Salman (RA) began trading in the marketplace, waiting for someone to take him to the land of the Arabs.

Eventually, he encountered merchants from the Banu Kalb tribe, the same tribe as Zaid (RA), who would later become the Prophet's ﷺ adopted son.

When Salman (RA) learned they were from Mecca, he eagerly asked if they would take him with them.

"What will you give us?" they demanded.

"Everything I own," Salman (RA) replied without hesitation. “Just help me reach that place."

They agreed, but the merchants betrayed Salman (RA) upon reaching Medina.

They bound him, gagged him, and sold him into slavery.

In a heartbreaking narration in Sahih Bukhari, Salman (RA) recalls being sold from one slave owner to another.

Thirteen different masters, each with their own temperaments and demands.

Consider the magnitude of this trial: after more than thirty years of searching for truth, this upcoming Zoroastrian high priest, son of a Persian nobility, a deeply educated man, was being passed around, used for menial labor with no protection whatsoever.

Finally, Salman (RA) was sold to a Jewish man from Banu Qurayzah who lived in Yathrib.

By this time, Salman (RA) was in his fifties, the same age as the Prophet ﷺ.

His youth was gone, but his determination remained.

His new master took him to work in a palm garden.

"Land of palm trees," Salman (RA) thought to himself.

As he explored further, he noticed Yathrib sat between two lava fields.

The geographical markers from his teacher's description fell into place, but Salman (RA) heard nothing more for a long time.

Then one day, while high in a palm tree harvesting dates, Salman (RA) overheard his master's cousin exclaim:

"The Aws and Khazraj are gathering around a man from Mecca who has migrated here and claims to be a prophet!"

Chills ran down Salman's (RA) spine.

Trembling with excitement, he climbed down and quickly approached the visitor.

Salman (RA) asked urgently:

"What did you say?”

His master grabbed him by the shoulder, punched him in the face, and knocked him unconscious.

He shouted at him.

"What business is this of yours? Get back to work!"

The next day, Salman (RA) asked for a day off.

He quickly gathered firewood, sold it, and used the money to buy dates.

That evening, he rushed to Quba where the Prophet ﷺ was staying, and asked to see "this man who claims to be a prophet."

When he found the Prophet ﷺ surrounded by his companions, Salman (RA) approached with caution.

"I hear you're a good man in need," Salman (RA) said. "I've brought you some dates as charity."

The Prophet ﷺ smiled and thanked him.

He ﷺ spread his green Yemeni garment on the ground, placed the dates upon it, and invited his companions to eat, but did not eat any himself.

"That's one sign," Salman (RA) thought to himself.

A few days later, he returned with more dates, saying, "This is a gift for you."

This time, the Prophet ﷺ and his companions ate together.

"That's two signs," Salman (RA) noted, barely containing his excitement.

But how could he verify the third sign, the seal of prophethood between the shoulders?

Whenever possible, Salman (RA) would observe the Prophet ﷺ from a distance, hoping for a glimpse of his back.

His opportunity came during a funeral.

As the Prophet ﷺ led the prayer and then prepared to lay the body in the grave, his shawl began to shift.

Noticing Salman's (RA) intent gaze, the Prophet ﷺ called him over and asked if he wanted to see it.

Then he lowered his garment, revealing the seal of prophethood on his back.

In that moment, everything Salman (RA) had endured for more than three decades, the imprisonment, the journeys, the slavery, the beatings, all culminated in overwhelming validation.

He could contain himself no longer.

He threw himself toward the Prophet ﷺ, embracing him, kissing the seal between his shoulders, and weeping uncontrollably.

The Companions looked on in astonishment as this random Persian man clung to their Prophet ﷺ, sobbing against his back.

After Salman (RA) had composed himself somewhat, the Prophet ﷺ gently asked, "May I turn around now?"

Salman (RA) wiped his tears and agreed.

When they faced each other, the Prophet ﷺ asked with compassion, "What's your story?"

There, beside the fresh grave, Salman (RA) poured out his entire life story.

Every step of his extraordinary journey from Persia to Damascus, Iraq to Syria, Amoria back to Damascus, and finally to Medina.

As he concluded, saying, "I was just looking for you the whole time," he broke down crying again.

The Prophet ﷺ gave Salman (RA) his complete attention, a moment of pure love after decades of hardship.

All the stress, trials, and tribulations melted away in the presence of Allah's Messenger ﷺ.

Yet one challenge remained: Salman (RA) was still enslaved, and his Jewish master, who despised the Prophet ﷺ, refused to free him.

Salman (RA) later mourned, "That man made me miss the Battle of Badr," pained not by the lack of comfort or freedom, but by his inability to stand with the Prophet ﷺ in difficult times.

The Prophet ﷺ advised Salman (RA) to negotiate for his freedom.

When he approached his master, the man set an impossible price: 300 palm trees that Salman (RA) had to plant and nurture to maturity, plus forty ounces of gold.

Devastated, Salman (RA) was initially too shy to ask for this, but finally reported to the Prophet ﷺ, who immediately rallied the Companions:

"Everyone, help your brother!"

Salman (RA) had no tribal connections, no wealth, nothing to offer in worldly terms.

Yet the Prophet ﷺ didn't tell him to be patient or simply make dua.

Instead, he mobilized the entire community.

The Companions brought palm shoots, one, two, ten at a time until they collected all 300.

Salman (RA) dug the holes, and then the Prophet ﷺ himself planted each tree, making dua over them.

In one narration, all the trees thrived except one that Umar (RA) had planted, which the Prophet ﷺ later replanted himself.

With the trees growing, only the gold remained a barrier to Salman's (RA) freedom.

Then, providentially, someone presented the Prophet ﷺ with a piece of gold.

The Prophet ﷺ immediately gave it to Salman (RA), saying, "Take this to your master."

"What good will this small piece do?" Salman (RA) wondered.

But when he weighed it, the gold was exactly forty ounces, precisely what his master had demanded.

Finally free, Salman (RA) declared, "After that, I never missed a single moment with the Prophet ﷺ."

The story of Salman (RA) was longer than expected.

We'll wrap up tomorrow with insights, lessons, and the benefits of his journey and time with the Prophet ﷺ..