He said, “Would you like me to show you a sign?” The Prophet answered, “Yes.” He said, “Call that tree.” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ summoned it, and it came, scraping the ground, until it stood before him. He then said, “Command it to return to its place.” The Prophet said, “Return to your place,” and it went back. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ remarked, “That is enough for me.” This is an authentic hadith.

Ibn Ishaq relates: Wahb ibn Kaysan told me, “I heard ʿAbd Allah ibn al-Zubayr say to ʿUbayd ibn ʿUmayr ibn Qatadah al-Laythi, ‘Tell us, O ʿUbayd Allah, how the very first revelation came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ when Gabriel visited him.’” ʿUbayd ibn ʿUmayr replied:

“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to devote himself to worship in the cave of Hira for one month every year. This was one of the forms of tahanuth (acts of piety) practiced by Quraysh in the Age of Ignorance; tahanuth means seeking righteousness.

Ibn Ishaq continues: Each year he would observe that retreat, feeding every poor person who came to him. When his month of seclusion ended, the first thing he would do was go to the Kaʿba, circumambulate it, and then return home. When the month in which Allah willed to honor him arrived—namely, Ramadan—he ﷺ set out for Hira with his family. On the night Allah ennobled him with His Message, Gabriel came to him by Allah’s command.

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “He came to me while I was asleep, carrying a piece of brocade in which was a book, and said, ‘Recite.’ I replied, ‘What shall I recite?’ He gripped me so forcefully that I thought it was death, then released me and said, ‘Recite.’ I said, ‘What shall I recite?’ He seized me again until I thought it was death, then released me and said, ‘Recite.’ I said, ‘What shall I recite?’ I only said that to ransom myself lest he do the same to me again…"