He said, “My son, I do not know of anyone who remains upon the way we followed to whom I can direct you. Yet you are approaching the time of a Prophet who will be sent with the religion of Abraham. He will emerge in the land of the Arabs and migrate to a land between two lava fields, with date palms between them. He has unmistakable signs: he accepts gifts but does not accept charity, and between his shoulders is the seal of prophethood. If you are able to reach that land, then do so.”

Salman said: “Then he died and was buried. I remained in Amorium for as long as Allah willed me to remain. Then some traders from Kalb passed by me, and I said to them, ‘Will you take me to the land of the Arabs if I give you these cattle of mine and this small flock of sheep?’ They said, ‘Yes.’ So I gave them to them, and they took me with them. But when they brought me to Wadi al-Qura, they wronged me and sold me as a slave to a Jewish man. I stayed with him and saw the date palms, and I hoped that this was the land my companion had described to me, though I was not certain of it in my heart.

“While I was with him, a cousin of his from Medina, from Banu Qurayza, came to him. He bought me from him and took me to Medina. By Allah, no sooner had I seen it than I recognized it from my companion’s description, and I remained there.

“Allah sent His Messenger, and he remained in Mecca for as long as he remained, while I heard no mention of him because of the labor of slavery in which I was occupied. Then he migrated to Medina. By Allah, I was at the top of one of my master’s palm trees, doing some work on it, while my master was sitting down. Then a cousin of his came and stood over him, saying, ‘So-and-so, may Allah destroy Banu Qaylah! By Allah, they are now gathered in Quba around a man who arrived from Mecca today, claiming that he is a prophet.’ When I heard this, violent shivering seized me, and I thought that I would fall upon my master. Then I climbed down from—