The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was sent as a prophet at the age of forty. He remained in Mecca for thirteen years receiving revelation, then he was commanded to emigrate, so he lived as an emigrant for ten years. He died at the age of sixty-three.
بعث رسول الله ﷺ لأربعين سنة، فمكث بمكة ثلاث عشرة سنة يوحى إليه، ثم أمر بالهجرة فهاجر عشر سنين، ومات وهو ابن ثلاث وستين.
Bukhari narrated it in the Book of Virtues (3902) from Matar bin Fadl, who said, Rawh told us, who said, Hisham (that is, Ibn Hassan) told us, who said, Ikrima told us, from Ibn Abbas, and he mentioned it. Bukhari also narrated it likewise (3851) through the hadith of Nadr bin Shumayl, from Hisham, and he mentioned it. Ahmad narrated it (2110) from Yazid bin Harun and Ghundar, both of them from Hisham, with the same wording.Yahya bin Saeed Qattan differed from them, narrating it from Hisham bin Hassan and saying, "Allah sent down revelation upon the Prophetﷺ when he was forty-three years old. He remained in Makkah for ten years and in Madinah for ten years, and he passed away at the age of sixty-three." Imam Ahmad narrated it (2017).Ibn Hajar and others said, "The first version is more sahih, and it agrees with the view of the majority."Allah Almighty said, "We have sent you with the truth as a bearer of good tidings and a warner, and you will not be asked about the companions of Hellfire" [Baqarah 2:119]. And He said, "Muhammad is not but a messenger, messengers have passed on before him" [Al Imran 3:144]. And He said, "We have sent you with the truth as a bearer of good tidings and a warner, and there was no nation but that a warner had passed among it" [Fatir 35:24]. And Allah Almighty said, "Say, I am only a warner, and there is no deity except Allah, the One, the Overpowering" [Saad 38:65]. And Allah Almighty said, "Say, O mankind, indeed I am the Messenger of Allah to you all" [Araf 7:158].Ibn Masud said, "Allah looked into the hearts of His servants and found the heart of Muhammad to be the best of the hearts of His servants, so He chose him for Himself and sent him with His message." Ahmad narrated it (3600), and Tabarani in Kabir (8582), and Bazzar in Kashf Astar (130), all of them through the route of Abu Bakr bin Ayyash, who said, Asim told us, from Zirr bin Hubaysh, from Ibn Masud, and he mentioned it.Its isnad is hasan because of Asim, who is Ibn Abu Najud, for he is hasan in hadith. Haythami said in Majma (1/177), "Its narrators are trustworthy."The hadith has other chains of transmission, and the one I have mentioned is the soundest of them. See these chains in Ilal Daraqutni (5/66–67). It has also been narrated as a raised hadith, but that is not sahih.