Accounts of Unusual Reports on the Matter
Abū Nuʿaym says in his Dalāʾil: “Sulaymān ibn Aḥmad narrated to us; Muḥammad ibn Zakariyyā al-Ghilābī narrated to us; al-ʿAlāʾ ibn al-Faḍl ibn ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Abī al-Sawayyah al-Minqarī narrated to us; ʿAbbād ibn Kasīb narrated to us, from his father, from Abū ʿItwārah al-Khuzaʿī, from Saʿr ibn Sawādah al-ʿĀmirī, who said:
‘I was a hired servant for a noble woman of my clan. I would ride for her both the spirited and the gentle mounts, and I left no district that offered a hope of profit but that I travelled to it. I returned from Syria with grain and household goods, intending to display them at the great market of the season for the common folk of the Arabs. I entered Mecca on a pitch-dark night and stayed until the cloak of night slipped from me. When I lifted my head I saw domes level with the mountain-tops, pitched with the tanned hides of al-Ṭāʾif. Sacrificial camels were being slaughtered and others driven along; cooks and their helpers were crying, “Come quickly, come quickly!” A man standing on a rise in the ground was calling, “O delegation of God, turn aside for breakfast!” and two men posted on the pathway were saying, “O delegation of God, whoever has eaten should move on to supper.”
‘What I saw astonished me, so I moved forward seeking the leader of the gathering. One of the men perceived my intent and said, “He is ahead of you.” There I found an elderly man whose cheeks were furrowed like worm-tracks and from whose forehead the star Sirius seemed to blaze. He had wrapped a black turban round his head, and from beneath it fell a luxuriant flowing lock, like the hair of Sāsam—some reports say he was seated upon the throne of Sāsam—with a cushion beneath him. In his hand he held a staff on which he leaned, and around him sat dignified elders, their chins lowered, none of them uttering a word.
‘Word had already reached me in Syria that the hour of the unlettered Prophet’s appearance was now at hand…’
= Salman is also mentioned in Siyar A‘lam al-Nubala’ (vol. 1, p. 519) and subsequently.
(1) I did not find it in Dalail Abi Nu‘aym (Hyderabad-Deccan edition), nor in the edition edited by Qal’aji and ‘Abd al-Barr ‘Abbas. Ibn Hajar, however, mentions it briefly in al-Isabah under the entry “Sa’r.”
(2) In some manuscripts of the hadith it appears as Sa‘id, and in the printed editions as Sa‘ir—both are scribal errors. The reading confirmed by al-Isabah in the biography of Sa’r ibn Suwadah is Sa’r.
(3) The proverb “they mount every sa‘b and dhalul in their affairs” means they exert themselves energetically. Al-asif denotes the day-laborer. (Root: dh-l-l.)
(4) In the hadith manuscripts it reads “altaqq,” i.e. from iltaqa (“he clung to”), derived from iltaqa bi-l-makan (“he adhered firmly to a place”). The reading in the printed edition is the correct one.
(5) In the printed edition it appears as masrahan, but the manuscript reading matrah is the correct one. Al-matrah means the remote place. (See al-Mu‘jam al-Wasit, s.v. tarh.)
(6) “Kubbah” refers to a crowd or assembly. In a ḥadith from Ibn Mas‘ud he saw a group depart and return, saying: “Beware of kubbat al-sūq, for it is Satan’s kubbah,” i.e. the market crowd. In some manuscripts it appears as kabid al-mawsim (“its center”), and “kabid” of anything means its core or principal part. (See al-Lisān, k-b-b; k-b-d.)
(7) “Anṭā‘” is the plural of niṭ‘, a leather mat. (See al-Mu‘jam al-Wasit, s.v. niṭ‘.)
(8) “Jahrani al-shay’” means “it alarmed me.” (See al-Lisān, j-h-r.)
(9) “Al-asāri‘” are worms with white bodies and red heads found in sand, resembling a woman’s fingers; also, in the phrase thaghr dhū asāri‘, “asāri‘” denotes lines or tracks. In the Prophet’s description “his neck was like asāri‘ of gold,” i.e. strands of gold. (See al-Tāj, s.v. sara‘.)
(10) In the printed edition it appears as samāsim, but the manuscript reading is the correct one. Al-sāsam is a dark wood—said by some to be ebony—used for arrow shafts. Al-jummah is the gathered hair of the head; one wrapping a turban winds it around this mass. (See al-Lisān, s-s-s-m; j-m-m; l-w-th.)
(11) In the printed edition it is given as mutakhassar.