and ministers as well; I, however, have been granted fourteen. He then counted Abū Dharr among them. (1)

Sharik narrated—from Abū Rabīʿah al-Iyādī, from Ibn Buraydah, from his father—who said:
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “I have been commanded to love four people, and Allah—Exalted is He—has informed me that He loves them as well.”
I asked, “Who are they, Messenger of Allah?”
He replied, “ʿAlī, Abū Dharr, Salmān, and al-Miqdād ibn al-Aswad.” (2)

Shahr ibn Ḥawshab said: Asmāʾ related to me that Abū Dharr used to serve the Prophet ﷺ. When he had finished his service, he would retire to the mosque, for it was his home.

The Prophet ﷺ entered one day and found him lying down in the mosque. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ nudged him with his foot until he sat up and asked, “Do I not see you sleeping?”
He answered, “Where else should I sleep? Do I have any house other than this?”

The Prophet sat beside him and then said, “What will you do when they drive you out of it?”
He replied, “I will go to Syria, for Syria is the land of emigration, the land of the gathering, and the land of the prophets; I will simply be one of its people.”

He asked, “What will you do if they expel you from Syria?”
He answered, “I will return to it, and it will be my house and dwelling.”

He then asked, “And what will you do if they expel you from it a second time?”
He said, “Then I will take up my sword and fight until I die.”

At that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ smiled broadly and said, “Shall I direct you to something better than that?”
He replied, “Indeed, may my father and mother be your ransom, O Messenger of Allah.”

He said, “Submit to them wherever they lead you, until you meet me while remaining upon that.”