Stages before the Resalah (Prophetic Call)

The Prophetic call started when Mohammed PBUH was 40 years old however when he was 38 he started seeing visions and intensively dreaming at night.

The Prophet would be walking in the street and hear the trees greeting him, “peace be upon you messenger of Allah.” He would turn back to look and find no one.
The prophet also started having good dreams, that he related to his wife and four daughters after waking up only to see them come true during the day.

The Prophet started loving seclusion, so he started to look for a place where he could contemplate peacefully. He wanted a place with a warm feel and overlooking the Ka3ba and so he chose the cave of Hira which was 3 miles away from the Ka3ba. He used to climb the mountain to reach the cave and that took him about an hour and a half. The prophet used to spend many days there just thinking and reflecting about the universe.

God wanted the Prophet to develop his spiritual beliefs, thus striking a balance between the material world and the spiritual realm. The Prophet contemplated life and creation and deeper meanings of existence. No man or woman have found guidance until the love of being closer to God was bestowed upon them.

Khadijah used to visit the Prophet and spend two or three days with him in the cave.
She approved of what her husband was doing and supported him.

Khadijah was a great wife, she was a wise and smart woman and would not leave her husband all this period alone. On the other hand, she did not impose on him during the whole period. She showed him her approval of his choice, her care through her visits, and her trust in him by not imposing on him.

When Khadijah married the Prophet, she was forty years of age. Fifteen years had past, she was now fifty-five. It is amazing how a fifty-five year old woman can climb a mountain to join her husband in the cave, only to sit and reflect with him. She was a great women and one of the greatest graces that Allah bestowed on the Prophet. He was told to “give Khadijah the good tidings that she will have a palace made of Qasab (pearls) in paradise and there will be neither noise nor any trouble in it.” Qasab is a type of hollow pearl that resembles the cave, because the reward is of the nature of the deed.

Narrated by Ali bin Abu Taleb, The Prophet said, “The best of the world's women is Mary (at her lifetime), and the best of the world's women is Khadijah (at her lifetime).”


Source:
http://www.amrkhaled.net