He was 40 years old when he received the first Revelation from God, The Creator of heavens and earth, through the Angle Gabriel, who appeared to the Prophet in the Cave of Hira, located in a mountain in Mecca.
It was a habit of the Prophet to worship God in the Cave, away from the Idolatry environment which was prevailing in Mecca and the whole of Arabia at the time.
The following narration of the first encounter with the Angle Gabriel is extremely significant, and I will return to it again when discussing the Old Testament's prophecies concerning the Prophet of the Gentiles:....
In the Book of Bukhari, (1:1:3), Aisha, the Prophet's wife said:
("The commencement of the Divine Revelation to Allah's Messenger was in the form of good dreams which came true like bright day light, and then the love of seclusion was bestowed upon him.
He used to go in seclusion in the cave of Hira where he used to worship (Allah alone) continuously for many days before his desire to see his family. He used to take with him the journey food for the stay and then come back to (his wife) Khadija to take his food like-wise again till suddenly the Truth descended upon him while he was in the cave of Hira.
The angel came to him and asked him to read. The Prophet replied: "I do not know how to read.
The Prophet added, "The angel caught me (forcefully) and pressed me so hard that I could not bear it any more. He then released me and again asked me to read and I replied, 'I do not know how to read.' Thereupon he caught me again and pressed me a second time till I could not bear it any more. He then released me and again asked me to read but again I replied, 'I do not know how to read (or what shall I read)?' Thereupon he caught me for the third time and pressed me, and then released me and said: , 'Read in the name of your Lord, who has created (all that exists) has created man from a clot'.)
