The first revelation came to Mohammad when he was 40 years old and was on one of his customary retreats in the cave of Hira’ in the hills outside Makkah. It was one of the odd nights during the last ten days of the month of Ramadan. According to the reports recorded in the authentic Hadith literature, an angelic presence appeared before the perplexed Mohammad and said to him: “Iqra’” (Read or Recite—the word Iqra’ has an ambiguous meaning). Mohammad replied that he could not recite or did not know what to recite. After the instructions to read or recite were repeated two more times, Mohammad reports that the angelic presence held him and squeezed him so tightly that he felt that his breath was leaving his body. The angelic presence then instructed him to recite with him the words that are now recorded as the fist 5 Ayahs of the 96th Surah Al-Qalam, (The Pen) of the Qur’an. Read (or recite) in the name of your Lord who created (and continues to create); Created the humankind from a clot of congealed blood. Read and your Lord is The Most Generous; Who taught by the pen; taught humankind what it did not know. These are the first words of the revelation that take Mohammad from an unassuming but generous and trusted member of his city to become Mohammad the Messenger of God, Al- Rasool Allah. A man with no worldly ambitions, and unknown for eloquence and speech, becomes the most eloquent and persistent critic of his society. He becomes a passionate advocate for reform based on the worship of one God and insisting on the dignity, equality and Justice for the slaves, the poor and the female. The experience of this first revelation shakes him and stuns him. He hurries to his wife Khadijah and asks her to cover him with a blanket. When he recovers his composure, he relates to her the story of his experience. He is concerned that he may be hallucinating or loosing his mind. She assures him that he is a very balanced person and that his experience must have some super natural explanation. She suggested that they go to visit one her old relatives know for knowledge of previous scriptures. Her relative, Waraqa ibn Naufal, tells Mohammad that his experience resembles that of Moses and the other prophets. He suggests that Mohammad has been chosen as a messenger by God. He warns him that the people would oppose him as they opposed the prophets before him. (More details of this are covered in the lectures on the Prophet’s life). An interval of several months passes after the above revelation. The Prophet is wrapped up in a blanket, feeling despondent and afraid of having been removed by God from his mission. This is when the revelation of Ayahs 1 through 7 of the 74th Surah Al-Moddaththir, (The One Wrapped), occurs. O you wrapped up (in your cloak), Arise and deliver the warning. And proclaim the glory of your Lord. And purify and cleanse your garments. And shun all idolatry and filth. And do no favors, expecting gain in return. And for the sake of your Lord, be patient and constant. Further revelations come over the remaining 13 years of the Prophet’s life in Makkah and 10 years in Madina. By the time of his death, the revelations are comprzed of 114 Surahs. The last of these is Surah is Al Taubah, now numbered the 9th. But the last words of the revelation are said to be in the third Ayah of Surah 5, Al Ma’idah. Today I have completed for you your religion, fulfilled upon you My favors, and approved for you Al Islam as your religion.