The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume I — Page 168
Seal of the Prophets - Volume I 168 أ ِقْر�َ � but the same hesitation remained. Upon this, the divine messenger took hold of the Holy Prophet sa a third time and clinched him very tightly, such as by embracing the Holy Prophet sa he would leave an impression upon his heart. After having confirmed that the disposition of the Holy Prophet sa was ready to accept this message, he released the Holy Prophet sa and said: “Read (i. e. , speak or convey) thou in the name 1 of thy Lord Who created. He created man from a clot of blood. Aye! Read! And thy Lord is most honourable and eminent. Who taught man by the pen. Taught man what he knew not 2. ” 3 After this dialogue the angel disappeared but the Holy Prophet sa was left in a state of deep anxiety and restlessness and his heart was panting, for only God knew what this matter was and what was about to take place. In this state, the Holy Prophet sa hurriedly left the Cave of Ḥirā, returned home, and said to Khadījah ra , زَمِّلُونِی زَمِّلُونِی , “Cover me with a mantle! Cover me with a mantle!” When Hadrat Khadījah ra witnessed the state of her beloved husband, she became worried and quickly covered the Holy Prophet sa with a mantle. When he was somewhat calmed and his anxiety had lessened, the Holy Prophet sa related the entire event to Ḥaḍrat Khadījah ra and in the end said, ْ لَقَد ْ خَشِیْت ُ عَلی ٰ نَفْسِی , “I have begun to fear for my life” , but Khadījah ra , who was well acquainted with the nature of the Holy Prophet sa , said: ُ لْحَدِیْث َ وَتَحْمِل � ُ لرِّحْم َ وَتَصْدِق � ُ ِنَّك َ لَتَصِل � ً � َبَد � ُ للّٰه � َ للّٰه ِ لَا یُخْزِیْك � َبْشِر ْ فَوَ � كَلَّا ِّ لْحَق � ِ ئِب � لضَّیْف َ وَتُعِیْن َ عَلی ٰ نَوَ � لْمَعْدُوْم َ وَتَقْرِی � ُ لْكَل َّ وَتَكْسِب � “Nay, nay, such can never happen, rather glad tidings be to you. By God, 1 In this case, according to syntax structure, the word ِ سْم � is the object of َأ ِقْر�َ �. In light of the rules of Arabic grammatical syntax, in some instances the letter ب is added additionally to the object of أ ِقْر�َ �. Refer to Aqrabul-Mawārid, Volume 4, p. 296, under the word َأ قَر�َ (Author) 2 In other words the time has now come when, through the pen, innovative sciences should be taught to mankind. (Author) 3 * Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī, Kitābu Bad’il-Waḥī, Bābu Minhu, Ḥadīth No. 3 * Al-‘Alaq (96:2-6)