Cave of Hira – Jabal al-Nour

He is finally on his bed! He lies on his right side, facing the Kaaba. He has performed the Sunnah prayers and supplicated to God for his parents, himself, and loved ones. The day has ended, and night is drawing in. After the supplications, he closes his eyes, and everything around him begins to fall silent. At the sound of his breathing, his awareness is heightened with all his senses, before he finds himself there. He doesn’t know if it is a dream or an illusion, but he sees that village? At what time? And he hears a distant, close voice saying, “Indeed, the first House established for mankind…”1 Yes, this is Umm al-Qura, and that is the Kaaba. He finds himself among those circumambulating it (So make hearts among the people…)2 That Shadhrawan, that corner… He sees the stones of the Kaaba, under its majestic covering, all of them illuminated! But among them are stones; he doesn’t know how he knew they were from Jabal al-Nour, where the cave is, the Cave of Hira!

To you in your lofty position, O Jabal al-Nour, he sends greetings, and the wind sends him, for he is there even if he is here! His feet led him on that path, walking through the valleys of Mecca, that is, Thabir and Mina, but he continued to the northeast of Mecca, towards Jabal al-Nour. This is the path of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, when he bid farewell to his family and left his people and what they worshipped besides God. He withdrew from them. His steps took him away from the Kaaba and brought him closer to his Lord, the One, the Eternal Refuge. Those stones spoke: “Peace be upon you, O Messenger of God.” 3. Was it longing? Was it the call of Abraham? Was it the mercy of God Almighty? “My Lord, make this a secure city.” 4 His day had been difficult, filled with life’s temptations and challenges. The most difficult of those challenges was when he found himself calling him to what he disliked, and his desires leading him to lies and falsehood. But he persevered that day as best he could, seeking forgiveness frequently after the congregational prayer, and his heart shed tears. Was he in the trench of the greater jihad? The world promises him abundant goodness, bargaining with him over his morals and religion. Even if he lies and betrays, follows his whims, looks toward what is forbidden, conceals a testimony, breaks a promise, consumes usury, drinks alcohol, or approaches adultery, there is temptation in everything, even his wealth and children. And God calls him to seek forgiveness. He finds himself there, walking in the footsteps of the Chosen One, peace and blessings be upon him. The path to you is fraught with harm, but reaching you brings contentment. The pebbles glorify God, and the mountains call out to him, “Peace, stranger! How did you find your longing, and how did it find you?” Beware, for in some patience there is estrangement, and in some humiliation there is elevation. The clouds tell him, “Good news! The clouds of the Hijaz shade you!” The wind tells him, “Run, for here Buraq ran. Place your feet where your sight falls.” He has resolved to reach Hira, but will he reach the Pleiades? He walks the streets of Mecca, his eyes fixed on Mount Noor. The road turns, his soul’s compass pointing to Mount Noor. He jogs a little, then walks a little more. He stops to catch his breath, looking around, looking toward the sky. How vast the world is! How many Muslims, men and women, have walked these blessed steps, as if each step represents a step toward heaven. This is what he felt! He has been climbing ever since he first saw Mecca.

The mountains around him gaze upon him. They have been here for ages. People have come and gone, but they remain steadfast, immovable. He feels insignificant whenever he sees one of them, and the signs of the mountains come to his mind: “And do not walk upon the earth exultantly. Indeed, you will never tear the earth [apart], and you will never reach the mountains in height.” [Al-Isra’: 37]
Can any mountain ever reach the height? He asks himself.
He leaves the mountains of Thabir on his right and goes north. When a person reaches the top of a mountain, will he reach the height of the mountains? Will he then defeat the mountain? And prove his superiority? This is not what he seeks; all he wants is to see the Cave of Hira.

He immerses himself in the night, dreaming, and walking. After arriving, he asks himself, “How will I return?” His feet groan, but love and longing heal them.

He sees, across the ages, ancient houses and walking beasts, then modern buildings and vehicles. Sometimes it’s pitch black, sometimes the lights of electric poles tell the story: that steps have trodden this path for centuries past, bringing people out of the deep darkness, ignorance, and arrogance into the light and worship of the Almighty One.

Mount Hira draws near, growing until it fills his eyes and heart, that cultural neighborhood and museum of revelation. His senses are present, and he hears as if everything in it is an ear, and he sees as if everything is an eye! Here is the foot of the mountain, and the world is behind him: family, wealth, competition, greed, luxury, boasting about wealth, children, and reputation. Everything is behind him, and there is nothing before him but the mountain where the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) used to worship before the mission. What awaits him there at the cave? The Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, continued to worship and devote himself to God alone in the cave until certainty came to him. Gabriel descended upon him and embraced him tightly… then released him. He felt as if his body was trembling and he almost cried out, “Cover me, cover me, cover me, cover me!” In that place and time, in a dream or imagination, all sounds were drowned out and the entire universe was at peace, except for his own feelings! The lofty mountain and the vast slope—one paves the way, the other prevents! Until they seized the heart of the yearning one. The foot slips, but the heart steadies it. He sweated, his color changed, and his limbs trembled on the slope. How would he be at the entrance of the cave, where the earth shone and never darkened, and the springs gush forth and never thirsted again? That was Thabeer, the image of Abraham and Ishmael, peace be upon them, having submitted and bowed their heads. He had fulfilled the vision, after Abraham had settled some of his descendants in a barren valley. He looked toward Thabeer the Nubian and suddenly a voice cried out to him, “O Sariyah, the mountain!” He feels, indeed knows, that every stone in Mecca has a story and a trace. Mecca is God’s sign on earth, and His qibla (direction of prayer) is from it. Its roof is perhaps the most frequented house. And toward it, journeys are made every year (on foot and on lean camels, coming from every distant pass),5 responding in the crowd, circumambulating and weeping, and returning as their mothers bore them!
On every road in Mecca is light, in every sip of water and food is a sign. Mecca is no other than Mecca, and it is the most beloved land to the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace.

He sees the houses of Mecca standing up to the mountains, leaving no plain without growing on it like flowers amidst thorns. The houses of Mecca resemble lush trees. You see them and know that their roots are deeply embedded in the earth.
The road twists and turns as the mountains and hills will, but the mosques are never absent from the road, from the Haram to Hira.
He sees the Mosque of the Jinn, the Cemetery of Al-Mu’alla, and the Mosque of Answer, among other things.

The foot of Mount Noor lay before him. He thought reaching this point was the height of his effort and hope, but the smooth stones of the mountain warned that climbing the mountain would be another struggle.
Do people struggle to find rest? Or should they settle for rest and not struggle? And when we say that there is rest in fatigue, do we really mean it?