The Conversion of Abū Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him)

Sulaymān ibn al-Mughīra related: Ḥumayd ibn Hilāl narrated to us, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Ṣāmit, who said: Abū Dharr said:

We departed from our people, the clan of Ghifār, who used to deem the sacred month permissible to violate. My brother Anīs, our mother, and I set out until we lodged with a maternal uncle of ours, a man of wealth and standing, and he treated us generously. His people, however, grew jealous and said to him, “Whenever you leave your household, Anīs slips in to them.” Our uncle came and hurled at us what had been said. I told him, “The kindness you have shown us up to now you have spoiled, and after today there is no bond left between us.” We brought our small herd, loaded our belongings upon it, and moved on, while our uncle covered himself with his cloak and began to weep.

We traveled until we camped near Mecca. There Anīs entered into a wager, staking our herd against another of equal size. We went to a soothsayer to decide the matter; he ruled in favor of Anīs, so Anīs returned with our herd and another just like it.

Abū Dharr continued: “My nephew, I had been performing prayer for three years before I met the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.” I asked, “For whom were you praying?” He replied, “For Allah.” I asked, “In which direction did you face?” He answered, “Wherever Allah directed me. I would pray at nightfall, and when the last part of the night came I would lie down as though I were a garment until the sun rose over me.”

Then Anīs said, “I have a need in Mecca; look after things for me until I return.” He went to Mecca and was away for a long time. When he finally came back I asked, “What delayed you?” He said, “I met a man in Mecca who claims that Allah has sent him with the same religion that you follow.” I asked, “What do the people say about him?” He replied, “They say he is a poet, a sorcerer, and a soothsayer.” (Anīs himself was one of the poets.) He said, “I have heard the speech of the soothsayers; his words are nothing like theirs. And if you were to set his words beside the compositions—"