It is narrated from Sayyiduna Salman al-Farisi (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: I was a man from among the inhabitants of the town of "Jayy" (Isfahan). The people of my town worshipped piebald horses, and I knew that they were not upon any true way. I was told that the religion I was seeking was towards the west. So I set out from there and reached Mosul. I asked about the most virtuous person there, and I was directed to a monk who lived in a hermitage. I went to him and said: I am from Jayy; I have come here for the purpose of work and learning knowledge. Keep me with you; I will serve you and stay in your company, and you will teach me the knowledge that Allah has taught you. He said: Very well. So I began to live with him. He would give me to eat the same as he ate himself, namely vinegar, olive oil and grain. I remained with him continually until the time of his death drew near. I sat at his head and began to weep. He asked: What makes you weep? I said: I am weeping because I left my land in search of good, and Allah granted me your company; you taught me knowledge and treated me in the best way, and now the time of your death has come and I do not know where to go now. He said: I have a brother in al-Jazirah who is upon the truth. Go to him, convey my salam to him, and tell him that I have enjoined you to keep his company. When that man died, I reached that second man and told him the whole story. He kept me with him and looked after me just as the first monk had done. When the time of his death came, I began to weep again. He directed me to a third man on "Darb al-Rum" who was upon the truth. I reached there and kept his company. When the time of his death drew near, I repeated the same question: Where shall I go now? He said: There is no place left now, and to my knowledge there is no longer anyone on earth who is upon the religion of Isa bin Maryam (peace be upon him). But the time is now near when a prophet will be sent, or has already been sent, whose appearance will be in "Tihamah." You are on the very road by which the caravans pass; keep asking about him from whoever passes by there. When you learn that he has been sent, then he is the prophet whose glad tidings Isa (peace be upon him) gave. His sign is that between his two shoulders there will be the seal of prophethood, and he will accept a gift but will not eat charity. Salman (may Allah be pleased with him) says: Then whoever passed by there, I kept asking him about him, until some people of Makkah passed by. I asked them, and they said: Yes! A man has appeared among us who says that he is a prophet. I said to one of them: Will you take me along as your slave, on the condition that you let me ride on your mount by turns and feed me leftover food, and when you reach your land, then if the owner wishes he will sell me or keep me as a slave? One man among them agreed, and I became his slave, until he brought me to Makkah and set me to work in one of his gardens with some Abyssinian slaves. I went out from there and began asking people, and I met a woman from my own homeland. I asked her and learned that her household had accepted Islam. She told me that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sits with his Companions in the "Hijr" by the Ka'bah when the sparrows chirp in Makkah, and stays there until dawn breaks. I came back to the garden and began going in and out frequently. The Abyssinian slaves asked me: What is the matter with you? I said: I have pain in my stomach. I made this excuse so that they would not miss me when I went to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). When the time came about which that woman had told me, I set off on foot until I saw the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). He was sitting at that time in the posture of "hubwah" (sitting with the knees drawn up and wrapped with a cloth), and the Companions were around him. I came from behind him, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) understood what I wanted. He (peace and blessings be upon him) loosened his cloak from his waist, and I saw the seal of prophethood between his shoulders. I exclaimed: "Allahu Akbar (Allah is the Greatest)!" This first sign has been fulfilled. Then I went back. The next night I gathered some good dates, came to him (peace and blessings be upon him) and placed them before him. He (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: "What is this?" I said: It is a gift. He (peace and blessings be upon him) ate from it and said to his companions: "You eat too." I 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 me about my situation, and I told him the whole story. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Go and bargain for your freedom." I went to my master and said: Set me free. He said: Very well, on the condition that you plant a hundred date palms for me, and when they take root you give me gold equal to the weight of a date-stone. I came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and told him everything. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Make the bargain for your freedom on what he has asked, and bring me a bucket of water from the well from which you have been watering those trees." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) supplicated for me over that water, then I gave that water to those trees. By Allah! I planted those hundred trees and not one of them was lost; rather, all of them sprouted. Then I told the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that the trees had sprouted, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) gave me a piece of gold. I took it and placed it in one pan of the scales, while in the other pan a date-stone was placed. By Allah! That piece of gold did not rise from the ground at all. I came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and told him, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) had me set free. This hadith has a sahih (authentic) chain, and its meanings are close to those of the first chain.