Part 1 · Page 238
Khadijah Tests the Sign of Revelation
English rendering of the source section
Local English translation from the Arabic text; reports, variant readings, and editorial commentary are distinguished.
This local English rendering may condense the Arabic narration and editorial notes. It is not a complete published English edition. Consult the Arabic source for exact wording and context.
Read the corresponding Arabic sectionIbn Ishaq related from Isma‘il ibn Abi Hakim that Khadijah asked the Messenger whether he could tell her when the one who came to him arrived. When Gabriel came, the Messenger told her. She asked him to sit on her left thigh, then her right, then in her lap, asking each time whether he still saw him. He said yes. She then loosened her veil while he remained in her lap and asked again. He said he no longer saw him. She said, “Cousin, remain firm and rejoice. By Allah, he is an angel, not a devil.” Ibn Ishaq also reports from ‘Abd Allah ibn Hasan that his mother heard the account from Fatimah bint al-Husayn, with the detail that Khadijah drew the Messenger between herself and her garment; Gabriel then departed, confirming to her that he was an angel, not a devil.