Al-Qur’an, Surah 96. Al-'Alaq
(96:1) Read (O Prophet,) in the name of your Lord; Who created.
(96:2) Created man from a clot of congealed blood.
(96:3) Read: and your Lord is Most Generous,
(96:4) Who taught knowledge by the pen:
(96:5) taught man what he did not know.
Tafsir by Sayyid Qutb
Surah 96
The Blood Clots al Alaq
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.
Commentary:
It is universally agreed that the opening of this surah was the first Qur’anic revelation. The accounts stating that other verses were revealed first are not authentic. Imam Ahmad transmits the following hadith attributing it to Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), the Prophet’s wife:
The first aspect of revelation to Allah’s Messenger was that his dreams came true. Whatever vision he might have in his sleep would occur exactly as he had seen. Then, he began to enjoy seclusion. He used to retreat alone into the cave of Hira where he would spend several days in devotion before going back to his family. He used to take some food with him, and when he came back he would take a fresh supply for another period. He continued to do so until he received the truth while in the cave of Hira. The angel came to him and said, “Read.” He replied, “I am not a reader.” The Prophet says, “He held me and pressed hard until I was exhausted, then he released me and said, “Read.” and I replied, “I am not a reader”. So, he held me and pressed me hard a second time until I was exhausted, then he released me and said, “Read.” I replied, “I am not a reader.” He then held me and pressed me hard for the third time. Then he said, “Read, in the name of your Lord Who created, created man from clots of blood. Read! your Lord is the most bounteous, Who has taught the use of the pen, has taught man what he did not know.” The Prophet returned home to Khadeeja trembling and said, “Wrap me! Wrap me!” They wrapped him and his fear subsided. He turned to Khadeeja and exclaimed, “What has happened to me?” and related to her what had hap pened and said, “I fear for myself.” And Khadeeja replied, “Fear not, be calm and relax. Allah will not let you suffer any humiliation, because you are kind to your relatives, you speak the truth, you assist anyone in need, you are hospitable to your guests and you help in every just cause.” Then she took him to Waraqa ibn Nawfal, her paternal cousin who was a Christian convert and a scholar with good knowledge of Arabic, Hebrew and the Bible. He had lost his eyesight as he had grown very old. Khadeeja said to Waraqa, “Cousin, would you like to hear what your nephew has to say?” Waraqa said, “Well, nephew, what have you seen?” The Prophet related to him what he had seen. When he finished, Waraqa said, " It is the same revelation as was sent down to Moses. I wish I was a young man so that I might be alive when your people turn you away from this city.” The Prophet exclaimed, “Would they turn me away?” Waraqa answered “Yes! No man has ever preached a message like yours but was met with enmity. If I live till that day, I will certainly give you all my support.” But Waraqa died soon after that …
This hadith is transmitted in both of the most authentic books of the Prophet’s traditions and was related by Al-Zuhri.
Al-Tabari also transmitted the following tradition, related by Abdullah ibn Az-Zubair:
The Prophet said, 'While I was asleep he came to me carrying a case of a very rich material in which there was a book. He said, ‘Read.’ I replied, ‘I am not a reader.’ He pressed me so hard that I felt I was about to die. Then he released me and said, ‘Read.’ I asked ‘What shall I read?’ (and I said this only out of fear that he might repeat what he had done to me before.) He said, ‘Read: In the name of your Lord who created … taught man what he did not know. ’ I read it. He stopped, then left me and went away. I woke up feeling that it was actually written in my heart’." The Prophet went on to say, "No man was ever more loathsome to me than poets or deranged persons. I could not bear even looking at either. I thought, ‘The man (meaning himself) is undoubtedly a poet or deranged. This shall not be said about me amongst the Quraish. Let me climb high up in the mountain and throw myself and get rid of it all.’ I went to carry out this intention. When I was half way up in the mountain I heard a voice coming from the heavens saying, ‘Muhammad, you are the Messenger of Allah and I am Jibril.’ I raised my head up to the sky and I saw Jibril in the image of a man with his feet one next to the other, up on the horizon. He said again, ‘Muhammad, you are the Messenger of Allah and I am Jibril.’ I stood in my place looking up at him; this distracted me from my intention. I was standing there unable to move. I tried to turn my face away from him and to look up at the sky, but wherever I looked, I saw him in front of me. I stood still, moving neither forward nor backward. Khadeeja sent her messengers looking for me and I remained standing in my place all the while until they went back to her. He then left me and I went back to my family …
This tradition is also related in more details by Ibn Ishaq, on the authority of Wahb ibn Kayssan.
Thank you Angelos, a very good answer indeed.