It was narrated from ‘A’ishah the Mother of the Believers (may Allah be pleased with her) that al-Harith ibn Hisham (may Allah be pleased with him) asked the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him): O Messenger of Allah, how does the revelation come to you? The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Sometimes it comes to me like the ringing of a bell, which is the hardest of all, then before it passes I have grasped what is said. And sometimes the angel comes to me in the form of a man and speaks to me, and I grasp what he says.”.

Commentary : The Sahabah (may Allah be pleased with them) used to ask the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) about the revelation, and they would watch out for its coming. One example of that is what is mentioned in this hadith, in which al-Harith ibn Hisham (may Allah be pleased with him) asked the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him): How does the revelation come down to you from heaven? What is meant by the revelation is that which Jibril (peace be upon him) brought down to the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) by the command of Allah (may He be glorified). The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) told him that on some occasions it came to him like the ringing of a bell, which is the sound that is made by metal when it is struck repeatedly. A bell is a metal object that makes a sound when it is shaken, and this type was the hardest type of revelation for the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) to bear when it came upon him, because it was weighty, but the hardship he endured ended when the revelation ended, at which moment he had already grasped and memorized the words of Allah (may He be glorified and exalted) that had been brought to him by the angel. On other occasions, the angel appeared to him in the form of a man and spoke to the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), so he learned from him the words of Allah (may He be glorified and exalted) that were brought to him.
This hadith highlights the weightiness of the revelation, as Allah (may He be exalted), says:
“Indeed, We will cast upon you a heavy word”
[al-Muzzammil 73:5].
That is due to inherent human weakness and inability to bear the receiving of such momentous communication from the divine, and fear of falling short with regard to what he was commanded to do or say..

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