from among you.” They replied, “Then you take him.” So he turned to me and said, “Come.” He led me to his cave and said, “Here is some bread and here is a relish. Eat whenever you feel hungry, fast whenever you feel energetic, pray as much as you like, and sleep whenever you grow tired.” He then rose for prayer and did not speak to me again. Throughout those seven days no one said a word to me, and I was overcome with gloom until Sunday arrived. He returned to me and we went to the place where they gather each Sunday. There they would break their fast, meet one another, exchange greetings, and then not see each other again until the next Sunday.
We went back to our lodging, and he repeated to me the same instructions as before, then spoke no further until the following Sunday. I even thought of escaping and said to myself, “Be patient for one or two more Sundays.” When Sunday came and they had gathered, he said to them, “I intend to go to Jerusalem.” They asked, “What do you want there?” He replied, “I have never been.” They said, “We fear something may happen to you and someone other than us will take charge of you.”
When I heard him say that, I set out, and he and I left together. He would fast from one Sunday to the next, spend the entire night in prayer, and walk during the day; whenever we halted he would stand and pray. We reached Jerusalem. At the gate sat a cripple begging who said, “Give me something.” He answered, “I have nothing with me.” We entered the sanctuary of Jerusalem, and when its people saw him they hurried toward him, overjoyed at his arrival. He said to them, “This young man is my companion, so look after him well.” They took me aside, fed me bread and meat, while he immersed himself in prayer and did not conclude until the next Sunday, after which he finished.
He then said, “O Salman, I wish to rest my head. When the shadow reaches such-and-such a point, wake me.” When the shade reached the spot he had set, I did not wake him out of mercy for him because of the strain of his constant devotion. He awoke in alarm and said, “O Salman, did I not tell you that when the shade reaches such-and-such a place you should wake me?” I replied, “Yes, but compassion for your fatigue held me back.” He said, “Woe to you! I hate for any moment of my life to pass in which I have not done some good deed for Allah.”
He continued, “Know that the best religion today is Christianity.” I asked, “Will there come after today a religion better than Christianity?”—a question that simply came to my tongue. He replied, “Yes. Before long a prophet will be sent who accepts gifts