It is also said that his prophethood began in the month of Rajab.
Allah granted him revelation in its various forms:
The first (1): true dreams, which marked the beginning of his revelation, peace and blessings be upon him. Every dream he saw came true as clearly as the break of dawn (2).
The second form: what the angel cast into his mind and heart (3) without him seeing the angel, as the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said:
“The Holy Spirit inspired within me that no soul will die until it has received its provision in full. So fear Allah and seek your provision with moderation. Do not let a delay in provision lead you to seek it by disobeying Allah, for what is with Allah can only be attained through obedience to Him” (4).
The third: the angel would appear to him in the form of a man and speak to him until he understood what the angel was saying. In this form, the Companions would sometimes see the angel.
(1) This is the reading in the manuscripts; parallel usages occur in the author’s works.
(2) Reported by al-Bukhārī (3) and Muslim (160) from ‘Ā’isha, may Allah be pleased with her.
(3) Kāf and ‘ayn read: “wa-fī qalbihi” (and in his heart).
(4) Reported with similar wording from ‘Abd Allāh ibn Mas‘ūd, may Allah be pleased with him, by Ibn Abī Shayba (35473), Hannād ibn al-Sarī in al-Zuhd (494), Ibn Abī al-Dunyā in al-Qanā‘a (91; Mawsū‘at Ibn Abī al-Dunyā, Dār Atlas edition), al-Tabarānī (8:166), and Abū Nu‘aym in al-Hilya (10:27), through chains of transmission that are not free from criticism and are discontinuous. Al-Dāraqutnī favored the assessment of discontinuity in al-‘Ilal (875), and al-Hāfiz indicated it in al-Matālib (5:576). See al-Silsila al-Sahīha (2866).
A corroborating report from Jābir is recorded by Ibn Mājah (2144), Ibn Hibbān (3239, 3241), and others through chains that are not free from weakness.
Another corroborating report, from al-Muttalib ibn Hantab, is recorded by al-Shāfi‘ī in al-Risāla (p. 93), who cites it as evidence that what was imparted to the mind of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, constitutes sunnah. See Shaykh Ahmad Shākir’s commentary on this passage.