Yusuf ibn Mahak reported: Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, said, “Verily, the first verses to be revealed were from the shorter chapters at the end of the Quran. In them is mentioned Paradise and Hellfire, until people were firmly established upon Islam and verses of lawful and unlawful were revealed. If the first verse to be revealed was ‘do not drink wine,’ they would have said, ‘we will never stop drinking wine.’ And if the first verse to be revealed was ‘do not commit adultery,’ they would have said, ‘we will never stop committing adultery.'”
Source: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 4993
Grade: Sahih (authentic) according to Al-Bukhari
عن يُوسُفُ بْنُ مَاهَكٍ قَالَ قَالَتْ عَائِشَة رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهَا إِنَّمَا نَزَلَ أَوَّلَ مَا نَزَلَ مِنْهُ سُورَةٌ مِنْ الْمُفَصَّلِ فِيهَا ذِكْرُ الْجَنَّةِ وَالنَّارِ حَتَّى إِذَا ثَابَ النَّاسُ إِلَى الْإِسْلَامِ نَزَلَ الْحَلَالُ وَالْحَرَامُ وَلَوْ نَزَلَ أَوَّلَ شَيْءٍ لَا تَشْرَبُوا الْخَمْرَ لَقَالُوا لَا نَدَعُ الْخَمْرَ أَبَدًا وَلَوْ نَزَلَ لَا تَزْنُوا لَقَالُوا لَا نَدَعُ الزِّنَا أَبَدًا
4993 صحيح البخاري كتاب فضائل القرآن باب تأليف القرآن