“If faith were suspended at the Pleiades, men from these people would still reach it.”

Muslim likewise narrates—through Yazīd ibn al-Asamm, from Abū Hurayrah—that the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “Had the religion been at the Pleiades, a man from Persia—indeed, he said: from among the sons of Persia—would have gone after it until he grasped it.”

In another wording: “Had knowledge been at the Pleiades, men from among the sons of Persia would have obtained it.”

Al-Tirmidhī also transmits from Abū Hurayrah that, concerning the Almighty’s words, “If you turn away, He will replace you with a people other than yourselves” (Muḥammad 47:38), the Prophet said, “They are the sons of Persia.”

Many other reports have come down praising men from among the Persians. The truth of this became evident among the Successors and those after them—whether freeborn Persians or emancipated clients—such as al-Ḥasan, Ibn Sīrīn, ʿIkrimah the client of Ibn ʿAbbās, and others, as well as those who later distinguished themselves in faith, piety, and knowledge, until these eminent figures surpassed the majority of the Arabs.