My master thereupon raised his hand, dealt me a heavy blow, and said, “What concern is that of yours? Get back to your work!”

I replied, “It is nothing; I merely heard some news and wished to know more.”

When evening fell I had a little food with me, so I carried it to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, who was then in Qubā’. I said, “It has reached me that you are a righteous man and that you have with you companions who are strangers. I had set this food aside as charity, and I considered you the most deserving people of it in this land. Here it is; please eat from it.”

He himself refrained and said to his Companions, “Eat.”

I said to myself, “This is one of the signs my teacher described to me.”

I then returned home, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ moved on to Madinah. I gathered some provisions I possessed, brought them to him, and said, “I have observed that you do not eat from charity; this, therefore, is a gift.” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ ate from it, and so did his Companions.

I said, “That makes two signs.”

Later I came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ while he was following a funeral; I was wearing two mantles, and he was walking among his Companions. I manoeuvred behind him, trying to see his back—would I behold the seal that had been described?

When he noticed me circling behind him, he realised I was seeking confirmation of something I had been told; he cast aside the cloak from his back. I looked at the seal, recognised it, and flung myself upon him, kissing it and weeping.

He said, “Turn around.”

So I turned, and I recounted my story to him exactly as I have told it to you, Ibn ʿAbbās. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was delighted for his Companions to hear it.

Slavery, however, kept me occupied, and I missed Badr and Uḥud with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.

Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Conclude a manumission contract, O Salman.”

Accordingly I arranged with my master that I would be freed in return for three hundred date-palms