Around 610 CE, in a cave on the mountain of Hira above Makkah, Prophet Muhammad ﷺ received the first verses of the Qur'an: 'Read in the name of your Lord who created.' This lesson traces what is known about that night, his return home, and Khadijah's response.
Overview
This lesson covers the beginning of revelation: the years of retreat at Hira, the encounter with the angel Jibril (Gabriel), the first verses of Surah al-'Alaq, Prophet Muhammad's ﷺ return home to Khadijah, and their visit to Waraqa ibn Nawfal.
Context
In the years leading up to revelation, Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was in the habit of withdrawing for periods of solitude and reflection in a small cave on Jabal an-Nur (the Mountain of Light), a peak above Makkah, at a place called Hira. This practice, called taḥannuth in the early sources, involved worship, contemplation and distributing food to the poor. It was not unique to him — a small number of Makkans dissatisfied with idol worship (the ḥunafāʾ) practiced similar retreats — but he took it more seriously and returned to it more often.
What this means
Sahih al-Bukhari preserves the account in the words of Aisha, who received it from the Prophet ﷺ himself. During one of these retreats — traditionally in the month of Ramadan of the year now dated to around 610 CE, when he was about forty — the angel Jibril appeared to him in the cave and said 'Read!' The Prophet ﷺ replied that he could not read. The angel embraced him firmly, released him, and said 'Read!' again. The exchange repeated twice more, and then Jibril recited the first five verses of what is now Surah al-'Alaq: 'Read in the name of your Lord who created — created man from a clinging clot. Read, and your Lord is the Most Generous — who taught by the pen — taught man that which he knew not.' (Qur'an 96:1–5, Sahih International).
Al-'Alaq · 96:1
Read in the name of your Lord who created —— Translation of the meaning by Sahih International
Translation source: The Qur'an — English translation of the meaning.
Al-'Alaq · 96:2
Created man from a clinging clot.— Translation of the meaning by Sahih International
Translation source: The Qur'an — English translation of the meaning.
Al-'Alaq · 96:3
Read, and your Lord is the Most Generous —— Translation of the meaning by Sahih International
Translation source: The Qur'an — English translation of the meaning.
Al-'Alaq · 96:4
Who taught by the pen —— Translation of the meaning by Sahih International
Translation source: The Qur'an — English translation of the meaning.
Al-'Alaq · 96:5
Taught man that which he knew not.— Translation of the meaning by Sahih International
Translation source: The Qur'an — English translation of the meaning.
Return to Khadijah
The Prophet ﷺ came down from the mountain shaken. When he reached home he said to Khadijah: 'Cover me, cover me.' She covered him until his fear subsided, and he then told her what had happened, saying he feared for himself. Her reply is one of the most quoted passages in the Seerah, preserved in Sahih al-Bukhari No. 3: 'Never! By Allah, Allah will never disgrace you. You uphold the ties of kinship, you carry the weak, you help the destitute, you honour the guest, and you assist those afflicted by calamity.' She then took him to her cousin Waraqa ibn Nawfal, an elderly man who had become a Christian and had knowledge of the earlier scriptures.
Sahih al-BukhariBook: The Book of the Beginning of Revelation (Kitab Bad' al-Wahy)№ 3Ṣaḥīḥ (authentic)Graded by Al-Bukhari
“Aisha narrated: 'The commencement of the Divine Revelation to Allah's Messenger ﷺ was in the form of good dreams which came true like bright daylight, and then the love of seclusion was bestowed upon him. He used to go in seclusion in the cave of Hira, where he would worship for many nights before returning to his family. Then suddenly the Truth came to him while he was in the cave of Hira. The angel came to him and said, "Read!" The Prophet ﷺ replied, "I do not know how to read." ... [Khadijah said]: "Never! By Allah, Allah will never disgrace you. You uphold the ties of kinship, you carry the weak, you help the destitute, you honour the guest, and you assist those afflicted by calamity."'”
Context: Narrated by Aisha at the very opening of Sahih al-Bukhari.
Source: Sahih al-Bukhari.
Waraqa's testimony
Waraqa listened to the Prophet's ﷺ account and said: 'This is the Nāmūs (the same angel of revelation) whom Allah sent to Musa. I wish I were young, and could live until the time when your people will drive you out.' The Prophet ﷺ asked in surprise, 'Will they really drive me out?' Waraqa answered that no one ever brought what he had brought without being treated as an enemy — and promised that if he lived to see that day, he would help him powerfully. Waraqa died soon afterward, and there was then a pause in revelation, known in the Seerah as fatrat al-waḥy, before it resumed with the opening verses of Surah al-Muddaththir.
Al-Muddaththir · 74:1
O you who covers himself [with a garment],— Translation of the meaning by Sahih International
Translation source: The Qur'an — English translation of the meaning.
Al-Muddaththir · 74:2
Arise and warn— Translation of the meaning by Sahih International
Translation source: The Qur'an — English translation of the meaning.
What is firmly established
That Prophet Muhammad ﷺ received his first revelation in a cave on Hira, that the first revealed words were the opening verses of Surah al-'Alaq, that he returned home in fear and was reassured by Khadijah, and that Waraqa ibn Nawfal recognised the experience as prophetic revelation. All of this is preserved in the strongest hadith collections through multiple chains.
What is reported with less certainty
Details such as the exact date within Ramadan, the precise wording of every part of the exchange, and later embellishments (for example popular stories involving a cave-spider or a nesting pigeon during the Hijrah, sometimes attached anachronistically to Hira) belong to a mix of hadith and later tradition and should not be taught as historical certainty.
Why this matters
The first word of revelation was a command to read. In a society that revered oral memory and prized poetry but had a small literate class, this instruction reoriented the community's relationship with knowledge itself. Islam entered history not with a call to fight, or to build a monument, but with an instruction to learn.
Common misunderstanding
The Prophet's ﷺ initial reaction was fear — not calm certainty. The Seerah preserves this honestly. Prophethood in Islam is not portrayed as a role its recipient chose or expected; it was a burden that took time to bear.
Application today
Two habits are worth taking from this lesson. First, take seriously the people in your life who steady you at the moment of greatest uncertainty — as Khadijah steadied him. Second, honour the command that opened revelation itself: read, learn, and never treat ignorance as harmless.
Timeline placement
Approximately 610 CE, in Ramadan, on the mountain of Hira above Makkah. Prophet Muhammad ﷺ is approximately forty years old. Followed by a pause in revelation and then the resumption with Surah al-Muddaththir.
Reflection
The first command of revelation was 'Read.' How does that shape the way you think about your own learning?
