Waḥy

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Waḥy (Arab., ‘to suggest, put something in someone's mind’). The idea of ‘revelation’ in Islam. The term waḥy is used especially for the giving of the Qurʾān, itself described as a ‘revelation revealed’ (waḥy yūḥā, 53. 4). Waḥy refers also to revelation given to former prophets, as to Moses (20. 13), and is indirect, for humans cannot see Allāh (42. 50). The ḥadīth give details as to the manner of revelation, and the way in which Muḥammad himself was affected physically by the force of the message he received.

The more common term for the giving of the Qurʾān is ‘sending down’, from the verbal root n-z-l, hence nazzala anzala, ‘cause to descend’.