Narrated to us:
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971 — Abū Bakr ibn Abī Dāwūd said: Muhammad ibn Abbād narrated to us, saying: Bakr ibn Sulaymān narrated to us, from Muhammad ibn Ishāq, who said: Wahb ibn Kaysān, the client of al-Zubayr, narrated to me, saying: I heard Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr say to Ubayd ibn Umayr, “Tell us, Ubayd, how Allah’s Messenger—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—first experienced prophethood when Gabriel—peace be upon him—came to him.” He then related how it began, and the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said:

“I set out, and when I reached the middle of the mountain, I heard a voice from heaven saying, ‘O Muhammad, you are the Messenger of Allah, and I am Gabriel.’ I raised my head toward heaven to look, and there was Gabriel in the form of a man, with his feet set side by side upon the horizon of the sky, saying, ‘O Muhammad, you are the Messenger of Allah, and I am Gabriel.’ I stood looking at him, unable to move either forward or backward. I began turning my face toward every horizon of the sky, but wherever I looked, I saw him in the same form. I remained standing like that until Khadīja sent her messengers to search for me. They returned to her while I was still standing ⦗1440⦘ in that same place. Then they went away from me, and I departed and returned to my family. When I came to Khadīja, she asked me, ‘Where have you been?’ I replied, ‘I must surely be either a poet or possessed.’ She said, ‘May Allah protect you from that! What has happened, cousin? Perhaps you saw something?’ I said, ‘Yes,’ and then told her what had happened. She said, ‘Rejoice, cousin! By Him in whose hand is Khadīja’s soul, I truly hope that you will be the Prophet of this nation.’”