Salman al-Farsi - Biographies of the Companions (Sahabah)

This is a story of a seeker of Truth, the story of Salman the Persian,
gleaned, to begin with, from his own words:
I grew up in the town of Isfahanin Persia in the village of Jayyan. My
father was the Dihqan or chief of the village. He was the richest
person there and had thebiggest house.
Since I was a child my father loved me, more than he loved any other.
As time went by his love for me became so strong and overpowering that
he feared to lose me or have anything happen to me. So he kept me at
home, a veritable prisoner, in the same way that young girls were
kept.
I became devoted to the Magian religion so much so that I attained the
position of custodian of the fire which we worshipped. My duty was to
see that the flames of the fire remained burning and that it didnot go
out for a single hour, day or night.
My father had a vast estate which yielded an abundant supply of crops.
He himself looked after the estate and the harvest. One day he was
very busy with his duties as dihqan inthe village and he said to me:
"My son, as you see, I am too busy to go out to the estate now. Go and
look after matters there for me today."
On my way to the estate, I passed a Christian church and the voices at
prayer attracted myattention. I did not know anything about
Christianity or about the followers of any otherreligion throughout
the time myfather kept me in the house away from people. When I
heardthe voices of the Christians I entered the church to see what
they were doing. I was impressed by their manner of praying and felt
drawn to their religion. "By God," I said, "this is better than ours.
I shall not leave them until the sun sets."
I asked and was told that the Christian religion originated in
Ash-Sham (Greater Syria). I did not go to my father's estate thatday
and at night, I returned home. My father met me and asked what I had
done. I told him about my meeting with the Christians and how I was
impressed by their religion. He was dismayed and said:
"My son, there is nothing good in that religion. Your religion and the
religion of your forefathers is better."
"No, their religion is better than ours," I insisted.
My father became upset and afraid that I would leave our religion. So
he kept me locked up in the house and put a chain on my feet. I
managed however to send a message to the Christians asking them to
informme of any caravan going to Syria.Before long they got in touch
with me and told me that a caravan was headed for Syria. I managed to
unfetter myself and in disguise accompanied the caravan to Syria.
There, I asked who was the leading person in the Christian religion
and was directed to the bishop of the church. I went up to him and
said:
"I want to become a Christian and would like to attach myself to your
service, learn from you and pray with you."
The bishop agreed and I enteredthe church in his service. I soon found
out, however, that the man was corrupt. He would order his followers
to give money in charity while holding out the promise of blessings to
them. When they gave anything to spend in the way of God, however, he
would hoard it for himself and not give anything tothe poor or needy.
In this way he amassed a vast quantity of gold. When the bishop died
and the Christians gathered to bury him, I told them of his corrupt
practices and, at their request, showed them where he kept their
donations. When they saw the large jars filled with gold and silver
they said.
"By God, we shall not bury him." They nailed him on a cross and threw
stones at him. I continuedin the service of the person who replaced
him. The new bishop was an ascetic who longed for the Hereafter and
engaged in worship day and night. I was greatly devoted to him and
spent a long time in his company.
(After his death, Salman attached himself to various Christian
religious figures, in Mosul, Nisibis and elsewhere. The last one had
told him about the appearance of a Prophet in the land of the Arabs
who wouldhave a reputation for strict honesty, one who would accept a
gift but would never consume charity (sadaqah) for himself. Salman
continues his story.)
A group of Arab leaders from theKalb tribe passed through Ammuriyah
and I asked them to take me with them to the land of the Arabs in
return for whatever money I had. They agreed and I paid them. When we
reached Wadi al-Qura (a place between Madinah and Syria), they broke
their agreement and sold me to a Jew. I worked as a servant for him
but eventually he sold me toa nephew of his belonging to the tribe of
Banu Qurayzah. This nephew took me with him to Yathrib, the city of
palm groves, which is how the Christian at Ammuriyah had described it.
At that time the Prophet was inviting his people in Makkah to Islam
but I did not hear anything about him then because of the harsh duties
which slavery imposed upon me.
When the Prophet reached Yathrib after his hijrah from Makkah, I was
in fact at the top of a palm tree belonging to my master doing some
work. My master was sitting under the tree. A nephew of his came up
and said:
"May God declare war on the Aws and the Khazraj (the two main Arab
tribes of Yathrib). By God, they are now gathering at Quba to meet a
man who has today come from Makkah and who claims he is a Prophet."
I felt hot flushes as soon as I heard these words and I began to
shiver so violently that I was afraid that I might fall on my master.
I quickly got down from the tree and spoke to my master's nephew.
"What did you say? Repeat the news for me."
My master was very angry and gave me a terrible blow. "What does this
matter to you'? Go back to what you were doing," he shouted.
That evening, I took some dates that I had gathered and went to the
place where the Prophet hadalighted. I went up to him and said:
"I have heard that you are a righteous man and that you have
companions with you who are strangers and are in need. Here is
something from me as sadaqah. I see that you are moredeserving of it
than others."
The Prophet ordered his companions to eat but he himself did not eat
of it. I gathered some more dates and when the Prophet left Quba for
Madinah I went to him and said:"I noticed that you did not eat ofthe
sadaqah I gave. This however is a gift for you." Of thisgift of dates,
both he and his companions ate.
The strict honesty of the Prophetwas one of the characteristics that
led Salman to believe in himand accept Islam .
Salman was released from slavery by the Prophet who paid his Jewish
slave-owner a stipulated price and who himselfplanted an agreed number
of date palms to secure his manumission. After accepting Islam, Salman
would say when asked whose son he was:
"I am Salman, the son of Islam from the children of Adam."
Salman was to play an important role in the struggles of the growing
Muslim state. At the battle of Khandaq, he provedto be an innovator in
military strategy. He suggested digging aditch or khandaq around
Madinah to keep the Quraysh army at bay. When Abu Sufyan, the leader
of the Makkans, saw the ditch, he said, "This stratagem has not been
employed by the Arabs before."
Salman became known as"Salman the Good". He was a scholar who lived a
rough and ascetic life. He had one cloak which he wore and on which he
slept. He would not seek the shelter of a roof but stayed under a tree
or against a wall. A man once said to him:
"Shall I not build you a house in which to live?" "I have no need of a
house," he replied. The man persisted and said, "I know the type of
house that would suit you." "Describe it to me," said Salman. "I shall
build you a house which if you stand up in it, its roof will hurt your
head and if you stretch your legs the wall will hurt them."
Later, as a governor of al-Madain(Ctesiphon) near Baghdad, Salman
received a stipend of fivethousand dirhams. This he would distribute
as sadaqah. He lived from the work of his own hands. When some people
came to Madain and saw him working in the palm groves, they said,"You
are the amir here and your sustenance is guaranteed and you do this
work!"
"I like to eat from the work of my own hands," he replied. Salman
however was not extreme in his asceticism. It is related that he once
visited Abu ad-Dardaa with whom the Prophet had joined him in
brotherhood. He found Abu ad-Dardaas wife in a miserable state and he
asked, "What is the matter with you."
"Your brother has no need of anything in this world," she replied.
When Abu ad-Dardaa came, he welcomed Salman and gave him food. Salman
told him to eat butAbu ad-Dardaa said, "I am fasting."
"I swear to you that I shall not eat until you eat also."
Salman spent the night there as well. During the night, Abu ad-Dardaa
got up but Salman got hold of him and said:
"O Abu ad-Dardaa, your Lord has a right over you. Your family has a
right over you and your body has a right over you. Give to eachits
due."
In the morning, they prayed together and then went out to meet the
Prophet, peace be upon him. The Prophet supported Salman in what he
had said.
As a scholar, Salman was noted for his vast knowledge and wisdom. Ali
said of him that he was like Luqman the Wise. And Kab al-Ahbar said:
"Salman is stuffed with knowledge and wisdom--an ocean that does
notdry up." Salman had a knowledge of both the Christian scriptures
and the Quran in addition to his earlier knowledge of the Zoroastrian
religion. Salman in fact translated parts of the Quran into Persian
during the life-time of the Prophet. He was thus the first person to
translate the Quran into a foreign language.
Salman, because of the influential household in which he grew up,
might easily have been a major figure in the sprawling Persian Empire
of his time. His search for truth however led him, even before the
Prophet had appeared, to renounce a comfortable and affluent life and
even to suffer the indignities of slavery. According to the most
reliable account, he died in the year thirty five after the hijrah,
duringthe caliphate of Uthman, at Ctesiphon.

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And Allah Knows the Best!

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Published by :->
M NajimudeeN Bsc- INDIA

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