I entered upon Ayesha and found Hassan bin Thabit reciting poetry to her, courting her with verses of his own composition. He said:"A chaste, dignified woman, never suspected of any misdeed, who rises hungry, never feasting on the flesh of unsuspecting women."Ayesha said to him, "But you are not like that."Masruq said, I asked her, "Why do you allow him to come in to see you, when Allah has said, 'And the one among them who took upon himself the greater share of it shall have a grievous punishment' [Nur 24:11]?"She replied, "And what punishment is more severe than blindness? He used to defend the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and answer those who satirized him."
دخلت على عائشة وعندها حسان بن ثابت ينشدها شعرا، يشبب بأبيات له، فقال: حصا رزان ما تزن بريبة… وتصبح غرثى من لحوم الغوافل فقالت له عائشة: لكنك لست كذلك قال مسروق: فقلت لها: لم تأذنين له يدخل عليك؟ وقد قال الله: {والذى تولى كبره منهم له عذاب عظيم} [النور: ١١] فقالت: وأي عذاب أشد من العمى؟ إنه كان ينافح أو يهاجي عن رسول الله ﷺ.
Bukhari narrated it in Maghazi (4146) and Muslim in Fadail al-Sahabah (2488), both from Bishr bin Khalid, from Muhammad bin Jafar, from Shubah, from Sulayman, from Abu Duha, from Masruq, who said, then he mentioned it. This is the wording of Muslim, and the wording of Bukhari is similar.