The first thing that came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ of revelation was true dreams in his sleep. He never saw a dream but it came true like the breaking of dawn. He used to go to Hira and devote himself to worship there, this being the act of worship, for a number of nights, taking provisions with him for that purpose. Then he would return to Khadijah and she would supply him with provisions for another such retreat, until the truth came upon him suddenly while he was in the cave of Hira. The angel came to him there and said, "Recite."The Prophet ﷺ said, "I answered, 'I cannot read.' Then he seized me and squeezed me until I could bear no more, then released me and said, 'Recite.' I said, 'I cannot read.' So he seized me and squeezed me a second time until I could bear no more, then released me and said, 'Recite.' I said, 'I cannot read.' So he seized me and squeezed me a third time until I could bear no more, then released me and said, 'Recite in the name of your Lord who created' [Alaq 96:1], continuing until he reached 'taught man what he did not know' [Alaq 96:5]."He returned with these words, the muscles of his neck and shoulders trembling, until he came in to Khadijah and said, "Wrap me up, wrap me up." So they wrapped him until the terror left him.Then he said, "Khadijah, what is happening to me?" and he told her what had occurred, adding, "I fear for myself."She said to him, "Not at all. Rejoice, for by Allah, Allah will never disgrace you. You maintain ties of kinship, you speak the truth, you bear the burdens of others, you are generous to guests, and you help others through the trials that befall them."Then Khadijah took him to Waraqa bin Nawfal bin Asad bin Abdul-Uzza bin Qusayy, who was her cousin, her father's brother's son. He was a man who had become a Christian in the days of ignorance, and he used to write the Arabic script, writing out from the Gospel in Arabic as much as Allah willed him to write. He was by then a very old man who had gone blind.Khadijah said to him, "Cousin, listen to your nephew."Waraqa asked, "Nephew, what have you seen?"The Prophet ﷺ told him what he had seen.Waraqa said, "This is the same keeper of secrets that was sent down to Musa. I wish I were a young man in those days. I wish I could be alive when your people drive you out."The Messenger of Allah ﷺ asked, "Will they really drive me out?"Waraqa answered, "Yes. No man has ever brought what you have brought without being treated as an enemy. And if I live to see your day, I will support you with all my strength."But it was not long before Waraqa died, and revelation ceased for a time, until the Prophet ﷺ, as it has reached us, grieved so deeply that he went out again and again meaning to throw himself down from the peaks of high mountains. Yet every time he reached the summit of a mountain intending to cast himself off, Jibreel would appear to him and say, "Muhammad, you are truly the Messenger of Allah." At that his heart would grow calm and his soul settle, and he would return. And whenever the pause in revelation stretched long, he would go out again with the same intent, and when he reached a mountain summit Jibreel would appear to him and say the same to him.Ibn Abbas said regarding "the Cleaver of daybreak" [Anam 6:96] that it means the light of the sun by day and the light of the moon by night.
حدثنا يحيى بن بكير حدثنا الليث عن عقيل عن ابن شهاب ح و حدثني عبد الله بن محمد حدثنا عبد الرزاق حدثنا معمر قال الزهري فأخبرني عروة
أول ما بدئ به رسول الله ﷺ من الوحي الرؤيا الصادقة في النوم فكان لا يرى رؤيا إلا جاءت مثل فلق الصبح فكان يأتي حراء فيتحنث فيه وهو التعبد الليالي ذوات العدد ويتزود لذلك ثم يرجع إلى خديجة فتزوده لمثلها حتى فجئه الحق وهو في غار حراء فجاءه الملك فيه فقال اقرأ فقال له النبي ﷺ فقلت ما أنا بقارئ فأخذني فغطني حتى بلغ مني الجهد ثم أرسلني فقال اقرأ فقلت ما أنا بقارئ فأخذني فغطني الثانية حتى بلغ مني الجهد ثم أرسلني فقال اقرأ فقلت ما أنا بقارئ فأخذني فغطني الثالثة حتى بلغ مني الجهد ثم أرسلني فقال {اقرأ باسم ربك الذي خلق} حتى بلغ {علم الإنسان ما لم يعلم} فرجع بها ترجف بوادره حتى دخل على خديجة فقال زملوني زملوني فزملوه حتى ذهب عنه الروع فقال يا خديجة ما لي وأخبرها الخبر وقال قد خشيت على نفسي فقالت له كلا أبشر فوالله لا يخزيك الله أبدا إنك لتصل الرحم وتصدق الحديث وتحمل الكل وتقري الضيف وتعين على نوائب الحق ثم انطلقت به خديجة حتى أتت به ورقة بن نوفل بن أسد بن عبد العزى بن قصي وهو ابن عم خديجة أخو أبيها وكان امرأ تنصر في الجاهلية وكان يكتب الكتاب العربي فيكتب بالعربية من الإنجيل ما شاء الله أن يكتب وكان شيخا كبيرا قد عمي فقالت له خديجة أي ابن عم اسمع من ابن أخيك فقال ورقة ابن أخي ماذا ترى فأخبره النبي ﷺ ما رأى فقال ورقة هذا الناموس الذي أنزل على موسى يا ليتني فيها جذعا أكون حيا حين يخرجك قومك فقال رسول الله ﷺ أومخرجي هم فقال ورقة نعم لم يأت رجل قط بمثل ما جئت به إلا عودي وإن يدركني يومك أنصرك نصرا مؤزرا ثم لم ينشب ورقة أن توفي وفتر الوحي فترة حتى حزن النبي ﷺ فيما بلغنا حزنا غدا منه مرارا كي يتردى من رءوس شواهق الجبال فكلما أوفى بذروة جبل لكي يلقي منه نفسه تبدى له جبريل فقال يا محمد إنك رسول الله حقا فيسكن لذلك جأشه وتقر نفسه فيرجع فإذا طالت عليه فترة الوحي غدا لمثل ذلك فإذا أوفى بذروة جبل تبدى له جبريل فقال له مثل ذلك قال ابن عباس {فالق الإصباح} ضوء الشمس بالنهار وضوء القمر بالليل