sian. He is said to have been a native of
a small place near Ispahan, and that, on passing one day by a Christian
church, he was so much struck by the devotion of the people, and the
solemnity of the worship, that he became disgusted with the idolatrous
faith in which he had been brought up. He afterward wandered about the
East, from city to city and convent to convent, in quest of a religion,
until an ancient monk, full of years and infirmities, told him of a
prophet who had arisen in Arabia to restore the pure faith of Abraham.

This Salman rose to power in after years, and was reputed by the
unbelievers of Mecca to have assisted Mahomet in compiling his doctrine.
This is alluded to in the sixteenth chapter of the _Koran_: "Verily, the
idolaters say, that a certain man assisted to compose the _Koran_; but
the language of this man is Ajami--or Persian--and the _Koran_ is
indited in the pure Arabian tongue."

The Moslems of Mecca, who had taken refuge some time before in Medina,
hearing that Mahomet was at hand, came forth to meet him at Koba; among
these were the early convert Talha, and Zobeir, the nephew of Kadijah.
These, seeing the travel-stained garments of Mahomet and Abu-Bekr, gave
them white mantles, with which to make their entrance into Medina.
Numbers of the Ansarians, or auxiliaries, of Medina, who had made their
compact with Mahomet in the preceding year, now hastened to renew their
vow of fidelity.

Learning from them that the number of proselytes in the city was rapidly
augmenting, and that there was a general disposition to receive him
favorably, he appointed Friday, the Moslem Sabbath,[52] the sixteenth
day of the month Rabi, for his public entrance.

Accordingly on the morning of that day he assembled all his followers to
prayer; and after a sermon, in which he expounded the main principles of
his faith, he mounted his camel Al Kaswa, and set forth for that city,
which was to become renowned in after ages as his city of refuge.

Boreida Ibn al Hoseib, with his seventy horsemen of the tribe of Saham,
accompanied him as a guard. Some of the disciples took turns to hold a
canopy of palm leaves over his head, and by his side rode Abu-Bekr. "O
apostle of God!" cried Boreida, "thou shalt not enter Medina without a
standard"; so saying, he unfolded his turban, and tying one end of it to
the point of his lance, bore it aloft before the prophet.

The city of Medina was fair to approach, being extolled for