مُحَمَّد
Muhammad ﷺ
Sent as a mercy to all the worlds, the seal of the prophets
The Quran speaks of Muhammad ﷺ less as a sequence of events and more through direct address — reassurance in hardship, the moment revelation began, and his standing as the final prophet in the line that runs back through Ibrahim to Adam. This chapter set stays close to what the Quran says about him in its own words, rather than the fuller biographical detail found in hadith and seerah literature.
"Recite, in the name of your Lord"
The first words of revelation, addressed to Muhammad ﷺ, open not with a story but with a command: recite, in the name of the Lord who created — who created man from a clinging substance. It continues that his Lord is the most generous, the one who taught by the pen, teaching man what he did not know. Revelation begins, in the Quran's own account, as an act of teaching.
بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ ٱقْرَأْ بِٱسْمِ رَبِّكَ ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَ
Recite in the name of your Lord who created -
خَلَقَ ٱلْإِنسَٰنَ مِنْ عَلَقٍ
Created man from a clinging substance.
ٱقْرَأْ وَرَبُّكَ ٱلْأَكْرَمُ
Recite, and your Lord is the most Generous -
ٱلَّذِى عَلَّمَ بِٱلْقَلَمِ
Who taught by the pen -
عَلَّمَ ٱلْإِنسَٰنَ مَا لَمْ يَعْلَمْ
Taught man that which he knew not.
"Your Lord has not taken leave of you"
In a passage of direct reassurance during a period of hardship, God tells Muhammad ﷺ that He has not abandoned him nor detested him, and that what comes after will be better than what came before — that his Lord will give him until he is satisfied. He is reminded that he was found an orphan and given refuge, found in need of guidance and guided, found poor and made self-sufficient — and is told, in turn, not to oppress an orphan or turn away one who asks, but to speak of his Lord's favor. A companion passage adds that God expanded his breast, removed the burden that weighed on him, and raised his repute — declaring twice, for emphasis, that with hardship comes ease.
بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ وَٱلضُّحَىٰ
By the morning brightness
وَٱلَّيْلِ إِذَا سَجَىٰ
And [by] the night when it covers with darkness,
مَا وَدَّعَكَ رَبُّكَ وَمَا قَلَىٰ
Your Lord has not taken leave of you, [O Muhammad], nor has He detested [you].
وَلَلْءَاخِرَةُ خَيْرٌۭ لَّكَ مِنَ ٱلْأُولَىٰ
And the Hereafter is better for you than the first [life].
وَلَسَوْفَ يُعْطِيكَ رَبُّكَ فَتَرْضَىٰٓ
And your Lord is going to give you, and you will be satisfied.
أَلَمْ يَجِدْكَ يَتِيمًۭا فَـَٔاوَىٰ
Did He not find you an orphan and give [you] refuge?
وَوَجَدَكَ ضَآلًّۭا فَهَدَىٰ
And He found you lost and guided [you],
وَوَجَدَكَ عَآئِلًۭا فَأَغْنَىٰ
And He found you poor and made [you] self-sufficient.
فَأَمَّا ٱلْيَتِيمَ فَلَا تَقْهَرْ
So as for the orphan, do not oppress [him].
وَأَمَّا ٱلسَّآئِلَ فَلَا تَنْهَرْ
And as for the petitioner, do not repel [him].
وَأَمَّا بِنِعْمَةِ رَبِّكَ فَحَدِّثْ
But as for the favor of your Lord, report [it].
بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ أَلَمْ نَشْرَحْ لَكَ صَدْرَكَ
Did We not expand for you, [O Muhammad], your breast?
وَوَضَعْنَا عَنكَ وِزْرَكَ
And We removed from you your burden
ٱلَّذِىٓ أَنقَضَ ظَهْرَكَ
Which had weighed upon your back
وَرَفَعْنَا لَكَ ذِكْرَكَ
And raised high for you your repute.
فَإِنَّ مَعَ ٱلْعُسْرِ يُسْرًا
For indeed, with hardship [will be] ease.
إِنَّ مَعَ ٱلْعُسْرِ يُسْرًۭا
Indeed, with hardship [will be] ease.
"Do not grieve; indeed God is with us"
Recalling a moment when Muhammad ﷺ was driven out by disbelievers as one of two, sheltering in a cave, the Quran records him telling his companion not to grieve, for God was with them — and states that God sent down tranquility upon him, supported him with unseen forces, and made His word the highest. The passage does not narrate the wider journey; it isolates this single moment of reassurance under pressure.
إِلَّا تَنصُرُوهُ فَقَدْ نَصَرَهُ ٱللَّهُ إِذْ أَخْرَجَهُ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ ثَانِىَ ٱثْنَيْنِ إِذْ هُمَا فِى ٱلْغَارِ إِذْ يَقُولُ لِصَٰحِبِهِۦ لَا تَحْزَنْ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ مَعَنَا ۖ فَأَنزَلَ ٱللَّهُ سَكِينَتَهُۥ عَلَيْهِ وَأَيَّدَهُۥ بِجُنُودٍۢ لَّمْ تَرَوْهَا وَجَعَلَ كَلِمَةَ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ ٱلسُّفْلَىٰ ۗ وَكَلِمَةُ ٱللَّهِ هِىَ ٱلْعُلْيَا ۗ وَٱللَّهُ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ
If you do not aid the Prophet - Allah has already aided him when those who disbelieved had driven him out [of Makkah] as one of two, when they were in the cave and he said to his companion, "Do not grieve; indeed Allah is with us." And Allah sent down his tranquillity upon him and supported him with angels you did not see and made the word of those who disbelieved the lowest, while the word of Allah - that is the highest. And Allah is Exalted in Might and Wise.
A mercy to all the worlds
The Quran describes Muhammad ﷺ as the Messenger of God and the seal of the prophets — the last in the line that included Adam, Nuh, Ibrahim, Musa, and Isa before him. Elsewhere it states plainly that he was sent for no other reason than as a mercy to all the worlds, not to a single people or place. It is the note the Quran leaves this chapter of prophetic history on: not conquest or status, but mercy, offered to everyone.
مَّا كَانَ مُحَمَّدٌ أَبَآ أَحَدٍۢ مِّن رِّجَالِكُمْ وَلَٰكِن رَّسُولَ ٱللَّهِ وَخَاتَمَ ٱلنَّبِيِّۦنَ ۗ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ بِكُلِّ شَىْءٍ عَلِيمًۭا
Muhammad is not the father of [any] one of your men, but [he is] the Messenger of Allah and last of the prophets. And ever is Allah, of all things, Knowing.
وَمَآ أَرْسَلْنَٰكَ إِلَّا رَحْمَةًۭ لِّلْعَٰلَمِينَ
And We have not sent you, [O Muhammad], except as a mercy to the worlds.