In brief
Salman al-Farisi RA's search for the truth is the story, told in his own words, of how a Persian priest's son came to Islam. Born in Isfahan and raised as keeper of his people's sacred fire, he was captivated by the prayer of Christians he passed one day, and when his father locked him up for it he escaped with a caravan to Syria. There he attached himself to a succession of Christian teachers, in Syria, Mosul, Nisibin and Amorium. The last of them, on his deathbed, told him that a prophet bearing the pure religion of Ibrahim AS was about to appear in a land of palm trees, and that he could be known by three signs: he would not eat charity, he would accept gifts, and he would bear the Seal of Prophethood between his shoulders. Salman paid a caravan to take him to Arabia, but they sold him into slavery, and he ended up working the date palms of Yathrib. When he heard that a man at Quba was claiming prophethood, he went to the Prophet ﷺ and tested him against all three signs. Each was fulfilled, and Salman embraced Islam, weeping. Slavery kept him from Badr and Uhud until the Prophet ﷺ helped arrange his freedom, after which he fought at Khandaq and in every major event that followed.
Salman's account is presented as proof that sincerity in seeking the truth reaches Allah's guidance regardless of where a person starts: from the fire-temples of Persia to the churches of Syria and Byzantium, all the way to the palm groves of Madinah.
Other events recorded around the same time. Their order within the year is not established; use the storyline above for the sequence.
I come from Isfahan, from a place called Jai, and I was the most beloved son of my father, who was a figure of high esteem among his people. We used to worship fire. I devoted myself to fire worship until I became custodian of the fire which we lit and never allowed to be extinguished.
My father had an estate, and one day he sent me there. I passed by a church and heard Christians praying, and I went in and saw what they were doing, and I was impressed by what I saw in their prayers. I said, "This is better than our religion," and I did not leave them until sunset. I asked the Christians about their affair, and they told me the origin of their religion was in Syria. My father questioned me and I questioned him, and then he put fetters on my feet and locked me up. I sent word to the Christians that I had entered their religion, and asked that whenever a caravan came from Syria, they should tell me before its return so I could travel with it. I broke loose from the iron fetters and went away, and set out with the caravan for Syria.
When I reached Syria, I asked the people there, "Who is the best person in your religion?" They said, "The bishop in the church." So I went to him, told him my story, and lived with him, serving, praying, and learning. But this bishop was a bad man: he would collect money from people claiming he would distribute it in charity, but he kept it for himself and did not give it to the poor. When he died, I told his people the truth and showed them where his treasure was: seven chests filled with gold and silver. When they saw that, they said, "By God, we will never bury him," and they crucified him and pelted him with stones. Then they appointed another man in his place, and I have never seen a man better than him; he shunned this world and sought the hereafter, and no one strove harder than him night and day in worship. I loved him as I had never loved anyone before, and I stayed with him for a while.
When that bishop was about to die, I asked him to whom he would recommend me. He said, "O my son, I do not know anyone who is on the path I am and who leads the kind of life I lead, except a certain man in Mawsil." So I went to that man in Mawsil and stayed with him until death approached him, and he directed me to a pious man in Nisibin. I stayed with him until death overtook him, and he directed me to a person at Amuriah in Byzantium; there I stayed, earning my living rearing cattle and sheep. Then death approached him, and I asked him, "To whom should I go?" He said, "O my son, I do not know of anyone who follows our way to whom I can advise you to go. But there has come the time of a prophet who will be sent with the pure religion of Ibrahim. He will migrate to the place of palm trees. If you can be sincere to him, then do so. He has three signs by which you will recognize him: he does not eat of charity, yet he accepts gifts, and between his shoulders he has the Seal of Prophethood."
A caravan passed by me, and I learned they were from the Arabian Peninsula. I gave them my cattle and sheep in return for taking me to their land, and they agreed. But at Wadi al-Qura, they wronged me and sold me to a Jew as a slave. I stayed with him until another man, from Bani Qurayza, bought me from him, and I came with him to Yathrib, working on his plantation in Bani Qurayza.
I was at the top of a palm tree with my master sitting below it when a cousin of his came and said, "May God destroy Bani Qayla! They are spreading a rumor about a man at Quba who came from Makkah claiming to be a prophet." I was seized by a tremor, and the palm tree shook until I almost fell on my master. He gave me a nasty slap and said, "What have you got to do with this? Return to your work!" At nightfall I gathered what I had and went to the Prophet ﷺ at Quba. I said, "I have heard that you are a righteous man and that you have Companions who are strangers and in need; this is something I have to give in charity, and I see that you are more in need of it than anyone else." He said to his Companions, "Eat," but he himself refrained. I said to myself, "This is one sign: he does not eat of charity." The next day I brought food again and said, "I see that you do not partake of charity, so I have something I want to give you as a gift." He said to his Companions, "Eat," and he ate with them. I said to myself, "This is the second sign: he eats of gifts." Then I came to him again, and found him returning from a burial at Baqi' al-Gharqad, surrounded by his Companions, with two garments, one on his shoulder and one worn. I greeted him and bent to see his upper back, and he, knowing what I was looking for, threw his garment off his shoulder, and behold, the Seal of Prophethood was there between his shoulders, just as the monk had described. I staggered towards him, kissing it and weeping, and told him my whole story, and I became a Muslim.