Heraclius and Muhammad

Seeking clarity, he often retreated to a cave on a mountain four kilometers east of Mecca. It was here, in 610 CE, that his life—and the course of history—changed forever. At the age of forty, while deep in meditation, the Archangel Gabriel appeared to him for the first time with a single, command: “Read!”

“Read in the Name of your Lord Who created (everything), He created man from a clot. Read! and your Lord is the All-Munificent Who taught man by the pen He taught man what he didn’t know!

The Quran 96:1

These few verses marked the beginning of the Quran, the final divine scripture for humanity, which would be revealed over a period of twenty-three years until Prophet Muhammad passed away in 632 CE.