until death overtook him. He then commended me to a man from Ammūriyyah in Byzantine lands. I went to him and found him upon exactly the same path as his predecessors, and I stayed with him, earning a livelihood until I owned a small flock of sheep and a few young cows.
When death approached him I asked, “To whom will you entrust me now?”
He replied, “My son, by Allah, I know of no one left who adheres to what we have been following whom I could direct you to. But the era of a Prophet is upon you: he will be sent from the Sacred Precinct, and his migration will be to a land situated between two lava beds, a low-lying salt plain thick with date-palms. He possesses unmistakable signs: between his shoulders is the seal of prophethood; he accepts gifts but does not eat from charity. If you are able to make your way to that land, then do so, for his time is imminent.”
After we had buried him I stayed on until a group of Arab merchants from the tribe of Kalb passed by. I said to them, “Will you carry me to the land of the Arabs if I give you my sheep and these cows?”
They said, “Yes.”
So I handed over my animals and they took me with them. But when we reached Wādī al-Qurā they wronged me and sold me as a slave to a Jewish man there. By Allah, as soon as I saw the date-palms I hoped this might be the very place my companion had described.
I had not been there long before a man from Banū Qurayẓah arrived at Wādī al-Qurā, bought me from my owner, and took me with him until we reached Madinah. By Allah, the moment I saw it I recognised the description.
I remained in bondage there, and Allah sent His Prophet ﷺ in Mecca; because of my servitude nothing of his mission reached me—until the Messenger of Allah ﷺ arrived at Qubā’. I was working for my master high up in one of his date-palms when his cousin came and said, “So-and-so! May Allah fight the sons of Qaylah—by Allah, they are right now in Qubā’ gathered around a man who has come from Mecca, claiming that he is a Prophet.”
By Allah, the instant I heard those words a shiver seized me—a trembling so great that I feared I would fall upon my master. I quickly climbed down, saying, “What is this news?”