Phase 01 · 609–611
The Cave of Ḥirāʾ — the first revelation
The Prophet ﷺ was alone in a cave outside Makkah when the angel Jibrīl brought him the first words of the Qur'an.
Makkah
Revelation begins in the cave, pauses, and returns. The surahs of this phase are short, rhythmic and personal: they build the Prophet's ﷺ own certainty before they build a community. Everything here is about who Allah is, what the Hereafter is, and the character of the one carrying the message.
Seerah — what was happening
Born in Makkah, in the Year of the Elephant
EstablishedYear of the Elephant · 569 · Makkah
He ﷺ is born to Āminah, his father already dead, in the year Abrahah's army came against the Kaʿbah.
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ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib died while Āminah was carrying him, so he ﷺ was born an orphan, in Makkah, on a Monday in Rabīʿ al-Awwal of the Year of the Elephant — the year Abrahah marched on the Kaʿbah from Yemen and his army was destroyed before it. His grandfather ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib took him to the Kaʿbah, thanked Allah, and named him Muḥammad, a name the Arabs of Makkah did not use. He ﷺ later said of himself: 'I am the supplication of my father Ibrāhīm and the glad tidings of ʿĪsā.'
- Qurʾān 105:1–5The elephant army and the birds sent against it.
Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 1162; Musnad Aḥmad 17150; ar-Raḥīq al-Makhtūm, al-Mubārakpūrī
The desert years with Ḥalīmah
Established569–573 · the desert of Banū Saʿd
He ﷺ is nursed among Banū Saʿd, and there the chest of the young boy is opened.
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As Makkan custom required, the infant was given to a wet-nurse from the desert, Ḥalīmah as-Saʿdiyyah, so that he would grow in clean air and learn pure Arabic. He stayed with Banū Saʿd about four years. Anas ibn Mālik رضي الله عنه narrates that while he was playing with other boys, Jibrīl عليه السلام came to him, opened his chest, took out his heart, removed a clot from it and said: 'This was the share of Shayṭān in you.' He washed it in a golden basin of Zamzam and returned it. The other boys ran to Ḥalīmah saying Muḥammad had been killed, and they found him pale.
Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 162; ar-Raḥīq al-Makhtūm, al-Mubārakpūrī
Āminah, ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib, and the care of Abū Ṭālib
Established575–577 · Makkah
His mother dies when he ﷺ is six, his grandfather when he is eight, and his uncle takes him in.
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Āminah took him to visit his father's grave and her relatives in Yathrib, and died on the way back at al-Abwāʾ; he was six. His grandfather ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib, chief of Hāshim, kept him at his side and would seat him on his own mat, and died two years later. Care then passed to Abū Ṭālib, his father's full brother, who was poor but loved him and protected him until the year Abū Ṭālib himself died. As a boy he ﷺ herded sheep for the people of Makkah for a few qirāṭs, and later said that every prophet had herded sheep.
- Qurʾān 93:6–8Found you an orphan and gave shelter.
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 2262; ar-Raḥīq al-Makhtūm, al-Mubārakpūrī
The journey to Shām and the monk Baḥīrā
Strong report581 · Buṣrā, Shām
At about twelve he ﷺ travels with Abū Ṭālib's caravan, and a monk recognises the signs.
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Abū Ṭālib took him on a trading journey to Syria when he was around twelve. At Buṣrā a monk called Baḥīrā came out to the caravan, spoke with the boy, and told Abū Ṭālib to take him home, for this was the one the earlier scriptures described and the Jews of Shām would harm him if they knew.
Jāmiʿ at-Tirmidhī 3620 (disputed); Ibn Hishām; ar-Raḥīq al-Makhtūm, al-Mubārakpūrī
Ḥilf al-Fuḍūl — the pact of justice
Strong report589 · Makkah · age 20
The young men of Quraysh swear to stand with anyone wronged in Makkah, and he ﷺ is among them.
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A man from Zabīd sold goods to al-ʿĀṣ ibn Wāʾil, who took them and refused to pay. The man stood at the Kaʿbah and called out his complaint in verse. Clans of Quraysh gathered in the house of ʿAbdullāh ibn Judʿān and swore that they would stand with any oppressed person in Makkah, local or stranger, until his right was returned. The Prophet ﷺ was about twenty, and said long after prophethood: 'I witnessed a pact in the house of Ibn Judʿān that I would not exchange for red camels, and if I were called to it in Islam I would answer.'
Musnad Aḥmad 1655; al-Bayhaqī, as-Sunan al-Kubrā; ar-Raḥīq al-Makhtūm, al-Mubārakpūrī
Trading for Khadījah رضي الله عنها, and their marriage
Traditional ordering594 · Makkah · age 25
He ﷺ takes her caravan to Shām, and she proposes; he is twenty-five, she is forty.
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Khadījah bint Khuwaylid رضي الله عنها was a merchant of standing who hired men to trade with her wealth. She heard of his honesty and sent him to Shām with her servant Maysarah, and the return was better than usual. Maysarah's account of his conduct decided her, and she sent a proposal through a friend. Abū Ṭālib gave the address at the marriage. She was the only wife he had until she died, and she bore all his children except Ibrāhīm: al-Qāsim, Zaynab, Ruqayyah, Umm Kulthūm, Fāṭimah رضي الله عنها and ʿAbdullāh.
Ibn Hishām; Ibn Saʿd, aṭ-Ṭabaqāt; ar-Raḥīq al-Makhtūm, al-Mubārakpūrī
Rebuilding the Kaʿbah and lifting the Black Stone
Strong report604 · Makkah · age 35
Quraysh nearly fight over who replaces the stone; he ﷺ settles it with a cloak.
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A flood damaged the Kaʿbah and Quraysh rebuilt it, running short of lawful funds so that the Ḥijr was left outside the walls. When the building reached the place of the Black Stone the clans quarrelled over the honour of setting it, and some swore to fight. Abū Umayyah suggested they accept the judgement of the next man to enter the sanctuary; it was Muḥammad ﷺ, and they said, 'Al-Amīn — we accept.' He spread a cloak, placed the stone in the middle, told each clan to take an edge, and when it reached the height he set it in place with his own hands. He was about thirty-five.
Musnad Aḥmad 15502; Ibn Hishām; ar-Raḥīq al-Makhtūm, al-Mubārakpūrī
The nights of Ḥirāʾ
Established606–609 · Ḥirāʾ
In the years before revelation he ﷺ withdraws to a cave above Makkah to worship alone.
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ʿĀʾishah رضي الله عنها said that the first thing he was given was true dreams: he would see a dream and it would come like the breaking of dawn. Then solitude was made beloved to him, and he would go to the cave of Ḥirāʾ and worship there for nights at a time before returning to Khadījah رضي الله عنها for more provisions. Nothing of idolatry had ever touched him, and there was no teacher in the cave — only a man in his late thirties, alone, looking for the truth of the matter.
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 3; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 160
Iqraʾ in the cave of Ḥirāʾ
Established609 · Ramaḍān · age 40
Jibrīl عليه السلام comes with the first five āyāt of al-ʿAlaq.
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In the years before revelation he ﷺ withdrew to Ḥirāʾ for nights at a time, taking provisions and returning to Khadījah رضي الله عنها for more. In Ramaḍān, in his fortieth year, the angel came and said 'Read.' He answered, 'I am not one who reads.' The angel pressed him until he could bear no more, three times, then recited: 'Read in the name of your Lord who created.' He returned with his heart trembling and said, 'Cover me, cover me.'
- Qurʾān 96:1–5The first revelation: creation from a clinging clot, and teaching by the pen.
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 3; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 160
Khadījah رضي الله عنها and Waraqah ibn Nawfal
Established609 · Makkah
Khadījah رضي الله عنها steadies him and takes him to her cousin Waraqah, who names what has come.
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Khadījah رضي الله عنها answered his fear with an argument from his own character: 'Never. By Allah, Allah will never disgrace you. You keep ties of kinship, carry the burden of the weak, give to the destitute, honour the guest and stand by people in trial.' She brought him to Waraqah ibn Nawfal, an old man who had become Christian and wrote scripture in Hebrew. Waraqah said, 'This is the nāmūs that Allah sent down upon Mūsā. Would that I were young when your people expel you.' He ﷺ asked, 'Will they expel me?' Waraqah said, 'No man has come with the like of what you bring without being treated with enmity.'
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 3
The pause in revelation (fatrat al-waḥy)
Established609–610 · Makkah
Revelation stops for a period; the Quraysh mock, and aḍ-Ḍuḥā answers.
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After the first revelation, waḥy paused. Jundub ibn ʿAbdillāh رضي الله عنه reported that a woman said, 'I think your devil has abandoned you' — and Allah revealed 'By the morning brightness, and the night when it is still: your Lord has not forsaken you, nor does He detest you.' The surah then argues from his own biography: orphaned and sheltered, lost and guided, poor and enriched.
- Qurʾān 93:1–11Consolation drawn from the Prophet's ﷺ own life, ending in three commands.
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 4950; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 1797
'O you who is wrapped up — arise and warn'
Established610 · Makkah
Revelation returns with al-Muddaththir and the mission becomes public duty.
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Jābir ibn ʿAbdillāh رضي الله عنه narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said: while walking he heard a voice from the sky, and saw the angel who came at Ḥirāʾ seated on a throne between heaven and earth. He was terrified, returned home and said 'Wrap me up' — and Allah revealed, 'O you who is wrapped up, arise and warn, and your Lord magnify, and your garments purify.'
- Qurʾān 74:1–7The commission to warn, and the instruction to be patient for the sake of Allah.
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 4922; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 161
The first believers
Strong report609–610 · Makkah
Khadījah رضي الله عنها, Abū Bakr رضي الله عنه, ʿAlī رضي الله عنه and Zayd accept Islam.
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Khadījah رضي الله عنها believed before anyone. ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib رضي الله عنه, then a boy in his household, and Zayd ibn Ḥārithah رضي الله عنه, his freedman, followed. Abū Bakr رضي الله عنه accepted without hesitation and immediately brought others: ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān رضي الله عنه, az-Zubayr, ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf, Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ رضي الله عنه and Ṭalḥah رضي الله عنه. Ibn Isḥāq notes that these came in through Abū Bakr's own daʿwah, not the Prophet's ﷺ directly.
Ibn Hishām, al-Sīrah (via Ibn Isḥāq); Ibn Kathīr, al-Bidāyah wa-n-Nihāyah
The house of al-Arqam
Traditional ordering610–612 · Makkah
For about three years the daʿwah is quiet, taught in one house at the foot of Ṣafā.
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The believers gathered at Dār al-Arqam ibn Abī al-Arqam, a young man of Banū Makhzūm — a clan hostile to the Prophet ﷺ, which made his house the last place Quraysh would search. There the early Muslims learned the newly revealed surahs, prayed in pairs, and were trained before there was any public confrontation.
Ibn Hishām, al-Sīrah; Ibn Saʿd, aṭ-Ṭabaqāt
Warn your nearest kin
Established612 · Makkah
Allah commands him ﷺ to begin with his own family.
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When 'And warn your nearest kindred' was revealed, he ﷺ called out to Quraysh clan by clan — 'O Banū ʿAbd Manāf, O Banū ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib' — and said, 'Ransom yourselves from Allah; I can avail you nothing against Allah.' He named his own aunt and daughter: 'O Ṣafiyyah رضي الله عنها, aunt of the Messenger of Allah; O Fāṭimah bint Muḥammad رضي الله عنها — ask me of my wealth what you wish, but I cannot avail you anything against Allah.'
- Qurʾān 26:214'And warn your nearest kindred.'
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 4771; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 206
Qur'an — what was revealed
- #1Sūrah Al-ʿAlaqEstablishedالعلقFirst five āyāt — the first revelation, in the cave of Ḥirāʾ.Study now
- #2Sūrah Al-QalamTraditional orderingالقلمAnswer to the charge of madness: 'you are upon a great character'.Study now
- #3Sūrah Al-MuzzammilTraditional orderingالمزملThe night prayer as training for a heavy word.Study now
- #4Sūrah Al-MuddaththirEstablishedالمدثرRise and warn — the public commission after the pause.Study now
- #5Sūrah Al-FātiḥahTraditional orderingالفاتحةThe opening; the daily prayer given its form.Study now
- #6Sūrah Al-MasadStrong reportالمسدDirect answer to Abū Lahab at Ṣafā.Study now
- #7Sūrah At-TakwīrTraditional orderingالتكويرThe unmaking of the cosmos, and the honesty of the Messenger.Study now
- #8Sūrah Al-AʿlāTraditional orderingالأعلىGlorify the name of your Lord — the first liturgy of tasbīḥ.Study now
- #9Sūrah Al-LaylTraditional orderingالليلTwo kinds of striving: the giver and the withholder.Study now
- #10Sūrah Al-FajrTraditional orderingالفجرNations destroyed, and the soul at peace called home.Study now
- #11Sūrah Aḍ-ḌuḥāStrong reportالضحىConsolation after the pause; his life story as evidence.Study now
- #12Sūrah Ash-SharḥTraditional orderingالشرحThe immediate sequel: with hardship comes ease.Study now
By the end of this phase you can
- Recognise the Makkan register: short āyāt, oaths, and the argument for the Hereafter.
- Read Allah's names as they first appear: ar-Rabb, al-Akram, al-Aʿlā.
- Learn the roots ر ب ب, ق ر أ, ذ ك ر, and how they recur for the rest of the Qur'an.