Welcome to Ahmadiyyat, The True Islam — Page 184
− Prophet Muhammad's grandfather, ‘Abdul Muttalib, was very sa ± ±± fond of him and took him under his own care. But the guardianship of his grandfather lasted only two years and when the Prophet Muhammad was sa ± eight years old, his grandfather also passed away. On his deathbed, ‘Abdul Muttalib entrusted his grandson to the care of one of his sons, Abu Talib. ±± − ± − Thus, he was orphaned at a very young age. Muhammad grew into sa ± manhood exhibiting such sterling qualities of truthfulness, integrity, and piety that he became known throughout the land as the Truthful and the Trustworthy ( and ). On hearing of Muhammad's fame, a al-sadiq al-amin sa ± − − ± rich lady by the name of , who was twice widowed, invited him Khadijah ra − to her house and requested him to take charge of her business. Muhammad traveled to Syria while in-charge of business. sa ra Khadijah's ± − The expedition met with great success. made a proposal of Khadijah ra − marriage to Muhammad which, was accepted. At the time of his marriage, sa ± Muhammad was twenty-five years old while was forty. sa ra Khadijah ± − After his marriage to , the Holy Prophet became very Khadijah ra sa − reflective. He used to retire to a cave on Mount and spend his time in Hira ± − meditation and seclusion. He sometimes spent many nights in this cave and on one of these occasions had an extraordinary experience. One night, in the year 610 AD, he was lying, wrapped in a mantle, when the angel Gabriel visited him. Four times the angel embraced him tightly and commanded him to recite: ¹Ii Ë Aj³A μ¼§ Å¿ ÆBnÃÜA μ¼a μ¼a Ôh»A ¹Ii mBI Aj³A , , ‘ ä í ä ä æ ä æê ô î ä ä æ ê ä ä ææê ä ä ä ô ä ä ä æ ê ì ä éê ä ê æ ê æ ä æê ¼¨Í »B¿ ÆBnà A ¼§ ¼´»BI ¼§ Ôh»A j·ÜA ,‘ ‘ j ‘ ,‘ ‘ ,’ È æ ä æ ä æ ä ä ä ä æê ä ì ä ö ê ä ä æ ê ê ä ì ä æ ê ì ö å ä æ æ ä iqra’ bismi rabbikalladhi khalaq khalaqal insana min ‘alaq − − iqra’ wa rabbukal akramulladhi ‘allama bil qalam ‘allamal − insana ma lam ya‘lam − − Recite in the name of your Lord Who created, Created man from an 184