Suhayb ibn Sinan ar-Rumi

Ṣuhayb ibn Sinān رضي الله عنه was Arab by blood, from a tribe in Iraq, but had nothing Arab about him when he arrived in Makkah. He had been captured as a young child by Byzantine raiders and grew up as a slave in Rome, forgetting Arabic entirely and speaking fluent Latin. He eventually made his way back toward the Arab world and was sold to ʿAbdullāh ibn Judʿān of Makkah, who made him his business manager. Ṣuhayb was so skilled that he became the richest Mawlā (freed servant) in Makkah.

When Ibn Judʿān died, his will freed Ṣuhayb. He accepted Islām among the earliest converts and was one of the seven named by Ibn Masʿūd as the first batch of Muslims to be publicly identified.

When he decided to make the Hijra to Madīnah, Quraysh intercepted him. He drew his bow and challenged them: "None of you touches me until every arrow in my quiver has struck one of you. Then I'll fight with my sword." They backed down but demanded he leave his wealth in exchange for his freedom. He agreed, gave them everything including his camel and directions to his buried savings, and walked to Madīnah on foot.

When he arrived at Qubāʾ, crawling on all fours, dehydrated and barely alive, the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم greeted him with: رَبِحَتِ التِّجَارَةُ يَا صُهَيْبُ، رَبِحَتِ التِّجَارَةُ, "Your trade has been most profitable, O Ṣuhayb. Most profitable."

Allah revealed in Sūrat al-Baqarah (2:207) about him: وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَن يَشْرِي نَفْسَهُ ابْتِغَاءَ مَرْضَاتِ اللَّهِ, "And there are those who sell their very souls seeking the pleasure of Allah."

He was later included in a verse of Sūrat al-Anʿām that Allah revealed about him alongside Bilāl and ʿAmmār, saying that if the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم were to reject these companions he would be among the losers.