The Messenger Tells Khadijah about Gabriel

The Messenger said: “He pressed it against me a third time until I thought I would die, then released me and said, ‘Read.’ I said, ‘What shall I read?’ I only said this hoping he would again do what he had done before. He said: ‘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 what he did not know’ (Qur’an 96:1–5). I recited it. Then he departed, and I awoke as though the words had been written in my heart. I went out until I was midway up the mountain and heard a voice from heaven: ‘Muhammad, you are the Messenger of Allah, and I am Gabriel.’ I raised my head and saw Gabriel in the form of a man, standing across the horizon. Wherever I looked in the sky, I saw him. I remained standing, neither advancing nor turning back, until Khadijah sent messengers to search for me. They reached the heights of Makkah and returned to her while I still stood in that place. Then he departed from me.” He returned to his family and sat close beside Khadijah. She said, “Abu al-Qasim, where were you? By Allah, I sent messengers searching for you until they reached Makkah…”