for the next teacher, and I stayed with him in the same way I had stayed with the others until death overtook him. When he was on his death-bed he commended me to a man in ʿAmūriyyah in Byzantine lands. I went to that man and found him exactly as devoted as they had been. I remained with him and earned a living until I owned a flock of sheep and a few young cattle. When death approached him I spoke to him, and he said:
“My son, by Allah, I do not know that anyone is left upon what we have been following. But the era of a Prophet is now at hand. He will be sent forth from the Ḥaram (the Sacred Sanctuary), and his place of emigration will lie between two ḥarras (black-rock tracts): a low, salty land with date-palms. He bears signs that cannot be missed: between his shoulders is the Seal of Prophethood; he eats what is given to him as a gift, but he does not eat from charity. If you can make your way to that land, then do so, for his time is upon you.”
After we had buried him, I stayed on until some Arab merchants from the tribe of Kalb passed by. I said to them, “Will you take me to the land of the Arabs if I give you my flock of sheep and these cattle of mine?” They replied, “Yes.” I handed everything over to them and they carried me with them, but when they reached Wādī al-Qurā they wronged me and sold me as a slave to a Jewish man there. By Allah, I saw the date-palms and hoped it was the town my companion had described, yet I was not satisfied until a man from Banū Qurayẓah came and bought me. He took me with him until we reached Madinah. By Allah, the moment I saw it I recognised its description, and I remained there in bondage.
Allah sent His Messenger ﷺ in Makkah, and nothing of his affair reached me because of the slavery I was in, until the Messenger ﷺ arrived at Qubā’. I was working for my master in his date-palms when, by Allah, I was still among them and his cousin came and said, “So-and-so, may Allah fight Banū Qaylah! They are now gathered around a man who has come from Makkah, claiming that he is a Prophet.”
By Allah, as soon as I heard that a chill seized me—he means he shivered—until I feared I would fall upon my master. I climbed down, saying, “What was that news?” My owner raised his hand and struck me a severe blow, saying, “What concern is that of yours? Get back to your work!” I replied, “Nothing—only that I heard something and wanted to know it.”
When evening came I had some food with me, so I took it and went to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ while he was at Qubā’ and said, “News has reached me…"