when prophet muhammad [pbuh] was nearly forty, he had been wont to pass long hours in retirement meditating and speculating over all aspects of creation around him. this meditative temperament helped to widen the mental gap between him and his compatriots. he used to provide himself with sawiq (barley porridge) and water and then directly head for the hills and ravines in the neighbourhood of makkah. one of these in particular was his favourite resort — a cave named hira’, in the mount an-nour. it was only two miles from makkah, a small cave 4 yards long and 1.75 yard wide. he would always go there and invite wayfarers to share him his modest provision. he used to devote most of his time, and ramadan in particular, to worship and meditation on the universe around him. his heart was restless about the moral evils and idolatry that were rampant among his people; he was as yet helpless because no definite course, or specific approach had been available for him to follow and rectify the ill practices around him. this solitude attended with this sort of contemplative approach must be understood in its divine perspective. it was a preliminary stage to the period of grave responsibilities that he was to shoulder very soon. [rahmat al-lil'alameen 1/47; ibn hisham 1/235,236; fi zilal al-qur'an 29/166]

privacy and detachment from the impurities of life were two indispensable prerequisites for the prophet’s soul to come into close communion with the unseen power that lies behind all aspects of existence in this infinite universe. it was a rich period of privacy which lasted for three years and ushered in a new era, of indissoluble contact with that power. [fi zilal al-qur'an 29/166,167]