The Life of the Prophet Muhammad by Ibn Kathir - Volume 1 of 4

306 THE LIFE OF THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD
Sectcon: On the manner m mhzch the revelatcon came to the Messenger of God
(MAS).
It has previously been related how Gabriel came to him on both the first and
second occasions.
Mdik stated, from Hishb b. Wrwa, from his father, from 'A'isha, God bless
her, that al-Harith b. Hishzm asked the Messenger of God (SAAS) "0
Messenger of God, how does revelation come to you?"
He replied, "Sometimes it comes like the ringing of a bell, it being then most
painful. When it leaves me I remain conscious of what he spoke. Sometimes the
angel appears before me as a man who addresses me, and I am fully aware of
what he is saying."
'A'isha, God bless her, stated, "I saw hi (SAAS) when revelation came to
him on the extremely cold day. Then it left him, and his forehead was bathed in
perspiration."
The authors of the two ~ahih collections derived this hadith from the account
of Mdik.
Im%m Abad related it from 'Amir h. Salih, from Hishm b. %a in a similar
manner.
'Ahda b. Sulaymm and Anas h. 'Iyyad related it similarly from Hisham b.
'Urwa.
Aypb al-Sakhtiyani related it from Hishb, from his father, from al-Harith
b. Hishzm who said, "I asked the Messenger of God (SAAS), LHow does revelation
come to you?"' He related the same hadith as above, but made no reference to
'A'isha.
In the hadith al-'lfk75 she stated, "By God, the Messenger of God (SAAS) did
not get up, nor did any member of the family leave, until revelation came down
to him. He underwent the agony that used to seize hi (on such occasions) with
sweat emerging lie pearls from hi, even though it was a winter's day, because
of the heavy burden of the revelation that came down upon him."
Imm b a d stated that 'Ahd al-RazBq related to him, quoting Ynnus b.
Salim, who said that Yiinus b. Ymid dictated to him, from Ibn Shihab, from
Wrwa b. 'Abd al-Rahman b. 'Abd al-Qm, who said, "I heard Wmar b.
al-Kharrab say, 'When revelation came down to the Messenger of God (SAAS),
it would be heard like the buzzing of a bee near his face."'
The tradition in its entirety was recounted in the section76 on the revelation of
the Qur'mic verse, "and the believers have succeeded" (snrat al-Mu'mman,
XXIII, v.1).
75. 'A'isha's acmunt relating to certain slanderous charges made against her, see Volume 111.
76. See Ibn Kathir: Tafiir ol-@r'& al-Karim (The Exegesk of the Gionous Qur'ze), Vol 3,
p.237.