from Abū Jamrah al-Ḍubʿī, who related that Ibn ʿAbbās told them the story of Abū Dharr’s conversion. He said: “I sent my brother to investigate, and he returned saying, ‘I saw a man who enjoins good.’ That did not satisfy me, so I travelled to Mecca. I could not recognize him and survived only on the water of Zamzam. ʿAlī passed by and said, ‘You look like a stranger.’ I replied, ‘Yes.’ He said, ‘Come to the house,’ so I went with him, but I asked him nothing.

When morning came, I went to the mosque. ʿAlī again passed by and asked, ‘Is it not time for you to leave?’ I said, ‘No.’ He asked, ‘What brings you here?’ I replied, ‘If you will keep it secret, I will tell you.’ Then I said, ‘News has reached us that a prophet has appeared.’ He said, ‘You have been guided; follow me.’ We went to the Prophet ﷺ and I said, ‘Present Islam to me.’ He did so, and I accepted Islam. He then said, ‘Conceal your Islam and return to your people.’ I said, ‘By Allah, I will shout it out in their midst!’

He entered the mosque and proclaimed, ‘People of Quraysh, I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is His servant and messenger.’ They said, ‘Get up against this apostate!’ They rose and beat me until I was near death. ʿAbbās caught up with me, threw himself over me and said, ‘Woe to you! Would you kill a man from Banū Ghifār, when your trade and your routes must pass by Ghifār?’ So they left me. The next day I did the same, and ʿAbbās intervened again.

Al-Naḍr ibn Muḥammad al-Yamāmī reported: ʿIkrimah ibn ʿAmmār narrated to us, from Abū Zumayl Simāk ibn al-Walīd, from Mālik ibn Murthid, from his father, from Abū Dharr, who said: ‘I was one-quarter of Islam—three people had accepted Islam before me. I came to the Prophet ﷺ and said, “Peace be upon you, O Messenger of Allah. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is His servant and messenger.” I saw the joy spread across his face.’