34 In ibe fW/Jf(P5 of lIN P1'Oplxl
Hereafter will be bener for rou than the prescm. And soon will yow: Lord
give you that with which you will be well pleased.^14This was good news, and Rcvdation was not to StOP again for over
[wenty years.KhadijahIt is important to stress here the role played by Khadijah throughour
those years ridden with events, some extraordinary and others deeply
painfuL She was th e one who had first noticed and then chosen Muham-
mad for his honesty, his fairness, and the nobleness of his character.
Widely courted in v.kcca because of her wealth, she had been able to
measure the disinterested and reserved attitude o f that young man, who
was nonetheless so enterprising and efficient. And against us ual practice,
she had the courage to propose marriage to him through her friend
Nufaysah. Their union was to bring them their lot of happiness, so rrow,
and grief: they lost th ... ir rwn IInns, Qasim and Abdullah, in infancy and
only their four daughters survived.I S T his family destiny was difficult
enough, but among the Arabs, the birth of a daughter was considered
shameful; tradition reports how much, on the contrary, .Muhammad and
his wife surrounded their daughters with deep love and constant care,
which they never hesitated to express in public.
\'('hen at the age of forty j\:luhammad received the first Revelation, it
was to his wife he immediately turned, and she was the fir st to stand by
him and comfort him. D uring all the previous years, she o bse rved a man
whose nobleness of character was a d istinctive fearure. When he came
back to her from the cave of I-lira, troubled and assailed with deep doubt
as to what he was and what was happening to him, she wrapped him in
her love, reminded him of his qualities, and resto red his self-confidence.
The first Revelations were both an extrao rdinary gift and a terrible trial for
a man who no longer knew whether he was possessed o r the prey of dev-
ilish delirium. H e was alone and cnnf\l~ed: he turned to his wife, who
immediately lent him comfort and support. From that moment on, there
were twO of them facing the trial, trying [0 understand its meaning and
then, after the silence of Revelation had ended, answering God's calt and