and he will be commissioned to shed blood.”

When this was mentioned to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, he said, “If you have spoken truthfully, O Salman, then you have seen the disciple of Jesus.”(1)

ʿUbayd Allah ibn Mūsā and ʿAmr al-ʿAnqazī stated:

Israʾīl narrated to us, from Abū Isḥāq, from Abū(2) Qurrah al-Kindī, from Salman, who said:

“My father was one of the asāwira (Persian cavalrymen). He placed me in the kuttāb (elementary school), so I used to go back and forth. Two boys were with me; whenever they returned, they would visit a priest or a monk, and I would enter with them.

The priest would say to them, ‘Did I not forbid you to bring anyone to me or inform anyone about me?’ I kept visiting him until I became dearer to him than they were.

He said to me, ‘O Salman, I would like to leave this land.’

I replied, ‘Then I will go with you.’

He came to a village and settled there, and a woman used to visit him regularly. When death approached him, he said, ‘Dig at my head.’ So I uncovered a jar of silver dirhams. He said, ‘Place it on my chest.’ He then began striking his chest with his hand, saying, ‘Woe to the qannāʾīn (hoarders)!’

He died, and the priests and monks gathered. I considered taking the money, but Allah protected me. I said to them, ‘He has left some wealth.’

Some young men of the village jumped up, saying, ‘That is our father’s money; his slave-woman used to visit him.’

I said, ‘O company of priests and monks, direct me to a scholar with whom I may stay.’ They replied, ‘We know of no one more learned than a monk in Ḥimṣ.’

So I went to him and related my story. He asked, ‘Has nothing brought you but the pursuit of knowledge?’ I said, ‘Yes.’

He said, ‘I know no one on earth more knowledgeable than a man who comes to Jerusalem every year in this month; if you set out, you will find his donkey standing there.’

So I went and found his donkey standing at the gate of the Temple. I sat until he came out; I told him my story and he said, ‘Sit here until I return to you.’