Salman al-Fārisi came to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, when the Prophet had just arrived in Madinah, carrying a tray on which there were fresh dates. He set it down in front of the Messenger of Allah, and the Prophet asked, “O Salman, what is this?” Salman replied, “It is charity for you and for your Companions.” The Prophet said, “Take it away, for we do not eat from charity.” Salman removed it, and the next day he brought something similar and placed it before the Messenger of Allah. The Prophet asked, “What is this, O Salman?” He replied, “A gift for you.” The Messenger of Allah then said to his Companions, “Spread out and eat.”

Salman then looked at the seal on the Prophet’s back and embraced faith. At that time he was owned by some Jews, so the Messenger of Allah purchased him for such-and-such a sum of dirhams on the condition that Salman would plant a number of date-palms and work on them until they produced fruit. The Messenger of Allah planted all of the date-palms himself except for one tree, which ʿUmar planted. All of the palms bore fruit in that same year, except for the one tree. The Messenger of Allah said:
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