The Messenger Orders Salman to Make a Manumission Contract

Salman said: The Messenger of Allah then told me, ‘Make a manumission contract, Salman.’ I made an agreement with my master to plant three hundred palm trees for him in specified plots and pay forty uqiyyahs. The Messenger said to his Companions, ‘Help your brother.’ They helped me with the young palms: one gave thirty, another twenty, another fifteen, and another ten, each giving according to what he had, until I had gathered three hundred saplings. The Messenger said, ‘Go, Salman, dig the planting holes. When you have finished, come to me, and I will place them with my own hands.’ I dug the holes with my Companions’ help. When I finished, I told him. The Messenger went out with me, and we brought him the saplings; he planted each one with his own hand. By the One who holds Salman’s soul, not one sapling died. I had paid the palms, but still owed the money… The report continues on page 221.

The Messenger said, ‘Come to me when you finish, and I will place them with my own hands.’ I dug the holes, and my Companions helped. When I finished, I came to him and told him. The Messenger went out with me, and we brought him the young palms; he planted them with his own hands until we had finished. By the One who holds Salman’s soul, not one shoot died. I paid for the palms, but still owed the money. The Messenger was brought a piece of gold about the size of a hen’s egg from a mine. He said, ‘What happened to the Persian who made a manumission contract?’ I was called to him. He said, ‘Take this and pay what you owe, Salman.’ I asked, ‘How will this cover what I owe, Messenger of Allah?’ He said, ‘Take it; Allah will settle your debt through it.’ I took it and weighed out forty uqiyyahs for them. I had paid them their full due, and Salman was freed. I then witnessed the Battle of the Trench with the Messenger as a free man, and I missed no further campaign with him.

Ibn Ishaq said: Yazid ibn Abi Habib narrated from a man of ‘Abd al-Qays, from Salman, that when he asked, ‘How will this cover what I owe, Messenger of Allah?’ the Messenger took the gold, turned it over on his tongue, and said, ‘Take it and pay them in full.’ Salman said: I took it and paid them all forty uqiyyahs.