Part of Who am I?
· Lesson 185 of 296
Learn about the companions, scholars, and notables | Who am I? | Episode No. (185)
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Transcript
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Pause and reflect upon the Companions, the scholars, and the eminent figures.
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A new challenge: Who am I?
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I am one of the Companions of the Prophet, peace be upon him, a non-Arab from the lands of Isfahan.
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I experienced Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Judaism before Islam.
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When I embraced Islam, I became a son of Islam and the first of the Persians to enter it.
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I became known as the Seeker of Truth.
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I lived in an affluent environment that practiced Zoroastrianism and worshipped fire.
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My father was the village chief, and he loved me dearly.
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I was the servant of their deity, which was the fire.
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I tended to it, never letting it die down for a single moment.
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My father never withheld anything from me.
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One day, my father sent me to one of our orchards for an errand.
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I passed by a monk worshipping in his hermitage.
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I was impressed by his worship.
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I sat with him, listening to what he had to say.
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I ended up staying late and did not complete my father's errand in the orchard.
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He became very worried about me.
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When I returned to him, I told him the reason for my delay.
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I said to him, "The monk's religion is better than ours."
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He became angry with me, confined me to the house, and shackled me.
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I managed to break my chains.
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I left with a caravan of Christians to their lands.
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I became acquainted with their chief priest.
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I remained in his service.
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When he died, he directed me to another priest in another land.
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I traveled to him.
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Thus, whenever a monk died, I moved on to another.
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Until the last of them said to me, "My son,
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there is no one left among the Christians who is righteous enough for me to entrust you to him.
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However, the time of a Prophet who will emerge in the land of the Arabs has cast its shadow upon you.
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His characteristics are such and such.
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If you are able to join him, then do so."
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I waited until a group of Arabs from the tribe of Banu Kalb passed by us.
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I offered to accompany them to their lands
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in exchange for giving them everything I possessed.
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They agreed, and I traveled with them.
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On the way, they betrayed me.
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They took all my wealth.
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They sold me to a Jew from Wadi al-Qura.
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Then, another Jew from Yathrib, from the tribe of Banu Qurayza, bought me.
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He took me to his people in Medina.
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When the Prophet, peace be upon him, migrated to Medina,
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I heard of him and hurried to him.
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I began to verify the signs that my companion had described to me.
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When I became certain that he was the Prophet I was searching for,
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I threw myself upon him, kissing him and weeping.
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I embraced Islam at his hands.
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I told him my story in all its detail.
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He, peace be upon him, was amazed by it.
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I did not witness the battles of Badr or Uhud with the Prophet, peace be upon him, because of my state of servitude.
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The Prophet, peace be upon him, commanded me to enter into a contract of manumission with my master.
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So I did.
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The Prophet, peace be upon him, and his Companions helped me fulfill the terms of the contract.
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Then I witnessed the Battle of the Trench with the Prophet, peace be upon him,
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as the first battle I attended in Islam.
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I am the one who suggested to them that we dig a trench around Medina
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to protect it from the enemies.
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When the confederates arrived and saw the trench,
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they said, "This is a stratagem the Arabs have never known."
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Allah turned their plot back upon them.
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One day, I was beside the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him.
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He struck my thigh with his hand and said,
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"By Him in whose hand is my soul,
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if faith were at the Pleiades,
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men from among these would attain it."
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So, who am I?