IN THE SHADE OF THE MESSAGE AND PROPHETHOOD
IN THE CAVE HIRA:
When Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) was nearly forty, he had been wont to pass long  hours  in retirement meditating and speculating over all aspects of creation around him. This meditative  temperament helped to widen the mental gap between him and his compatriots. He used to provide  himself with Sawiq (barley porridge) and water and then directly head for the hills and ravines in the  neighbourhood of Makkah. One of these in particular was his favourite resort — a cave named Hira’, in  the Mount An-Nour. It was only two miles from Makkah, a small cave 4 yards long and 1.75 yard wide.
He would always go there and invite wayfarers to share him his modest provision. He used to devote  most of his time, and Ramadan in particular, to worship and meditation on the universe around him.
His  heart was restless about the moral evils and idolatry that were rampant among his people; he was as  yet helpless because no definite course, or specific approach had been available for him to follow and  rectify the ill practices around him. This solitude attended with this sort of contemplative approach  must  be understood in its Divine perspective. It was a preliminary stage to the period of grave  responsibilities  that he was to shoulder very soon.
Privacy and detachment from the impurities of life were two indispensable prerequisites for the
Prophet’s soul to come into close communion with the Unseen Power that lies behind all aspects of  existence in this infinite universe. It was a rich period of privacy which lasted for three years and  ushered in a new era, of indissoluble contact with that Power.
GAGRIEL BRINGS DOWN THE REVELATION:
When he was forty, the age of complete perfection at which Prophets were always ordered to disclose  their Message, signs of his Prophethood started to appear and twinkle on the horizons of life; they  were  the true visions he used to experience for six months. The period of Prophethood was 23 years; so the  period of these six months of true visions constituted an integral part of the forty-six parts of
Prophethood. In Ramadan, in his third year of solitude in the cave of Hira’, Allâh’s Will desired His  mercy to flow on earth and Muhammad (Peace be upon him) was honoured with Prophethood, and the  light of Revelation burst upon him with some verses of the Noble Qur’ân.
As for the exact date, careful investigation into circumstantial evidence and relevant clues point  directly  to Monday, 21st. Ramadan at night, i.e. Au, 10, 610 A.D. with Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon  him) exactly 40 years, 6 months and 12 days of age, i.e. 39 Gregorian years, 3 months and 22 days.
‘Aishah, the veracious, gave the following narration of that most significant event that brought the
Divine light which would dispel the darkness of disbelief and ignorance. It led life down a new course  and brought about the most serious amendment to the line of the history of mankind:
Forerunners of the Revelation assumed the form of true visions that would strikingly come true all the  time. After that, solitude became dear to him and he would go to the cave, Hira’, to engage in
Tahannuth (devotion) there for a certain number of nights before returning to his family, and then he  would return for provisions for a similar stay. At length, unexpectedly, the Truth (the angel) came to  him and said, “Recite.” “I cannot recite,” he Muhammad (Peace be upon him) said. The Prophet
(Peace be upon him) described: “Then he took me and squeezed me vehemently and then let me go  and repeated the order ‘Recite.’ ‘I cannot recite’ said I, and once again he squeezed me and let me till
I  was exhausted. Then he said: ‘Recite.’ I said ‘I cannot recite.’ He squeezed me for a third time and  then  let me go and said:
“Read! In the Name of your Lord, Who has created (all that exists), has created man from a clot
(a piece of thick coagulated blood). Read! and your Lord is the Most Generous.’” 96:1-3
The Prophet (Peace be upon him) repeated these verses. He was trembling with fear. At this stage, he  came back to his wife Khadijah, and said, “Cover me, ... cover me.” They covered him until he  restored  security. He apprised Khadijah of the incident of the cave and added that he was horrified. His wife  tried to soothe him and reassured him saying, “Allâh will never disgrace you. You unite uterine  relations; you bear the burden of the weak; you help the poor and the needy, you entertain the guests  and endure hardships in the path of truthfulness.”