Salman the Persian

Salman the Persian: the cards as text

Stories. Draft written with AI help: awaiting scholar review.

  1. Card 1

    He crossed an empire looking for a prophet he had only heard of.

  2. Card 2

    From teacher to teacher

    Salman, by his own account, left his father's fire temple for Christianity, then served a chain of Christian monks. The last of them told him a prophet would appear in a land of date palms.

  3. Card 3

    Lesson: Salman kept searching until he found what he was looking for.

  4. Card 4

    Enslaved, then free

    Traders Salman trusted sold him into slavery, and he ended up in Madinah. When the Prophet arrived, Salman tested the signs he had been told, and accepted Islam. The Companions helped buy his freedom.

  5. Card 5

    Qur'an 49:13

    يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ إِنَّا خَلَقۡنَٰكُم مِّن ذَكَرࣲ وَأُنثَىٰ وَجَعَلۡنَٰكُمۡ شُعُوبࣱا وَقَبَآئِلَ لِتَعَارَفُوٓاْۚ إِنَّ أَكۡرَمَكُمۡ عِندَ ٱللَّهِ أَتۡقَىٰكُمۡۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ عَلِيمٌ خَبِيرࣰ ۝١٣

    13 O people, We have created you from a male and a female and made you into nations and tribes so that you may recognize one another. Indeed, the most noble of you before Allah is the most righteous among you. Indeed, Allah is All-Knowing, All-Aware.

  6. Card 6

    Lesson: The Companions bought Salman's freedom with their own hands.

  7. Card 7

    The trench

    In 627 a huge army marched on Madinah. Salman suggested a Persian tactic: dig a trench. The Muslims dug it in days, and the siege failed. A Persian outsider's idea saved the city.

  8. Card 8

    Qur'an 33:9

    يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ ٱذۡكُرُواْ نِعۡمَةَ ٱللَّهِ عَلَيۡكُمۡ إِذۡ جَآءَتۡكُمۡ جُنُودࣰ فَأَرۡسَلۡنَا عَلَيۡهِمۡ رِيحࣱا وَجُنُودࣱا لَّمۡ تَرَوۡهَاۚ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ بِمَا تَعۡمَلُونَ بَصِيرًا ۝٩

    9 O you who believe, remember Allah’s favor upon you when [enemy] forces came against you, but We sent against them a violent wind and forces that you could not see. And Allah is All-Seeing of what you do.

  9. Card 9

    Lesson: An outsider's idea, Salman's trench, saved Madinah.

  10. Card 10

    Reflect: What did Salman suggest at the Battle of the Trench?

    Answer: Digging a defensive trench. Digging a trench, a Persian tactic unknown to the Arabs.

  11. Card 11

    The end of Salman the Persian.

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