1408 — Muhammad ibn al-Husayn al-Farisi informed us. He said: Ahmad ibn Sa‘id informed us. He said: Muhammad ibn Yahya al-Dhuhli narrated to us. He said: ‘Abd al-Razzaq narrated to us, from Ma‘mar, from al-Zuhri, who said: ‘Urwah informed me, from Aisha.

1409 — A parallel chain: ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn Khayran informed us. He said: ‘Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn al-Ashqar narrated to us. He said: al-Husayn ibn Mahdi narrated to us. He said: ‘Abd ⦗834⦘ al-Razzaq informed us. He said: Ma‘mar informed us, from al-Zuhri, who said: ‘Urwah informed me, from Aisha, who said:

The first form of Revelation that came to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was true dreams during sleep. Whenever he saw a dream, it came to pass as unmistakably as the break of dawn. Then solitude was made beloved to him—al-Husayn’s version explicitly mentions “solitude”—and he would go to Hira, where he devoted himself to worship for a number of nights, taking provisions for that purpose. He would then return to Khadijah, and she would provide him with provisions for another such stay.

Then the Truth came suddenly to him while he was in the Cave of Hira. The angel came to him and said, “Read.” The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “I cannot read.” He seized me and pressed me until I was exhausted, then released me and said, “Read.” I said, “I cannot read.” He seized me and pressed me a second time until I was exhausted, then released me and said, “Read.” I said, “I cannot read.” He pressed me a third time until I was exhausted, then released me and said:

“Read in the name of your Lord Who created—
created man from a clinging substance.
Read, for your Lord is Most Generous,
Who taught by the pen,
taught man what he did not know.” [Surah al-‘Alaq 96:1–5]

He said: He returned with these words, his heart trembling, until he entered upon Khadijah and said to her ⦗835⦘, “Cover me! Cover me!” So they covered him until his fear had left him. Then he said, “Khadijah, what is happening to me?” He told her what had happened and said, “I feared for myself.”

She replied, “No indeed; take heart. By Allah, Allah will never disgrace you. You maintain ties of kinship, speak the truth, bear the burdens of the weak, provide hospitality to guests, and help people in the hardships that befall them.”

Then Khadijah took him to Waraqa ibn Nawfal ibn Asad ibn ‘Abd al-‘Uzza ibn Qusayy, Khadijah’s paternal cousin, the son of her father’s brother. He was a man who had embraced Christianity during the Age of Ignorance. He wrote Arabic script and had written in Arabic as much of the Gospel as Allah had willed him to write. He was an elderly man who had become blind.

Khadijah said to him, “O cousin, listen to your nephew.” Waraqa said, “My nephew, what have you seen?” So the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, told him what he had seen. Waraqa said, “This is the angel entrusted with Revelation who was sent down to Moses. Would that I were a young man then, and that I might still be alive when your people drive you out!”

The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “Will they drive me out?” Waraqa replied, “Yes. No one has ever brought what you have brought without being opposed and harmed. If I live to see your day, I will support you with all my strength.”

Not long thereafter, Waraqa died, and Revelation ceased for a time. According to what has reached us, the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, became so grieved that he repeatedly went out intending to cast himself down from the summits of high mountains. Whenever he reached the peak of a mountain to throw himself from it, Gabriel, peace be upon him, appeared to him and said, “Muhammad, you are truly the Messenger of Allah.” Thereupon his heart would be calmed and his soul find peace, and he would return ⦗836⦘. Whenever the pause in Revelation grew long for him, he would go out intending to do the same; but whenever he reached the peak of a mountain, Gabriel, peace be upon him, would appear to him and say the same to him.

The wording is that of al-Husayn ibn Mahdi’s report. Al-Bukhari and Muslim both transmitted it through the narration of ‘Abd al-Razzaq.