IN THE SHADE OF THE MESSAGE AND PROPHETHOOD - IN THE CAVE HIRA:

3] ONCE, GABRIEL BRINGS ALLAH'S REVELATION:
Ibn Hajar said: 'That (the pause of Allâh's revelation for a few days)
was to relieve the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) of the fear
he experienced and to make him long for the Revelation. When theshades
of puzzle receded, the flags of truth were raised, the Messenger of
Allâh (Peace be upon him) knew for sure that he had become the
Messenger of the Great Lord. He was also certain that what had come to
him was no more than the ambassador of inspiration. His waiting and
longing for the coming of the revelation constituted a good reason for
hissteadfastness and self-possession on the arrival of Allâh's
inspiration, Al-Bukhari reported on the authority of Jabirbin
'Abdullah that he had heard the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him)
speak about the period of pause as follows:
"While I was walking, I heard a voice from the sky. I looked up, and
surely enough, it was the same angel who had visited me in the cave of
Hira'. He was sittingon a chair between the earth andthe sky. I was
very afraid of him and knelt on the ground. I went home saying: 'Cover
me …, Cover me …'. Allâh revealed to me the verses:
*.
*. 'O you [Muhammad (Peace be upon him)] enveloped (in garments)!
Arise and warn! And your Lord (Allâh) magnify! And your garments
purify! And keep away from Ar-Rujz (the idols)!'" [74:1-5]
After that the revelation started coming strongly, frequently and regularly.
SOME DETAILS PERTINENTTO THE SUCCESSIVE STAGES OF REVELATION:
Before we go into the details of the period of communicating
theMessage and Prophethood, we would like to get acquainted with the
stages of the Revelation which constituted the main source of the
Message and the subject-matter of the Call. Ibn Al-Qayyim, mentioning
the stagesof the Revelation, said:
*. The First: The period of true vision. It was the starting point of
the Revelation to the Men of Allâh (Peace be upon him).
The Second: What the angel invisibly cast in the Prophet's mind and
heart. The Messengerof Allâh (Peace be upon him) said: "The Noble
Spirit revealed to me 'No soul will perish until it exhausts its due
course, so fear Allâh and gently request Him. Never get so impatient
to the verge of disobedience of Allâh. What Allâh has can never be
acquired but through obedience to Him.'"
The Third: The angel used to visit the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be
upon him) in the form of a human being and would speak to him
directly. This would enable him to fully understand what the angel
said. The angel was sometimes seen in this form by the Prophet's
Companions.
The Fourth: The angel came to him like the toll of a bell and this was
the most difficult form because the angel used to seizehim tightly and
sweat would stream from his forehead even on the coldest day. If the
Prophet (Peace be upon him) was on his camel, the camel would not
withstand the weight, so it would immediatelykneel down on the ground.
Once the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) had such a revelation
when he was sitting and his thigh was on Zaid's, Zaid felt the
pressure had almost injured his thigh.
The Fifth: The Prophet (Peace be upon him) saw the angel in his
actual form. The angel would reveal to him what Allâh had ordered him
to reveal. This,as mentioned in (Qur'ân), in Sûrah An-Najm (Chapter 53
- The Star), happened twice.
The Sixth: What Allâh Himself revealed to him in heaven i.e. when he
ascended to heaven and received Allâh's behest of Salât (prayer).
The Seventh: Allâh's Words to His Messenger (Peace be upon him) at
first hand without the mediation of an angel. It was a privilege
granted to Moses (Peace be upon him) and clearlyattested in the
Qur'ân, as it is attested to our Prophet (Peace be upon him) in the
Sûrah Al-Isrâ' (Chapter 17 - The Journey by Night) of the Noble
Qur'ân.
Some religious scholars added a controversial eighth stage in which
they state that Allâh spoke to the Prophet (Peace be upon him)
directly without a curtain inbetween. This issue remains however
unconfirmed.