Abdullah bin Abbas reported,

Ibn Abbas reported, "I had long been eager to ask Umar bin al-Khattab about the two wives of the Prophet ﷺ concerning whom Allah said, 'If you both turn to Allah in repentance, then your hearts have indeed inclined' [Tahrim 66:4]. Eventually he went on the pilgrimage and I went with him. He turned aside from the road and I turned aside with him, carrying a water vessel. He relieved himself and then came back, and I poured water over his hands so he could perform ablution.I said to him, "Commander of the Believers, who are the two wives of the Prophet ﷺ of whom Allah said, 'If you both turn to Allah in repentance, then your hearts have indeed inclined' [Tahrim 66:4]?"He replied, "How astonishing of you, Ibn Abbas. They are Ayesha and Hafsa."Then Umar began to relate the story from the beginning. He said, "I had a neighbor from the Ansar in the quarter of Banu Umaya bin Zayd, in the upper district of Medina. We used to take turns visiting the Prophet ﷺ. He would go down one day and I the next. When I went down, I would bring him news of whatever had happened that day, whether revelation or other matters, and he did the same when it was his turn.We men of Quraysh used to dominate our women. But when we came to the Ansar, we found a people whose women dominated them, and our women began picking up the manners of the Ansari women.One day I shouted at my wife, and she answered me back. I disapproved of her answering me back, but she said, 'Why do you disapprove of me answering you back? By Allah, the wives of the Prophet ﷺ answer him back, and one of them might forsake him from morning till night.'This alarmed me, and I said to her, 'Whoever among them does that has surely failed.' Then I gathered my clothes around me and went down until I came in upon Hafsa.I said to her, 'Hafsa, does one of you stay angry with the Prophet ﷺ from morning till night?'She said, 'Yes.'I said, 'Then you have failed and lost. Do you feel safe that Allah may grow angry on account of His Messenger's ﷺ anger and you would be ruined? Do not press the Prophet ﷺ with demands, do not answer him back about anything, and do not forsake him. Ask me for whatever you need. Do not let it deceive you that your neighbor is more beautiful than you and more beloved to the Prophet ﷺ.' He meant Ayesha."Umar continued, "We had been talking about how Ghassan was shoeing horses to invade us. My Ansari companion went down on his turn and returned to us in the evening. He knocked on my door violently and said, 'Is he there?' I was alarmed and went out to him.He said, 'Something tremendous has happened today.'I asked, 'What is it? Has Ghassan come?'He said, 'No, something greater than that and more terrible. The Prophet ﷺ has divorced his wives.'"Ubayd bin Hunayn reported that Ibn Abbas heard from Umar who said, "The Prophet ﷺ had withdrawn from his wives. I said, 'Hafsa has failed and lost. I had been thinking this was about to happen.' I gathered my clothes around me, prayed the dawn prayer with the Prophet ﷺ, and the Prophet ﷺ went up into a loft of his and secluded himself there.I came in upon Hafsa and found her weeping. I asked, 'What makes you weep? Did I not warn you of this? Has the Prophet ﷺ divorced you all?'She said, 'I do not know. There he is, secluded in the loft.'I went out and came to the pulpit. Around it was a small group of people, some of them weeping. I sat with them for a while, but what I was feeling overwhelmed me, so I went to the loft in which the Prophet ﷺ was. I said to a black servant boy, 'Ask permission for Umar.' The boy went in, spoke to the Prophet ﷺ, then came back and said, 'I spoke to the Prophet ﷺ and mentioned you, but he was silent.'So I went away and sat with the group near the pulpit. Then what I was feeling overwhelmed me again, and I came and said to the boy, 'Ask permission for Umar.' He went in, then came back and said, 'I mentioned you to him, but he was silent.' I went back and sat with the group at the pulpit. Then what I was feeling overwhelmed me again, and I came to the boy and said, 'Ask permission for Umar.' He went in, then came back to me and said, 'I mentioned you to him, but he was silent.'When I had turned to leave, the boy called me and said, 'The Prophet ﷺ has given you permission.' So I entered upon the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and found him lying on a mat of palm fibers with no bedding between him and it. The fibers had left marks on his side. He was leaning on a leather cushion stuffed with palm bark.I greeted him, then said, while standing, 'Messenger of Allah, have you divorced your wives?'He raised his eyes to me and said, 'No.'I said, 'Allahu Akbar.' Then I said, while still standing and trying to put him at ease, 'Messenger of Allah, if you had only seen me. We men of Quraysh used to dominate our women, but when we came to Medina we found a people whose women dominated them.' The Prophet ﷺ smiled.Then I said, 'Messenger of Allah, if you had only seen me when I went in upon Hafsa and said to her, Do not let it deceive you that your neighbor is more beautiful than you and more beloved to the Prophet ﷺ.' He meant Ayesha. The Prophet ﷺ smiled again.When I saw him smile, I sat down. Then I lifted my eyes around his house, and by Allah, I saw nothing in his house worth looking at except three hides. I said, 'Messenger of Allah, pray to Allah to grant abundance to your community, for Persia and Rome have been granted abundance and given the world, while they do not even worship Allah.'The Prophet ﷺ sat up, having been reclining, and said, 'Are you in such doubt, son of al-Khattab? Those are a people who have had their good things hastened to them in the life of this world.'I said, 'Messenger of Allah, ask forgiveness for me.'The Prophet ﷺ had withdrawn from his wives because of that conversation, when Hafsa disclosed it to Ayesha, for twenty-nine nights. He had said, 'I will not enter upon them for a month,' out of the intensity of his displeasure with them when Allah reproached him.When twenty-nine nights had passed, he came in upon Ayesha and began with her.Ayesha said to him, 'Messenger of Allah, you swore that you would not come in upon us for a month, and only twenty-nine nights have passed. I have been counting them one by one.'He said, 'The month is twenty-nine nights.' That month happened to be twenty-nine nights.Ayesha said, "Then Allah revealed the verse of choice, and he began with me, the first of his wives, and I chose him. Then he gave the choice to all his wives, and they all said the same as Ayesha had said."

عن ابن عباس قال

لم أزل حريصا على أن أسأل عمربن الخطاب عن المرأتين من أزواج النبي ﷺ اللتين قال الله تعالى: {إن تتوبا إلى الله فقد صغت قلوبكما}[التحريم: ٤] حتى حج وحججت معه، وعدل وعدلت معه بإداوة، فتبرز، ثم جاء فسكبت على يديه منها، فتوضأ، فقلت له: يا أمير المؤمنين! من المرأتان من أزواج النبي ﷺ اللتان قال الله تعالى{إن تتوبا إلى الله فقد صغت قلوبكما}[التحريم: ٤]؟ قال: واعجبا لك ياابن عباس، هما عائشة وحفصة، ثم استقبل عمر الحديث يسوقه قال: كنت أنا وجار لي من الأنصار في بني أمية بن زيد وهم من عوالي المدينة، وكنا نتناوب النزول على النبي ﷺ، فينزل يوما وأنزل يوما، فإذانزلت جئته بما حدث من خبر ذلك اليوم من الوحي أو غيره، وإذا نزل فعل مثل ذلك، وكنا معشر قريش نغلب النساء، فلما قدمنا على الأنصار، إذا قوم تغلبهم نساؤهم، فطفق نساؤنا يأخذن من أدب نساء الأنصار. فصخبت على امرأتي فراجعتني، فأنكرت أن تراجعني قالت: ولم تنكر أن أراجعك؟ فو الله إن أزواج النبي ﷺ ليراجعنه، وإن إحداهن لتهجره اليوم حتى الليل. فأفزعني ذلك، فقلت لها: قد خاب من فعل ذلك منهن. ثم جمعت علي ثيابي، فنزلت حتى دخلت على حفصة، فقلت لها: أي حفصة أتغاضب إحداكن النبي ﷺ اليوم حتى الليل؟ قالت: نعم، فقلت: قد خبت وخسرت، أفتأمنين أن يغضب الله لغضب رسول الله ﷺ فتهلكي؟ لا تستكثري النبي ﷺ ولا تراجعيه في شيء ولاتهجريه، وسليني ما بدا لك، ولا يغرنك أن كانت جارتك أوضا منك، وأحب إلى النبي ﷺ، يريد عائشة. قال عمر: وكنا قد تحدثنا أن غسان تنعل الخيل لتغزونا، فنزل صاحبي الأنصاري يوم نوبته، فرجع إلينا عشاء، فضرب بابي ضربا شديدا، وقال: أثم هو؟ ففزعت فخرجت إليه، فقال: قد حدث اليوم أمر عظيم، قلت: ما هو؟ أجاء غسان؟ قال: لا، بل أعظم من ذلك وأهول، طلق النبي ﷺ نساءه. وقال عبيد بن حنين: سمع ابن عباس عن عمر فقال: اعتزل النبي ﷺ أزواجه، فقلت: خابت حفصة وخسرت، وقد كنت أظن هذا يوشك أن يكون، فجمعت علي ثيابي، فصليت صلاة الفجر مع النبي ﷺ، فدخل النبي ﷺ مشربة له، فاعتزل فيها، ودخلت على حفصة، فإذا هي تبكي، فقلت: ما يبكيك؟ ألم أكن حذرتك هذا، أطلقكن النبي ﷺ؟ قالت: لاأدري، ها هو ذا معتزل في المشربة. فخرجت، فجئت إلى المنبر فإذاحوله رهط يبكي بعضهم، فجلست معهم قليلا، ثم غلبني ما أجدفجئت المشربة التي فيها النبي ﷺ، فقلت لغلام أسود: استأذن لعمر. فدخل الغلام فكلم النبي ﷺ ثم رجع فقال: كلمت النبي ﷺ وذكرتك له فصمت، فانصرفت حتى جلست مع الرهط الذين عند المنبر. ثم غلبني ما أجد فجئت فقلت للغلام: استأذن لعمر، فدخل ثم رجع، فقال: قد ذكرتك له فصمت، فرجعت فجلست مع الرهط مع المنبر، ثم غلبني ما أجد، فجئت الغلام فقلت: استأذن لعمر، فدخل، ثم رجع إلي فقال: قدذكرتك له فصمت، فلما وليت منصرفا قال: إذا الغلام يدعوني فقال: قد أذن لك النبي ﷺ. فدخلت على رسول الله ﷺ فإذا هو مضطجع على رمال حصير ليس بينه وبينه فراش، قد أثر الرمال بجنبه، متكئا على وسادة من أدم حشوها ليف، فسلمت عليه. ثم قلت وأنا قائم: يا رسول الله أطلقت نساءك؟ فرفع إلي بصره، فقال: لا. فقلت: الله أكبر. ثم قلت وأنا قائم أستأنس: يا رسول الله لو رأيتني وكنا معشر قريش نغلب النساء، فلما قدمنا المدينة إذا قوم تغلبهم نساؤهم، فتبسم النبي ﷺ ثم قلت: يا رسول الله، لو رأيتني ودخلت على حفصة فقلت لها: لايغرنك أن كانت جارتك أوضا منك وأحب إلى النبي ﷺ يريد عائشة. فتبسم النبي ﷺ تبسمة أخرى. فجلست حين رأيته تبسم، فرفعت بصري بيته فوالله ما رأيت في بيته شيئا يرد البصر غير أهبة ثلاثة، فقلت: يارسول الله! ادع الله فليوسع على أمتك، فإن فارس والروم قد وسع عليهم، وأعطوا الدنيا وهم لا يعبدون الله. فجلس النبي ﷺ وكان متكئا فقال: أو في هذا أنت يا ابن الخطاب؟ إن أولئك قوم قد عجلواطيباتهم في الحياة الدنيا فقلت: يا رسول الله، ستغفر لي. فاعتزل النبي ﷺ للنساءه من أجل ذلك الحديث حين أفشته حفصة إلى عائشة تسعا وعشرين ليلة، وكان قال: ما أنا بداخل عليهن شهرا من شدة موجدته عليهن حين عاتبه الله عز وجل، فلما مضت تسع وعشرون ليلة دخل على عائشة فبدأ بها، فقالت له عائشة: يا رسول الله! إنك كنت قد أقسمت أن لا تدخل علينا شهرا، وإنما أصبحت من تسع وعشرين ليلة أعدها عدا، فقال: الشهر تسع وعشرون ليلة، فكان ذلك الشهر تسعا وعشرين ليلة، قالت عائشة: ثم أنزل الله تعالى آية التخيير، فبدأ بي أول امرأة من نسائه، فاخترته، ثم خير نساءه كلهن فقلن مثل ما قالت عائشة.