He asked Ayesha about the verse, "And if you fear that you will not deal justly with the orphan girls, then marry those women who seem good to you" [Nisa 4:3].Ayesha explained, "This refers to an orphan girl under the care of her guardian. He would be attracted to her beauty and her wealth and would want to marry her for less than the customary dower given to women of her standing. So they were forbidden to marry such girls unless they dealt justly with them by paying the dower in full, and they were commanded to marry other women instead."Ayesha continued, "Later on people came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ seeking a ruling, and Allah revealed, 'And they ask you for a ruling concerning women. Say, Allah gives you the ruling concerning them' [Nisa 4:127]."She said, "In this verse Allah made clear that when an orphan girl possessed beauty and wealth, they were eager to marry her, yet they would not give her the customary treatment of a full dower, whereas if she had little wealth and little beauty they had no desire for her, so they would leave her and seek out other women."The narrator continued, "Just as they abandon her when they have no desire for her, so they have no right to marry her when they do desire her, unless they deal justly with her by giving the fuller dower and granting her what is rightfully hers."
أنه سأل عائشة: {وإن خفتم ألا تقسطوا في اليتمى فانكحوا ما طاب لكم من النساء} [النساء: ٣] قالت: هي اليتيمة حجر وليها، فيرغب في جمالها ومالها ويريد أن يتزوجها بأدنى من سنة نسائها، فنهوا عن نكاحهن، إلا أن يقسطوا لهن في إكمال الصداق، وأمروا بنكاح من سواهن من النساء. قالت عائشة: ثم استفتى الناس رسول الله ﷺ بعد: فأنزل الله عز وجل: {ويستفتونك في النساء قل الله يفتيكم فيهن} [النساء: ١٢٧] قالت: فبين الله في هذه أن اليتيمة إذ كانت ذات جمال ومال، ورغبوا في نكاحها، ولم يلحقوها بسنتها بإكمال الصداق، فإذا كانت مرغوبة عنها في قلة المال والجمال تركوها، والتمسوا غيرها من النساء. قال: فكما يتركونها حين يرغبون عنها، فليس لهم أن ينكحوها إذا رغبوا فيها. إلا أن يقسطوا لها الأوفى من الصداق، ويعطوها حقها.
Bukhari narrated it in the Book of Wills (2763), and Muslim in the Book of Tafsir (6:3018), both from the hadith of Zuhri, who said, "Urwa bin Zubayr informed me that he asked Ayesha, and she informed him." The wording given here is that of Bukhari, and Muslim's wording is similar to it.