Three Signs

He doesn't eat from alms, he doesn't eat from charity. Salmān said, "Instead, I went back, and I said, 'Now test one is done.'" He said, "Later on I prepared some food, and I went to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), and he was already on his way to Madīnah. I went up to him, I greeted him, and then I told him, 'Last time I presented you with food, and I told you that this is charity, and you refused to eat from it, so I want to honour you with this gift.'" And he said, "I handed the food to Muḥammad (peace be upon him)." He said, "Muḥammad (peace be upon him) invited the companions to come in and eat, and he joined with them." Sign number two.

He said, "And then I went to him and visited him when he was in al-Baqīʿ al-Gharqad, the cemetery of Madīnah — he was following a funeral, a janāzah." He said, "I went up to Muḥammad (peace be upon him), I greeted him, and then I went around him to see the sign on his back." Salmān said, "The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) sensed that I was trying to look for something that was described for me, so the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) uncovered his back — he threw off the cloak that was covering his shoulders." Salmān said, "And right there, in front of my eyes, was the seal of prophethood." Sign number three.

Salmān said, "When I saw the seal of prophethood on his back, I fell down and I prostrated myself to Muḥammad (peace be upon him). I made sujūd to him, and I started kissing his feet, and I was crying." And that was the moment that Salmān had been waiting all of his life for. So he made sujūd to Muḥammad (peace be upon him), and he was kissing his feet and weeping, crying. He said, "The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) immediately told me to stand up — the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) doesn't accept sujūd for him." So he told the man to stand up, and then he told me, "Tell me your story." So I narrated my story to him. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) told me, "I want you to narrate this same story to my companions — I want you to tell them this story, a story of a man who was searching for truth all of his life." Salmān said, "And I narrated my story to them, just like I am narrating it to you, Ibn ʿAbbās." I was mentioning to them the same thing.