Though the Holy Qur’ān was revealed piecemeal through Gabriel, yet the entire revelation is one whole, delivered in one and the same manner. Revelation, we are told in the Holy Qur’ān, is granted to man in three forms: “And it is not vouchsafed to any mortal that Allāh should speak to him, except by revelation (waḥy) or from behind a veil, or by sending a messenger and revealing by His permission what He pleases” (42:51). The first of these three modes is called waḥy, which is generally translated as meaning revelation. Since the different kinds of revelation are spoken of here, the word waḥy is obviously used in its literal sense, its primary significance being a hasty suggestion (al-ishārat al-sarī‘ah) (R.). Hence the inspired word, which enters the hearts of the prophets and of the righteous, is called waḥy because it is like a sudden suggestion made directly to the heart of the inspired one (ilqā-’un fi’l-rau‘). It is not a message in words but simply an idea which comes like a flash and clears up a doubt or difficulty, and it is not the result of meditation.6 The second mode is described as speaking from behind a veil — a scene, carrying a deeper significance, is shown as in a vision (kashf), or in a dream (ru’yā), or words are heard by the person spoken to, as if coming from behind a veil. The third mode is that in which the angel bearing the message is sent to the recipient of the Divine revelation, and the message is delivered in words, and this is the highest form of revelation. As already stated, the angel entrusted with Divine message in words is Gabriel or the Holy Spirit, and this third mode of revelation is limited to the prophets of God only — to men entrusted with important Divine messages to humanity — while the first two lower forms of revelation are common to prophets as well as those who are not prophets. For the delivery of the higher message which relates to the welfare of mankind, a higher form of revelation is chosen, a form in which the message is not simply an idea but is clothed in actual words. The Holy Prophet’s faculty of being spoken to by God is so highly developed that he receives the messages, not only as ideas instilled into the mind or in the form of words uttered or heard under the influence of the Holy Spirit, but actually as Divine messages in words delivered through the latter. In the terminology of
6 Rāghib suggests a slightly different interpretation. He makes waḥy include not only an inspiration or a suggestion thrown into the mind but also taskhīr, i.e., making a certain thing follow a certain course in obedience to the laws of nature, an example of which is the revelation to the bee (16:68), and manām, i.e., dreams. And the second form, from behind a veil, he looks upon as applying to the case of Moses to whom, it is thought, God spoke in a manner different from that in which He spoke to the other prophets, that is to say, He spoke to him being invisible to him. Now, as regards the revelation to the bee, it is a clear mistake, as the verse states only how God speaks to men. And the statement regarding the mode of revelation to Moses is also a mistake, for the Holy Qur’ān lays it down in plain words that revelation was granted to the Holy Prophet Muḥammad in the same form as it had been granted to the prophets before him including Moses: “Surely We have revealed to thee as We revealed to Noah and the prophets after him” (4:163); and Moses is specially mentioned in this connection in v. 164. Hence the second mode, from behind a veil, refers to ru’yā or dreams and kashf or visions, because a certain sight is shown in this case which has a deeper meaning than that which appears on the surface. The dream or the vision carries with it a certain meaning, but that meaning is, as it were, under a veil and must be sought for behind that veil. The dreams mentioned in the Holy Qur’ān (ch. 12) are an illustration of this. Joseph saw the sun and the moon and the eleven stars making obeisance to him, and this signified his greatness and his insight into things. A king saw seven lean kine eat up seven fat ones, and the meaning was that seven years of famine and hardship would follow seven years of plenty and eat away the hoarded corn of the country. Hence God’s speaking from behind a veil means His revealing certain truths in dreams or visions. In a saying of the Holy Prophet these are called mubashshrāt: “Nothing has remained of nubuwwah, i.e., receiving news from God, except mubashshrāt.” Being asked “what was meant by mubashshrāt,” the Holy Prophet replied, “good visions” (Bu. 92:5). In this category are also included words which some righteous servants of God are made to utter or which they hear under the influence of the Holy Spirit.