Musnad Ahmad 1153:1941

'Abd al-Razzaq narrated to us, Ma'mar narrated to us, from al-Zuhri, then he mentioned a hadith, then he said: Al-Zuhri said: 'Urwah informed me, from 'Aishah, that she said: "The first thing that began for the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, of the revelation was the truthful vision in sleep. He would not see a vision except that it came like the breaking of the dawn. Then solitude was made beloved to him, and he would go to Hira' and perform *tahannuth* in it—which is worship—for a number of nights, and he would take provisions for that. Then he would return to Khadijah, and she would provide him with the like of it, until the Truth came upon him while he was in the cave of Hira'. The angel came to him in it and said: 'Read.' The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: 'I am not a reader.' He said: 'So he took me and pressed me until I reached the point of exhaustion, then he released me and said: "Read." I said: "I am not a reader." So he took me and pressed me a second time until I reached the point of exhaustion, then he released me and said: "Read." I said: "I am not a reader." So he took me and pressed me a third time until I reached the point of exhaustion, then he released me and said: "Read in the name of your Lord who created," until he reached "that which he did not know."' He said: So he returned with it, his muscles trembling, until he entered upon Khadijah and said: 'Wrap me up! Wrap me up!' So they wrapped him up until the fear left him. He said: 'O Khadijah, what is wrong with me?' And he informed her of the news, saying: 'I feared for myself.' She said to him: 'Nay, rejoice! For by Allah, Allah will never disgrace you. You uphold the ties of kinship, speak the truth, bear the burden, host the guest, and assist in the calamities of the truth.' Then Khadijah took him until she brought him to Waraqah ibn Nawfal ibn Asad ibn 'Abd al-'Uzza ibn Qusay, who was the cousin of Khadijah, the brother of her father. He was a man who had become a Christian during the Pre-Islamic period, and he used to write the Arabic script. He wrote from the Gospel in Arabic as much as Allah willed for him to write. He was an old man who had become blind. Khadijah said: 'O cousin, listen to your nephew.' Waraqah said: 'O my nephew, what do you see?' The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, informed him of what he saw. Waraqah said: 'This is the Namus (the angel Gabriel) who was sent down upon Musa, peace be upon him. I wish I were a young man in it; I wish I were alive when your people drive you out.' The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: 'Are they going to drive me out?' Waraqah said: 'Yes, no man has ever come with what you have come with except that he was treated with hostility. If your day reaches me, I will support you with a mighty support.' Then it was not long before Waraqah died." The revelation paused for a period, until the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, became sad—according to what has reached us—with a sadness from which he would go out repeatedly to throw himself from the peaks of the high mountains. Whenever he reached the summit of a mountain to throw himself from it, Gabriel, peace be upon him, would appear to him and say: "O Muhammad, you are truly the Messenger of Allah." So his heart would become tranquil and his soul would settle, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and he would return. If the period became long for him and the revelation paused, he would go out for the like of that. Whenever he reached the summit of a mountain, Gabriel, peace be upon him, would appear to him and say to him the like of that.