I asked Abu Salama, "Which part of the Quran was revealed first?"He replied, "You who is enveloped in a cloak" [Muddaththir 74:1].Yahya said, I said to Abu Salama, "Or Recite?"Abu Salama answered, "I asked Jabir, 'Which part of the Quran was revealed first?' and he said, 'You who is enveloped in a cloak.'I said, 'Or Recite?'Jabir replied, 'I am telling you only what the Messenger of Allah ﷺ told us. He said, "I had been in seclusion at Hira for a month. When my seclusion ended, I came down and made my way into the bottom of the valley. I was called. I looked in front of me, behind me, to my right, and to my left, but saw no one. Then I was called again. I looked, but saw no one. Then I was called once more."'"Walid said in his version, "Then I raised my head, and there he was, upon a throne in the air. A violent trembling seized me."Both narrators said in their accounts, "I went to Khadijah and said, 'Wrap me up, wrap me up.' So they wrapped me and poured water over me. Then Allah revealed, 'You who is enveloped in a cloak, arise and warn. Magnify your Lord. Purify your garments.'" [Muddaththir 74:1–4]
حدثنا الوليد بن مسلم حدثنا الأوزاعي أنه سمع يحيى ح ووكيع حدثنا علي بن المبارك
سألت أبا سلمة أي القرآن أنزل قبل فقال يا أيها المدثر قال يحيى فقلت لأبي سلمة أو اقرأ فقال سألت جابرا أي القرآن أنزل قبل فقال يا أيها المدثر فقلت أو اقرأ فقال جابر أحدثكم ما حدثنا رسول الله ﷺ قال جاورت بحراء شهرا فلما قضيت جواري نزلت فاستبطنت بطن الوادي فنوديت فنظرت أمامي وخلفي وعن يميني وعن شمالي فلم أر أحدا ثم نوديت فنظرت فلم أر أحدا ثم نوديت قال الوليد في حديثه فرفعت رأسي فإذا هو على العرش في الهواء فأخذتني وجفة شديدة وقالا في حديثهما فأتيت خديجة فقلت دثروني فدثروني وصبوا علي ماء فأنزل الله عز وجل {يا أيها المدثر قم فأنذر وربك فكبر وثيابك فطهر}
Its isnad is sahih. The companions differed over what was first revealed of the Quran, and the sahih view is that it was "Recite" [Alaq 96:1]. As for Surah Muddaththir, this is understood to mean it was among the earliest revelations, not the absolute first.Bukhari related this hadith in 8/677, no. 4922 of Fath al-Bari, in the tafsir section, Surah Muddaththir, and Muslim related it in 1/139, no. 160 and its repetitions, in the book of faith, on the beginning of revelation. From both of their narrations it is known that "Recite" was the first of the Quran to be revealed, and what Jabir narrated here does not contradict this. Rather, there are wordings stating that the Prophet ﷺ saw Jibreel between heaven and earth after "Recite" and after the pause in revelation.