he spoke words in Persian by which he indicated the guardianship [Wilāyah] of the Commander of the Faithful; so among them was one who understood him, and they rushed to strike him, whereupon the Commander of the Faithful arrived having taken the heaven with his right hand and the earth with his left hand, and he gathered between them until there did not remain between the heaven and the earth except like the distance of two bow-lengths or nearer.

So Salmān said: "O my master, I have known that it is not the Day of the Imminent [al-Āzifah]—meaning it is not the Day of Resurrection, meaning it is not the day of the punishment of Iblīs and his faction, may Allah curse them; because the destruction of the first and second adversary does not occur except at the time of the manifestation of Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Mahdī, the Master of the Age and Time, upon us is his peace."

So he said: "O Salmān, how often do you mention to me the likeness of this miracle?", so Salmān said: "O my master, I mention you before there was a built heaven, and an outstretched earth, before there was a sun or a moon, or a pearly planet, or a running celestial sphere."