Life-of-Muhammad

10Life of Muhammad saseveral days, and with this he would repair to the caveHira. In the cave he would worship God day and night.When he was forty years of age, he saw a vision. It wasin this very cave. He saw some one commanding him torecite.The Prophet sa said in reply he did not know what orhow to recite. The figure insisted and at last made theProphet sa recite the following verses:Recite thou in the name of thy Lord Who created, createdman from a clot of blood. Recite! And thy Lord is the MostBeneficent, Who taught man by the pen, taught man whathe knew not (96:2-6).These verses, the first ever revealed to the Prophet sa ,became part of the Qur’an as did other verses whichwere revealed later. They have tremendous meaning.They command the Prophet sa to stand up and be readyto proclaim the name of the One God, the One Creator—of the Prophet sa and of all others—Who has made manand sowed the seed of His own love and that of fellowmenin his nature. The Prophet sa was commanded toproclaim the Message of this God, and was promisedhelp, and protection by Him in the proclamation of thisMessage. The verses foretold a time when the worldwould be taught all manner of knowledge through theinstrumentality of the pen, and would be taught thingsnever heard of before. The verses constitute an epitomeof the Qur’an. Whatever the Prophet sa was to be taughtin later revelations is contained in embryo in theseverses. The foundation was laid in them of a great andheretofore unknown advance in the spiritual progress ofman. The meaning and explanation of these verses willbe found in their place in this Commentary. We refer tothem here because their revelation constitutes a greatoccasion in the life of the Prophet sa . When the Prophet sareceived this revelation, he was full of fear of theresponsibility which God had decided to place on hisshoulders. Any other person in his place would havebeen filled with pride—he would have felt that he hadbecome great. The Prophet sa was different. He could