The Excellent Exemplar - Muhammad

III The Prophet at Mecca MUHAMMAD WAS FORTY YEARS OLD‑IN THE YEAR 610 of the Christian era‑when the Divine Call came to him in his retreat in Hira, the cave to which he was in the habit of repairing for prayer and contemplation. He beheld a gracious Presence, who asked him to recite.

Muhammad answered that he knew not how to recite. The Presence insisted: "Recite in the name of thy Lord Who created: Created man from a clot of blood. Recite! Thy Lord is the Most Beneficent, Who taught man by the pen, taught him what he knew not" (96: 2‑6).

Muhammad repeated the words as commanded. The Angel then vanished. Muhammad, overpowered by the experience, immediately made his way home, all atremble. He told Khadeeja what had happened.

He expressed fearful apprehension whether a frail human being like himself could prove equal to the heavy responsibility that the incident portended God was about to lay upon him.

"Surely, God will never suffer thee to fail," was Khadeeja's comforting response. "Thou art kind and considerate toward thy kin. Thou helpest the poor and forlorn and bearest their burdens, Thou strivest to restore the high moral qualities that thy people have lost. Thou honorest the guest and goest to the assistance of those in distress."

Khadeeja's observations on this occasion throw a flood of light on the Prophet's character as observed by his closest and most intimate