I made my way to Mecca, but I did not know who he was and was unwilling to ask about him. I drank from Zamzam and spent my time in the Mosque.

‘Ali ibn Abi Talib passed by and said, “Is this man a stranger?”
“Yes,” I replied.
He said, “Come with me to the house.”
I went with him; I asked him nothing, and he told me nothing.

The next morning I returned to the Mosque. I still did not inquire about him, and no one told me anything.

‘Ali passed by again and said, “Has the man not yet gone back?”
“No,” I answered.
He asked, “What is your business and what has brought you here?”
I said, “If you will keep my matter to yourself, I shall tell you.”
He said, “I will.”
I said, “News has reached us that a prophet has appeared.”
He replied, “You have been rightly guided! This is my path to him—follow me and enter wherever I enter. If I see anyone about whom I fear for you, I shall stand beside a wall as though adjusting my sandals; then you go on.”

He set off and I followed him until we entered upon the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. I said, “O Messenger of Allah, present Islam to me.” He did so, and I accepted Islam on the spot. He then said, “O Abū Dharr, keep this matter secret and go back to your people. When you hear that we have become manifest, come.”

I said, “By Him who sent you with the truth, I will cry it aloud among them!”

He went to the Mosque while Quraysh were there and declared, “People of Quraysh, I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger.”

They said, “Up with this renegade!” They rose and beat me until I was nearly dead.

Al-‘Abbās reached me, threw himself over me, and said, “Woe to you! Would you kill a man from Ghifār when your trade and your passage must go by Ghifār?” So they left me.

When morning came, I returned and proclaimed the same words I had said the day before.

They shouted, “Up with this renegade!” and treated me the same way, but al-‘Abbās again intervened and shielded me.

Such was the beginning of Abū Dharr’s Islam.