As a trader, Uthman traveled frequently to Yemen, Syria, Abyssinia and elsewhere. In the year 610, Uthman went as usual with a trading caravan to Syria. This year the business of Uthman had been particularly brisk, and he had earned a huge profit. On the return journey the caravan halted for the night at a way side station between Zarqa and Ma'an in Syria. As Uthman lay on his bed beneath the star-studded sky, he felt impressed with the vastness and dimensions of space. He thought that the universe with such vast dimensions could not be without a master. In his heart of hearts he felt that some transcendent Being would surely be the master of the universe complex. While he was thus lost in thoughts, and was half-awake and half asleep, he heard a voice, "O, you who are asleep, wake up, for in Makkah the Prophet Ahmad has appeared". Uthman looked around, but there was no body to be seen. The voice that Uthman had heard was not a human voice: it appeared to come from outer space.