Simak ibn Harb, on the authority of Salamah al-ʿIjli, said:
A sister’s son of mine from the desert, named Qudamah, came to me and said, “I would like to meet Salman.”
So we set out to see him. We greeted him with peace and found him at al-Madaʾin; he was, at that time, in charge of twenty thousand, and he was sitting on a palm-fibre couch, plaiting palm-fronds.
I said, “Abu ʿAbd Allah, this is my nephew who has come and wishes to greet you.”
He replied, “And peace be upon him, together with the mercy and blessings of Allah.”
I said, “He claims that he loves you.”
He said, “May Allah love him.”
We then conversed and said, “Will you not tell us about your origin? (1)”
He said, “I am from Ramahurmuz; we were a Zoroastrian people. A Christian from al-Jazirah whose mother was one of us came to us, settled among us, and built a monastery. I was attending the Persian school, and there was always a boy with me there who would arrive beaten and in tears.
“One day I asked him, ‘What makes you cry?’
“He said, ‘My parents beat me.’
“I asked, ‘Why?’
“He said, ‘I go to that monastery, and when they find out they beat me. If you were to go there, you would hear astonishing things from him.’
“I said, ‘Take me with you.’
“So we went to him, and he spoke to us about the beginning of creation and about Paradise and Hell. I continued going to him with that boy until some other lads from the school became aware of us and began coming along.
“When the people of the village saw this, they said to him, ‘O good man (2), you have lived among us and have seen nothing from us but good, yet we see our boys frequenting you and we fear you will corrupt them. Leave us.’
“He said, ‘Very well.’
“He then said to that boy, ‘Come away with me.’
“The boy replied, ‘I cannot; you know how harsh my parents are with me.’
“I said, ‘I will go with you,’ for I was an orphan without a father.
“So I set out, and we crossed the mountains of Ramahurmuz, walking and placing our trust in Allah, eating the fruit of the trees, until we reached al-Jazirah and came to Nisibis.
“He said, ‘Here are the most devoted worshippers on earth.’
“We came to them on a Sunday when they had gathered. He greeted them; they returned his greeting, welcomed him warmly, and said, ‘Where have you been?’
“He said, ‘I was with some brothers of mine in the land of Persia.’
“Then my companion said, ‘Stand up, O—’”