Salman the Persian (رضي الله عنه) came to the Prophet (ﷺ) to seek his counsel and his help. His master, a Jew of the Bani Quraizah, kept him so hard at work on his property south of Madinah that he had never been able to have close contact with the Muslim community. It had been out of the question for him to be at Badr or Uhud or take part in any of the lesser forays which the Prophet had led or sent out during the last four years.
He had asked his master what it would cost to set him free, but the price was far beyond his means. He would have to pay forty ounces of gold and plant three hundred date palms. The Prophet told him to write his master an agreement to pay the gold and plant the trees. Then he called on his Companions to help Salman with the palms, which they did, one contributing thirty palm-shoots, another twenty, and so on, until the full number had been reached. “Go dig the holes for them Salman,” said the Prophet, “and tell me when thou hast done, and mine is the hand that shall put them in.” The Companions helped Salman to prepare the ground, and the Prophet (ﷺ) planted each of the three hundred shoots, which all took root and thrived.
As to the remainder of the price, a piece of gold the size of a hen’s egg had been given to the Prophet (ﷺ) from one of the mines, and he gave it to Salman, telling him to buy himself free with it. “How far will this go towards what I have to pay?” said Salman, thinking that the price had been greatly underestimated. The Prophet (ﷺ) took the gold from him and putting it in his mouth he rolled his tongue around it. Then he gave it back to Salman, saying: “Take it, and pay them the full price with it.” Salman weighed out to them forty ounces from it, and so he became a free man.
