Commentary on Surah al-Alaq

“In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful.”

“Read in the name of your Lord who created—created man from a clinging substance. Read, and your Lord is the Most Generous—Who taught by the pen—taught man what he did not know.”

The basmala has already been discussed.

“Read in the name of your Lord who created—created man from a clinging substance. Read, and your Lord is the Most Generous—Who taught by the pen—taught man what he did not know.” These verses were the first part of the Noble Quran to be revealed to the Messenger—may Allah bless him and his family and grant them peace (1). They were revealed to him while he was worshipping in the Cave of Hirā. Revelation first began coming to the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and his family and grant them peace—through dreams that he saw in his sleep, and they would come true as clearly as the break of dawn (2). That is, events would then occur that confirmed those dreams. He first began seeing such dreams in Rabī al-Awwal. For six months, he continued to see dreams of this kind and to see them come true as clearly as the break of dawn. Then, in Ramadan, revelation came to him while he was awake. The period between Rabī al-Awwal and Ramadan is six months, while the period of revelation was twenty-three years. Hence the hadith states: “A righteous dream is one of forty-six parts of prophethood” (3).

While he was seeing this dream, which