Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrated that for many days I had a desire in my heart to ask Sayyiduna Umar bin Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) about those two wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding whom Allah revealed this verse: "If you both turn in repentance to Allah, then indeed your hearts have deviated..." (At-Tahrim: 4). Once, Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) performed Hajj and I also performed Hajj with him. At one place, when he went aside from the road (to relieve himself), I also went aside with a vessel of water. After he relieved himself and returned, I poured water on his hands and he performed ablution. Then I asked him, "O Commander of the Faithful, who are those two wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) about whom Allah said: 'If you both turn in repentance to Allah, then indeed your hearts have deviated...'?" Sayyiduna Umar bin Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) replied, "O Ibn Abbas, I am surprised at you (that you do not know)! They are Aisha and Hafsa (may Allah be pleased with them both)." Then Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) began to narrate the hadith in detail. He said: I and my Ansari neighbor, who was from Banu Umayyah bin Zaid and lived in the highlands of Madinah, had arranged turns to visit the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) from the highlands. One day he would go, and one day I would go. When I went, I would bring all the news of that day, including what was revealed, and narrate it to my neighbor. And when he went, he would do the same. We used to have authority over our women among the Quraysh, but when we came to the Ansar, we found that their women had authority over them. Our women also began to learn the ways of the Ansari women. One day I scolded my wife, and she replied back to me. I expressed displeasure at her replying in this way, so she said, "Why do you dislike my replying to you? By Allah, the wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) also reply to him, and some of them even remain apart from him for a whole day." I was alarmed at this and said, "Whoever among them has done this has certainly failed!" Then I put on my clothes and set out (for Madinah). I went to (my daughter) Hafsa's house and said to her, "O Hafsa, does any one of you remain angry with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) for a whole day and night?" She said, "Yes, sometimes it happens." I said, "Then you have put yourself in loss and failed! Do you not fear that because of the Prophet's anger, Allah may become angry with you, and then you will be ruined? Beware! Do not demand anything from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), do not reply to him in any matter, and do not leave him. Do not be deceived because of your co-wife who is more beautiful than you and more beloved to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) than you." He was referring to Sayyida Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her).

Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: We had heard that the king of Ghassan was preparing his army to attack us. My Ansari companion had gone to Madinah on his turn. He returned late at night and knocked loudly at my door, saying, "Is Umar at home?" I was alarmed and went outside. He said, "Today a great incident has occurred." I asked, "What happened? Has the Ghassani king attacked?" He said, "No, something even greater and more frightening has happened. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) has divorced his wives." I said, "Hafsa has failed and lost! I always feared that something like this would happen soon." Then I put on all my clothes and set out (for Madinah). I performed the Fajr prayer with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). After the prayer, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) went to his upper room and secluded himself there. I went to Hafsa (may Allah be pleased with her), and she was crying. I said, "Why are you crying now? I had already warned you. Has the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) divorced you?" She said, "I do not know. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is alone in the upper room." I left there and came to the pulpit, where some Companions were present, some of whom were crying. I sat with them for a while, then my grief overcame me, and I went to the upper room where the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was. I said to the Abyssinian servant of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), "Ask permission for Umar to enter." The servant went inside, spoke to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and returned, saying, "I mentioned you to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), but he remained silent." So I returned and sat with those at the pulpit. Again, my grief overcame me, and I went back and said to the servant, "Ask permission for Umar." The servant returned and said, "I mentioned you to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), but he remained silent." I returned and sat with those at the pulpit, but again my grief overcame me, and I went back and said to the servant, "Ask permission for Umar." The servant went inside and returned, saying, "I mentioned you to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and he remained silent." As I was returning, the servant called me and said, "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) has given you permission." I entered upon the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and he was lying on a mat made of palm fibers, with no bedding on it. The marks of the mat were visible on his blessed side. The pillow he was reclining on was filled with bark. I greeted the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and, standing, asked, "O Messenger of Allah, have you divorced your wives?" He raised his gaze towards me and said, "No." I exclaimed (out of joy), "Allahu Akbar!" Then, still standing, I said to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to please him, "O Messenger of Allah, you know that we, the people of Quraysh, used to have authority over our women, but when we came to Madinah, we found that the women here had authority over their men." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) smiled at this. Then I said, "O Messenger of Allah, you know that I once went to Hafsa (may Allah be pleased with her) and told her not to be deceived because of her co-wife who is more beautiful and more beloved to you than her." He was referring to Sayyida Aisha. At this, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) smiled again. When I saw him smiling, I sat down. Then I looked around the house of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). By Allah, I did not see anything worth looking at except three hides (that were there). I said, "O Messenger of Allah, pray to Allah to grant abundance to your Ummah. The Persians and Romans have abundance and prosperity, and they have been given the world, even though they do not worship Allah." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was still reclining, but then he sat up straight and said, "O Ibn Khattab, do you also think these things are important? These are people who have been given all their good in this world." I said, "O Messenger of Allah, pray to Allah to forgive me (for having such worldly thoughts)." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) separated himself from his wives for twenty-nine days because Hafsa (may Allah be pleased with her) had disclosed his secret to Aisha. He had said that he would not go to his wives for a month. When Allah reproached the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), it grieved him greatly, and he decided to stay away from his wives. When the twenty-ninth night had passed, he went to the house of Sayyida Aisha and began with her. Sayyida Aisha said, "O Messenger of Allah, you had sworn that you would not come to us for a month, and only twenty-nine days have passed. I was counting each day." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "This month is of twenty-nine days." That month was indeed of twenty-nine days. Sayyida Aisha narrated that then Allah revealed the verse of choice (in which the wives of the Prophet were given the option to stay with him or separate), and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came to me first among all his wives (and informed me of Allah's revelation). I chose him. After that, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) gave the same choice to all his other wives, and all of them said what Sayyida Aisha had said.