Bilal was one of those Muslims who had made great progress spiritually to the extent that he became the muezzin of the Noble Prophet (S). The Noble Prophet (S) would say to him: “O’ Bilal! Invigorate my soul (by means of your Adhan).”
The Noble Prophet (S) not only placed him in charge of the public treasury, but also treated him as if he were his blood brother.
“When I enter Paradise, I shall hear your footsteps ahead of me, as you walk on its lush-green ground,” he had told Bilal.
Consequently, the other Muslims would approach Bilal and congratulate him for the lofty rank that he had come to acquire for himself, but he never allowed their compliments to make him arrogant, nor did he permit the people’s praises to change him. With great humbleness, he would respond to their praises by saying, “I am an Abyssinian and (till yesterday) I had been a slave.”( Hikayat-ha-e-Shanidani, Volume 4, Page 173; Tabaqat Ibn Sa’d, Volume 3, Page 238 )