to Salman, so that he might recount his story to the two of them.

The three of them set off and found Salman in al-Mada’in, serving as governor. He was seated on a chair, with palm-leaf fronds spread before him, mending them with his own hands.

They said, “We greeted him and sat down.”

Zayd then asked, “Abu ʿAbd Allah, how did your acceptance of Islam first begin?”

He replied, “I was an orphan from Ramahurmuz. The son of the town’s dihqān used to go regularly to a teacher, and I attached myself to him so that I might remain under his protection. I had an elder brother who was independent, while I was still a boy. Whenever the dihqān’s son rose from his lesson, those whom he was teaching dispersed; once they had gone, he would cover his head with his cloak, climb the mountain, and do so time after time in disguise.

“I said to him, ‘You keep doing this—why will you not take me with you?’

“He answered, ‘You are only a lad, and I fear that something might slip from you.’

“I said, ‘Do not be afraid.’

“He said, ‘On this mountain there is a group living in a barṭīl (1); they are devoted worshipers who claim that we are worshipers of fire and idols and that we are not upon their religion.’

“I said, ‘Then take me with you to them.’

“He replied, ‘I cannot do that until I ask their permission. I fear that something may slip from you, be discovered, and the people be killed—their destruction would then be on my hands.’

“I said, ‘Nothing of the sort will come from me; so ask their permission.’

“So he told them, ‘I have an orphan boy with me who wishes to come to you and hear your words.’

“They said, ‘If you trust him …’

“He replied, ‘I hope so.’

“Then he said to me, ‘Meet me at the same hour you saw me go out, and let no one know of you.’

“When that hour came, I followed him. He climbed the mountain until we reached them.”

ʿAlī ibn ʿĀṣim said—he thought the narrator had said—“They were six or seven men.”

“It was as though their very spirits had melted away in worship: they fasted by day, stood in prayer by night, and at the pre-dawn meal ate whatever they could find.

“We sat with them. They spoke, praising Allah and mentioning the prophets and messengers who had gone before, until they reached the mention of Jesus. They said,

‘Allah sent Jesus as a messenger and enabled him to perform such deeds as raising the dead, fashioning birds, and healing the blind and the leper. A people denied him while others followed him. In truth he was only a servant of Allah and His messenger; Allah tested people through him…’”

(1) A barṭīl: a secluded cell or hermitage.