and arms, while the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and his Companions had by then taken refuge in Medina (1). Their enemies were searching for them on every side, having promised rich rewards to anyone who could capture them. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ therefore set out with his Companion and their servant, and they kept themselves concealed (2) for three nights in an underground cave. After those three nights they left by an unfrequented route until they reached Medina, where all military power, numbers, and equipment were in the hands of the Jews and the idol-worshippers.
ʿAbd Allah b. Salam embraced Islam as soon as the Prophet ﷺ arrived in the city, for he beheld in him the signs of prophethood that he already knew and now saw with his own eyes. He gave up the motives—leadership, wealth, and social standing among his people—that had prevented those under divine wrath from accepting Islam. All of them had testified in the Prophet’s presence that he was their chief, the best among them, and their master. He realised, however, that if they learned of his Islam they would strip him of that leadership and status, so he wished the Messenger of Allah ﷺ to know of this. He said, “Take me into one of your rooms and ask them about me.” The Prophet did so, and when he asked them about him they replied that he was their master, their leader, and their scholar. ʿAbd Allah then came out to them, reminded them, and confronted them with the fact that they knew he was the Messenger of Allah; but they reviled him, maligned him, and denied his leadership, status, and knowledge.
Had ʿAbd Allah b. Salam been someone who preferred the fleeting goods of this world and its leadership, he would have behaved just as did his brethren—the ones transformed into apes, the nation upon whom anger descended, and that people notorious for their brazen falsehood. The same was true of everyone from the Jews who accepted Islam at that time.
As for those who held back (3), many of them openly declared their motive, both to their close circles and to the public,