The First Revelation

He had taken to withdrawing to the cave of Hira on the mountain outside Makkah, staying for nights at a time in solitude before returning to his family for provisions. In his fortieth year, during one of these retreats, the angel came to him with the command to read.

He answered that he could not read. The account describes the angel pressing him until he could bear no more, releasing him, and repeating the command twice again, before reciting to him the opening verses of Surah al-Alaq.

He returned home shaken and asked to be covered. Khadijah reassured him, reminding him of his conduct toward others, and took him to her cousin Waraqah ibn Nawfal, an elderly man who knew the earlier scriptures. Waraqah identified what had come to him as the same messenger that had come to Musa, and told him his people would drive him out.

Commentary

This event shows the integration the Seerah requires: Surah al-Alaq contains the revealed words, while the hadith of Aishah supplies the circumstances, the setting, the reaction and the exchange with Waraqah. Neither alone gives the full picture, and the account of the beginning of revelation is placed at the very opening of Sahih al-Bukhari.

Waraqah's response is worth pausing on: the first person outside the household to identify the experience did so by reference to earlier prophecy, and predicted the opposition that followed.

On the sources: The event itself is established by a sahih narration. The month of Ramadan rests on Quran 97 and 2:185 read together with the reports; the precise date within it is traditional rather than fixed.