Salman Al Farsi's Conversion

[Amira A]

Musà ibn Ja‘far narrated from his fathers, peace be with them, that ‘Alí (‘a) said to Salmàn, “Will you not inform us about the beginning of your matter?” He said, “I am from Shíràz and I was a dear boy to my father. I was with him in a cloister on one of their festival days. Then one in it called, ‘I testify that there is no god but Allah, Jesus is the Spirit of Allah and Muhammad is the beloved of Allah.’ Then the loveliness of him entered into my flesh and blood. My father said, ‘Why do you not prostrate for the rise of the sun?’ I argued with him until he became silent. When I came back to my house I saw a book hung below the ceiling. I said to my mother, ‘What is this book?’ She said, ‘O Ruzbih! When we returned from our festival, we saw this book that was hung. So do not approach that place. If not, your father will kill you.’ I implored her until the darkness of night came and my father and mother went to sleep. Then I stood and took the book. Written in it was, ‘In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful. This is a covenant from Allah to Adam that He will create from his loins a prophet, who will be named ‘Muhammad.’ He will command noble virtue and prohibit the worship of idols. O Ruzbih! Go to the executor of the executor of Jesus and be at his service. He will guide you to your aim.’Then I lost my consciousness. My parents understood and put me in a well and said, ‘Do not come back, otherwise we will kill you.’ I said, ‘Do to me what you want. The love of Muhammad will not go from my breast.’

I did not know Arabic, but Allah taught me on that day. They sent small loaves of bread to me. I spent a long time in the well, and I raised my hands to the sky and said, ‘O My Lord! You evoked the love of Muhammad and his executor in me. By the right of his means, may You hasten my emergence.’


Then one who wore white clothes came to me and said, ‘O Ruzbih! Stand up.’ Then he took my hand and brought me to the cloister. I went up to it. The monk said, ‘Are you Ruzbih?’ I answered, ‘Yes.’ I stayed near him two years and served him. When he was in the throes of death, he directed me to a monk in Antioch and gave me a tablet on which the attributes of Muhammad were written.When I came to the monk of Antioch and went up to his cloister, he said, ‘Are you Ruzbih?’ I answered, ‘Yes.’ He welcomed me and I served him for two years, too. He informed me of the attributes of Muhammad and his executor.


When he was in the throes of death, he said to me, ‘O Ruzbih! The raising of Muhammad is near.’ After his death, I went out with a group to Hijàz and served them. Once they killed a sheep with a blow, roasted it, prepared wine and said to me, ‘Eat and drink.’ I refused. They wanted to kill me. I said, ‘Do not kill me. I confess that I will be a servant to you.’


Then they bought me to a Jew. He asked me about my story. I told him the matter from the beginning to the end. He said, ‘I hate you and Muhammad.’ and brought me out of his house. There was much sand near the door of his house. He said, ‘If you do not transfer all of this sand from here to there, I will kill you.’ I began to carry it during the night. When I became tired, although I had moved but a little of it, I would say, ‘O My Lord! You evoked the love of Muhammad and his executor in me. By the right of his means, give me rest from this.’ So Allah raised a wind by which the sand moved from its place to the place that the Jew had said. In the morning the Jew said to me, ‘You are a witch. I will bring you out of this village for you cannot destroy us.’ He brought me out and sold me to a good woman. She loved me. She put me in a garden for her and said, ‘Eat, grant and give alms from it.’ One day when I was in the garden, I saw that seven groups were coming and a cloud was shading them and went with them. I said, ‘Verily there is a prophet among them.’”

(Al-Kharà’ij wa al-Jarà’ih, 3, 1078, 1081)