11 / 22
Page 11
The Islamic Bulletin
Issue 18
S
alman
al
-F
arsi
This is a story of a seeker of Truth, the sto-
ry of Salman the Persian, gleaned, to begin
with, from his own words:
I grew up in the town of Isfahan in Persia in the village of
Jayyan. My father was the Dihqan or chief of the village.
He was the richest person there and had the biggest
house.
Since I was a child my father loved me, more than he loved any
other. As time went by his love for me became so strong and
overpowering that he feared to lose me or have anything happen
to me.
So he kept me at home, a veritable prisoner, in the same way
that young girls were kept.
I became devoted to the Magian religion so much so that I
attained the position of custodian of the fire which we wor-
shipped.
My duty was to see that the flames of the fire remained
burning and that it did not go out for a single hour, day or
night.
My father had a vast estate which yielded an abundant supply of
crops.
He himself looked after the estate and the harvest. One day
he was very busy with his duties as dihqan in the village and
he said to me: “My son, as you see, I am too busy to go out
to the estate now. Go and look after matters there for me
today.”
On my way to the estate, I passed a Christian church and the
voices at prayer attracted my attention. I did not know anything
about Christianity or about the followers of any other religion
throughout the time my father kept me in the house away from
people.
When I heard the voices of the Christians I entered the church
to see what they were doing. I was impressed by their manner
of praying and felt drawn to their religion.
“By God,” I said, “this is better than ours. I shall not leave
them until the sun sets.”
I asked and was told that the Christian religion originated in
AshSham (Greater Syria). I did not go to my father’s estate that
day and at night, I returned home.
My father met me and asked what I had done.
I told him about my meeting with the Christians and how I was
impressed by their religion. He was dismayed and said: “My
son, there is nothing good in that religion. Your religion and the
religion of your forefathers is better.”
“No, their religion is better than ours,” I insisted.
My father became upset and afraid that I would leave our
religion. So he kept me locked up in the house and put a
chain on my feet. I managed however to send a message to
the Christians asking them to inform me of any caravan going
to Syria.
Before long they got in touch with me and told me that a caravan
was headed for Syria.
I managed to unfetter myself and in disguise accompanied the
caravan to Syria.
There, I asked who was the leading person in the Christian
religion and was directed to the bishop of the church.
I went up to him and said: “I want to become a Christian and
would like to attach myself to your service, learn from you and
pray with you.”
The bishop agreed and I entered the church in his service.
I soon found out, however, that the man was corrupt. He would
order his followers to give money in charity while holding out the
promise of blessings to them.
When they gave anything to spend in the way of God, however,
he would hoard it for himself and not give anything to the poor
or needy.
In this way he amassed a vast quantity of gold.
When the bishop died and the Christians gathered to bury him,
I told them of his corrupt practices and, at their request, showed
them where he kept their donations.
When they saw the large jars filled with gold and silver they said.
“By God, we shall not bury him.” They nailed him on a cross and
threw stones at him.
I continued in the service of the person who replaced him. The
new bishop was an ascetic who longed for the Hereafter and
engaged in worship day and night.
I was greatly devoted to him and spent a long time in his compa-
ny.
(After his death, Salman attached himself to various Christian
religious figures, in Mosul, Nisibis and elsewhere.
The last one had told him about the appearance of a Prophet
in the land of the Arabs who would have a reputation for strict
honesty, one who would accept a gift but would never consume
charity (sadaqah) for himself. Salman continues his story.)
A group of Arab leaders from the Kalb tribe passed through Am-
muriyah and I asked them to take me with them to the land of
the Arabs in return for whatever money I had. They agreed and I
paid them.
When we reached Wadi al-Qura (a place between Madinah
and Syria), they broke their agreement and sold me to a
Jew.
I worked as a servant for him but eventually he sold me to a
nephew of his belonging to the tribe of Banu Qurayzah.
This nephew took me with him to Yathrib, the city of palm
groves, which is how the Christian at Ammuriyah had described
it.