Salman-i Farisi
Salman grew up in the
village of Ceyyan near Isfahan, Iran.
His father was the village chief,
and his word was law. From the day Salman was born, he
was his father’s favorite. With each passing
day his father loved Salman more and more. He kept his son at home to protect him
from the dangers of the outside world.
Salman and his father were of the Magian
religion. They worshipped fire. Because of his zealousness Salman was given the duty
of tending the fire. Day and night he
kept the fire burning.
Salman’s father had a very large farm. It kept him very
busy. One day he
was not able to go to
the farm so he called
Salman. Son, he said. I don’t have time to go
to the farm
today. You go and
take care of the work there
for me.
Salman started out for
the farm. On the way he saw
a church. He heard the
voices of Christians worshipping there. Because he had always been
busy tending the fire, Salman had not been able to learn
anything about other religions. He was curious, so
he entered the church.
Salman watched the Christians
carefully. He liked their
prayers and the way they
worshipped. So he decided
to become a Christian. This religion is better than ours,
he thought to himself. He stayed in the church
until sunset. He asked the others
there, Where is the home of this
religion?
Syria,they answered.
Salman left the church
and started home. He had not gone to the farm. When he arrived home,
his father asked Salman what he had done that day. Salman replied, Father, I met some
people worshipping in a church today. I liked their religion. I stayed with them all
day until the sun went down.
Afraid of what his son had
done, Salman’s father said, Oh, my son, their religion is no good. Your own religion,
the religion of your ancestors, is better.
No. Salman said. Their religion is better than ours.
Fearing that his son was going to
convert to Christianity, the village chief tied
his son’s feet and locked him
in the house.
After some time passed, Salman was able to send
this message to the Christians:
‘Inform me when
a caravan traveling to Syria arrives!’
After a short time passed, news came
that a caravan heading towards Syria had arrived. Salman secretly left the house
and joined the Christians going to Syria.
When Salman arrived in Syria,
he asked who was the
most knowledgeable Christian. Go to the
bishop, they said. He’s the most
knowledgeable
When Salman found the
bishop, he said,I want to
become a Christian. I want to stay here and
serve you. Also I want to learn
from you and worship here. The bishop accepted the boy’s request. Salman stayed there and began
to serve him.
Some time later, Salman understood
that the bishop was not an honest man. The bishop encouraged his fellow Christians to give charity
to the church
so they would
be rewarded by God. But after taking their
charity, he hid it for himself. He didn’t give anything
to the poor. He saved up seven jars full of gold
and silver.
Later when the bishop died,
the rest of the Christians gathered to bury him.
“Your friend
was not a good person, said
Salman. He would tell you
to be charitable in order to be rewarded
by God. But then he would hide
the money you gave instead
of giving it to the needy.
How do you know
this? they asked.
Salman told them,I can show you where
he hid the
money.
Show us then, they said.
Salman took them to
the spot where the bishop had buried their money. The Christians found seven large earthen jars
full of gold and silver. We won’t bury this
thief, they said. Instead they hung
him on a cross and threw stones
at him.
Shortly afterwards a new bishop was
appointed to run the church. He was a very good
and devout man. Always thinking of the afterlife, he spent his days
and nights in worship. Salman served him for
a long time.
When the good old bishop was
about to die,
Salman asked
him what he should do. The dying man told
Salman to go to Musul to serve
a good Christian man there. Salman did as the bishop suggested
and went to Musul. He served several
good Christians after that.
The last man he served told
him that a prophet would appear
in the land of the Arabs.
He said, The prophet will be from the religion
of the prophet
Abraham. There
will be obvious signs of his prophethood. For example, he will
accept gifts, but not charity. Also there will
be a sign of prophecy on
his back between his shoulder blades.
Salman decided to go
to Arabia after the Christian
man died. He asked some traders
going to Arabia to take
him with them in exchange for a few cows
and goats he owned. The traders agreed to the deal. But when the caravan arrived
in the Kura Valley (between Medina and Damascus), the traders sold
Salman to a Jew.
When the Jew’s nephew came to
visit, he bought Salman from his uncle and took
him to Medina. Salman recognized Medina as the Christian
man had described it. He stayed there and
served the Jew.
Around that time Muhammad (peace be upon him) was
inviting members of his tribe in Mecca to accept Islam. But Salman didn’t hear about him
because he was always busy
working for his master.
Then one day the prophet emigrated
to Medina. Salman was working in the top of an olive tree, and
his master was sitting under the
tree. Suddenly the Jew’s
nephew came and said, May God destroy the
tribes of Evs and Hazrec (the
two main Arab tribes of Medina)! They are joining
together in Kuba to meet Muhammad
who claims to be a prophet.
Salman was very shaken
by these words. While climbing down the tree,
he almost fell on top of his master.
What did you
say? Please repeat it,
Salman said excitedly. His master got angry and
began beating Salman.
What’s it to you? Get back to work!
shouted the Jew.
That night Salman took
some dates and went to
see the Prophet
in Kuba. Coming before the
prophet, he said, I’ve heard
you’re an honest man. I’ve brought some
charity for you and your
friends.
The Prophet took
the dates and gave them
to his companions. He did not eat them
himself.
Salman returned home
and began working again.
When Muhammad (pbuh) arrived in Medina, Salman again took him
some dates. I saw that you don’t
eat charity. These dates are a gift
to you. Please eat them, said
Salman. The Prophet took the
dates and ate them together
with his companions.
Salman understood that Muhammad (pbuh) was truly a prophet,
and he accepted
Islam. The Prophet paid
Salman’s price to his Jewish owner
and set Salman free.
Whenever anyone asked Salman, Whose son are you, he
would say, I am Salman, the son of Islam from the children
of Adam.
We will never forget his efforts in the struggle of the growing Muslim
state. We will never
forget his success at the Battle of Hendek.
Salman-i
Farisi died in the thirty-fifth year
after the emigration to Medina,
during the caliphate of Osman.