, and let no one know about you, for if my father comes to know of them, he will kill them." When the time of his going out came, I followed him. He began to climb the mountain until we reached those people. They were in their place of worship; the narrator Ali bin Asim says: I think he said that they were six or seven people. It seemed as though their souls had departed because of the abundance of their worship; they fasted by day, stood in prayer by night, and ate whatever leaves of trees and the like they found. We sat down with them, and the dihqan's son praised me highly. Then they began to speak; they praised and glorified Allah Almighty and mentioned the messengers and prophets who had passed, until they came to the mention of Isa bin Maryam (peace be upon them both). They said: "Allah Almighty sent Isa (peace be upon him) as a messenger, and Allah gave him power over the miracles he used to perform, such as bringing the dead to life, creating birds, and healing the one born blind and the leper. So one group rejected him and another followed him, and in reality he was the servant of Allah and His Messenger, through whom Allah tested His creation." Before that they had said to me: "O boy! You certainly have a Lord, and to Him you must return, and before you are Paradise and Hell, to which you will go. And these people who worship fire are upon disbelief and misguidance; Allah is not pleased with what they do, and they are not upon any true religion." When the time came for the boy to return, he went back and I went back with him. Then we went to them the next morning, and they said the same things again, or even better. I kept going to them constantly, and they said to me: "O Salman! You are still young and cannot perform strenuous worship like us, so just pray, sleep, and eat and drink." Then one day the dihqan came to know of what his son was doing, so he rode on horseback until he reached their place of worship. He said: "O people! You lived in my neighbourhood and I treated you well, and you saw no harm from me, but you have corrupted my son against me. I give you three days' respite; if after three days I find you here, I will burn this place of worship of yours over you. So leave for your own lands, for I do not like that any harm should reach you from me." They said: "Very well; we did not deliberately seek to displease you, and we intended nothing but good." After that the king prevented his son from going to them. I said to that boy: "Fear Allah; you know that this religion is the true religion of Allah, and that what your father and we are upon is no religion. These people are fire-worshippers; they do not worship Allah. So do not trade your Hereafter for the world of others." He said: "O Salman! It is indeed as you say, but I am holding back for the sake of those people, because if I go with them my father will start searching for me in the mountain, while he has already driven them out because of my going to them. And I know well that the truth is with them." Then, on the day those people intended to depart from there, I came to them. They said: "O Salman! We were afraid of what you have now seen. So fear Allah, and remember that the true religion is what we have enjoined upon you, and that these people are fire-worshippers who neither know Allah nor remember Him, so let no one deceive you regarding your religion." I said: "I will not part from you." They said: "You do not have the strength to stay with us. We fast by day, stand in prayer by night, and eat the leaves of trees or whatever we find, and you will not be able to do all this." I said again: "I will not leave your company." They said: "You know best. We have told you our condition; now, if you will not accept, take enough provision to serve you for food, for you do not have the strength to stay hungry as we do." So I did just that. I met my brother and offered him to come along with me as well, but he refused. Then I went back to them; they were travelling on foot, and I set off walking with them. Allah granted safety until we reached Mosul, and there we came to a church. When those people entered, the people there gave them a splendid welcome and asked: "Where have you been?" They said: "We were in a land where people do not remember Allah; fire-worshippers live there. They drove us out, so we have come to you." After some time had passed, they said to me: "O Salman! In these mountains live some people who are followers of the true religion, and we intend to meet them. You stay here with these people, for they too are people of religion, and you will see in them the goodness you will like." I said: "I will not part from you." Salman (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Those people enjoined the church people to look after me, and they said to me: "O boy! Stay here with us; you will not lack anything." I said to them: "I will not leave you and go." Salman (may Allah be pleased with him) says: Then those people set out from there and I was with them. In the morning they reached a place between the mountains; there was a rock, and a great deal of water in jars and a large quantity of bread. We sat down by that rock. Then, when the sun rose, people began to come out from between those mountains, one man at a time coming out from his place, as though their souls had been drawn out of them by the abundance of their worship, until their number grew very large. They welcomed my companions, gathered around them and began asking: "Where have you been? We have not seen you (for a long time)." They said: "We were in a land where people do not remember Allah; rather, they are fire-worshippers. We used to worship Allah there, so they drove us out." Those people asked: "Who is this boy?" So my companions began praising me and said: "He came with us from that very land, and we have seen nothing in him but good." Salman (may Allah be pleased with him) relates: By Allah! They were still in this state when a man appeared from a cave in the mountain. He came near, greeted them with salam and sat down, and those companions of mine with whom I had come gathered around him, showed him great reverence and surrounded him. That man asked: "Where have you been?" They told him the whole story. Then he asked: "Who is this boy with you?" They praised me highly and told him that I had followed them all the way here. I had never seen my companions revere anyone as much as they revered that man. That man praised and glorified Allah, then mentioned the messengers and prophets whom Allah had sent, what circumstances they had faced and how they had been treated. Then he mentioned the birth of Isa bin Maryam (peace be upon them both): that he was born without a father, and Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, sent him as a messenger and brought about at his hands the miracle of bringing the dead to life, and that he would make from clay the likeness of a bird and blow into it, and it would become a bird by the command of Allah. Allah revealed the Injil to him, taught him the knowledge of the Tawrah, and sent him as a messenger to the Children of Israel. So one group rejected him and another group believed in him. That man also mentioned the hardships that Isa bin Maryam (peace be upon them both) endured, and that he was a servant of Allah upon whom Allah bestowed His favour, and he thanked Allah for it, and Allah remained pleased with him until Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, took him. That man was admonishing those people and saying: "Fear Allah and hold fast to the religion that Isa (peace be upon him) brought, and do not differ over it, or else your condition will be changed." Then he said: "Whoever wishes to take some of this food and drink, let him take it." So people began to get up and take the jars of water, food and the like. Those companions of mine with whom I had come got up, greeted him with salam and showed him reverence. He said to them: "Remain firm upon this religion, and beware! Do not cause division among yourselves, and accept my counsel to treat this boy well." Then he said to me: "O boy! This, which you hear me saying, is the true religion of Allah, and everything besides it is disbelief." I said: "I will not part from you." He said: "You will not be able to stay with me, because I do not come out of this cave of mine except every Sunday, and you will not have the endurance to stay with me." His companions also turned to me and said: "O boy! You will not manage to stay with him." I said again: "I will not part from you." His companions said to him: "O so-and-so! This is a boy, and we fear for him (the hardship)." That man said to me: "You know best." I said: "I will not leave your company." At this my first companions, with whom I had been, began to weep as they parted from me. That elder said: "O boy! Take as much of this food as will suffice you until next Sunday, and also take as much water as will suffice you." I did just that. Until the next Sunday I never saw him sleeping or eating anything; he remained only in bowing and prostration. When Sunday morning came, he said to me: "Pick up your jar and come along." I followed behind him until we reached that same rock. There the people had already come out of the mountains and were waiting for him to come. They sat down, and the elder again spoke as he had the first time and said: "Remain firm upon this religion, do not cause division, keep fearing Allah, and know that Isa bin Maryam (peace be upon them both) was a servant of Allah upon whom Allah had bestowed His favour." Then he mentioned me, and the people asked him: "O so-and-so! How did you find this boy?" He praised me and spoke well of me, at which they all thanked Allah. There was a great deal of bread and water there; the people took according to their need, and I did the same. Then those people scattered into those mountains, and the elder returned to his cave, and I returned with him. We stayed there for as long as Allah willed. He would come out every Sunday, the people would come out with him and surround him, and he would enjoin upon them the same things he used to enjoin before. Then one Sunday he came out, and when the people had gathered, he praised Allah, admonished and counselled them, and said the same things he used to say before. Then, at the end, he said to them: "O people! I have grown old, my bones have become weak, and the time of my death has drawn near. A long time has passed since I went to Bayt al-Maqdis (that House), and now it is necessary for me to go there. So accept my counsel to treat this boy well, for I have found him a sound person." Salman (may Allah be pleased with him) says: On hearing this those people were deeply distressed; I had never seen grief and agitation like theirs. They said: "O so-and-so! You are weak and alone; we fear that some harm may befall you. We will help you, while we are most in need of you." He said: "Do not argue with me; I must go there. But treat this boy well, and do this and do that (he gave counsels)." I said: "I will not part from you." He said: "O Salman! You have seen the condition I was in here, but this journey will not be like that. While travelling I will fast by day and stand in prayer by night; I do not have the strength to carry provisions or anything else with me, and you will not be able to endure all this." I said: "I will not part from you." He said: "You know best." The people said: "O so-and-so! We are afraid for this boy." He said: "He himself knows best. I have told him the situation, and he has also seen the condition before this." I said: "I will not leave you." Salman (may Allah be pleased with him) says: Then those people wept and bid him farewell, and the elder said to them: "Fear Allah and remain upon what I have enjoined upon you. If I live, I will come back to you, and if I die, then Allah is Ever-Living and death will not come to Him." Then he greeted them with salam and set off, and I set out with him. He said to me: "Take some bread with you so that you can eat." He kept walking and I followed behind him. He would keep remembering Allah; he neither turned to look this way or that, nor stopped for anything. When evening came, he said: "O Salman! You pray, sleep, and eat and drink." Then he himself stood up to pray. This went on until we reached Bayt al-Maqdis. He (out of humility) would not raise his gaze towards the sky. When we reached the door of the mosque, there was a crippled man sitting at the door. That crippled man said: "O servant of Allah! You see my condition; give me something in charity." The elder paid him no attention and entered the mosque, and I went in with him. He began going to different places in the mosque and praying there. Then he said: "O Salman! I have not slept for a long time, and I have not even tasted sleep. Now, if you take on the responsibility of waking me when the shade reaches such-and-such a place, I will sleep, for I wish to sleep in this very mosque; otherwise I will not sleep." I said: "I will do so." He said: "Then when the shade reaches such-and-such a place, wake me if my eyes overcome me." He fell asleep, and I said to myself: This man has not slept for a long time, and I have seen part of that (hardship) myself, so I will let him sleep so that his thirst for sleep may be quenched. Salman (may Allah be pleased with him) says: When we were travelling, he would turn to me, admonish me, and tell me that I had a Lord, and that before me were Paradise, Hell and the Reckoning. He would teach and remind me just as he used to remind those people on Sunday, until, in the course of what he said, he also said: "O Salman! Soon Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, will send a messenger whose name will be Ahmad; he will come forth from Tihamah." That elder was a non-Arab, so he could not pronounce "Muhammad" properly. "His sign is that he will eat from a gift but will not eat from charity, and between his two shoulders there will be the seal of prophethood. This is the time of his appearance, which has drawn near. As for me, I am a very old man, and I do not think I will meet him. But if you meet him, believe him and follow him." I asked: "What if he commands me to abandon your religion and this way?" He said: "Then abandon it, for the truth is what he will command, and the pleasure of the Most Merciful lies in what he will say." Only a little while had passed when the elder woke up alarmed, remembering Allah. He said to me: "O Salman! The shade has passed from this place and I did not remember Allah (at that time). What became of the promise you had taken upon yourself?" I said: "You had told me that you had not slept for a long while, and I had witnessed it too, so I wanted you to complete your sleep." He praised Allah and stood up. He went out and I followed him. He passed by that same crippled man again, and he said: "O servant of Allah! When you entered I asked you, but you gave me nothing, and now as you are coming out I asked again, but you gave me nothing." The elder stood and looked this way and that to see whether anyone was watching him. When he saw no one, he went near him and said: "Give me your hand." He gave him his hand, and he said: "Stand up in the name of Allah." The man at once stood up as though the tether of a healthy animal had been untied; no defect remained in him. He let go of his hand and he set off; he (in his joy) neither turned to look at anyone nor stopped. That crippled man said to me: "O boy! Carry my clothes and follow me so that I may go and give the good news to my family." I picked up his clothes, and he ran on without turning towards me. I went out after him searching for the elder; whoever I asked would say: "He is ahead of you." Eventually I came upon a caravan of the tribe of Kalb. I asked them, and when they heard my language, one of them made his camel kneel and seated me behind him, until they reached their land and sold me. A woman of the Ansar bought me and set me to work in her orchard. When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) arrived (after the migration), I received news of him. I took some dates from my orchard, put them in a vessel and came to him (peace and blessings be upon him). Some people were sitting there, and Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) was the closest of them to him. I placed the dates before him, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: "What is this?" I said: "It is charity." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said to the Companions: "You eat," but did not eat himself. Then I waited for as long as Allah willed, took the same amount of dates again and came to him (peace and blessings be upon him). Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) was sitting closest. I placed the dates before him, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: "What is this?" I said: "It is a gift." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Bismillah (In the name of Allah)," and he ate himself and the Companions ate as well. I said to myself: This is one of his signs. That elder companion of mine was a non-Arab; he could not say "Tihamah" properly but would say "Tihmah," and he had given the name as "Ahmad." Then I went round behind him (peace and blessings be upon him), and he understood. He (peace and blessings be upon him) moved his cloak aside, and there was the seal of prophethood towards his left shoulder, and I recognised it. Then I went round and sat in front of him (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: "I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and that you are the Messenger of Allah." He (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: "Who are you?" I said: "I am a slave." Then I told him (peace and blessings be upon him) my whole story and that of the elder, and his instruction. He (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: "Whose property are you?" I said: "Of a woman of the Ansar who keeps me in her orchard." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O Abu Bakr!" He said: "Labbayk (At your service)." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Buy him." So Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) bought me and set me free. Then I stayed for as long as Allah willed; then I came to him (peace and blessings be upon him), greeted him with salam, sat before him and said: "O Messenger of Allah! What do you say about the religion of the Christians?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "There is no good in them, nor in their religion." On hearing this, great distress came over me, and I thought to myself: that elder with whom I stayed, and whose (wonders) I saw, then I saw him take hold of that crippled man's hand and Allah healed him at his hands; is there no good in such people?! I went back from there with all sorts of thoughts in my heart. Then Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, revealed this verse to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "That is because among them are priests and monks, and because they are not arrogant." [Surah al-Ma'idah: 82] to the end of the verse. Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Call Salman to me." The messenger came while I was afraid; I came and sat in front of him (peace and blessings be upon him). He (peace and blessings be upon him) recited: "In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. 'That is because among them are priests and monks, and because they are not arrogant' to the end of the verse. O Salman! Those people with whom you stayed, and that companion (elder) of yours, were not Christians; rather, they were Muslims." I said: "O Messenger of Allah! By the One who sent you with the truth, it was he who commanded me to follow you. I asked him what I should do if he told me to abandon your religion, and he said: 'Then abandon it, for the truth and what Allah loves is what he (Ahmad, peace and blessings be upon him) commands you.'" Imam al-Hakim (may Allah have mercy on him) says: This hadith, concerning the account of the acceptance of Islam of Sayyiduna Salman al-Farisi (may Allah be pleased with him), is sahih (authentic) with a high (short) chain, but the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim) did not record it. This account has also been narrated from Abu al-Tufayl Amir bin Wathilah from Salman (may Allah be pleased with him) with a sahih chain, in a different wording, but I considered it necessary to narrate that narration because its text contains some differences, additions and omissions.