Abdullah bin Abbas reported,

Ibn Abbas said, "I had long been eager to ask Umar bin Khattab about the two wives of the Prophet ﷺ concerning whom Allah said, 'If you two turn in repentance to Allah, your hearts have indeed inclined' [Tahrim 66:4]. Then he performed the pilgrimage and I went with him. At one point he stepped aside from the road and I turned aside with him, carrying a water skin. He relieved himself, then came back, and I poured water over his hands and he performed wudu.I said to him, "Commander of the Faithful, who were the two wives of the Prophet ﷺ about whom Allah said, 'If you two turn in repentance to Allah, your hearts have indeed inclined' [Tahrim 66:4]?"Umar replied, "How astonishing of you, Ibn Abbas. They were Ayesha and Hafsa."Then Umar took up the story and told it from the beginning. He said, "I had a neighbor from the Ansar, and we lived among the clan of Umaya bin Zayd, in the outlying districts of Madinah. He and I used to take turns going down to the Prophet ﷺ. He would go one day and I would go the next, and when I went down I would bring him back whatever news of revelation or anything else had come that day, and when he went down he would do the same for me.We of the Quraysh used to have the upper hand over our women, but when we came among the Ansar we found a people whose women had the upper hand over them, and our women began picking up the habits of the women of the Ansar. One day I shouted at my wife and she answered me back. I found this outrageous in her.She said, "Why should you find it outrageous that I answer you back? By Allah, the wives of the Prophet ﷺ answer him back, and one of them will keep away from him a whole day until nightfall."That alarmed me. I said to her, "Whichever of them does that has ruined herself."Then I gathered my clothes about me and went down and entered Hafsa's house.I said to her, "Hafsa, does one of you keep the Prophet ﷺ angry all day until night?"She said, "Yes."I said, "Then you have failed and lost. Do you feel safe from Allah's becoming angry because His Messenger ﷺ is angry, and so you perish? Do not ask too much of the Prophet ﷺ, do not answer him back about anything, and do not keep away from him. Ask me for whatever you need. And do not let it deceive you that your companion is more comely than you and more beloved to the Prophet ﷺ." He meant Ayesha.Umar continued, "Now we had been talking about how the Ghassan were shoeing their horses to make war on us. My companion from the Ansar went down on his day, and he came back to us in the evening and knocked hard on my door and called out, 'Is he there?'I was alarmed and went out to him.He said, "Something terrible has happened today."I said, "What is it? Have the Ghassan come?"He said, "No, something even greater and more dreadful than that. The Prophet ﷺ has divorced his wives."Ubayd bin Hunayn reported that Ibn Abbas heard from Umar, who said, "The Prophet ﷺ withdrew from his wives. I said to myself, 'Hafsa has failed and lost. I had thought this was bound to happen.' So I gathered my clothes about me and prayed the Fajr prayer with the Prophet ﷺ. Then the Prophet ﷺ went into an upper room of his and secluded himself there.I went in to Hafsa and found her weeping.I said, "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 upper room."So I went out and came to the pulpit, and around it was a group of men, some of them weeping. I sat with them a little, but what I was feeling overcame me, so I went to the upper room where the Prophet ﷺ was.I said to a black servant boy, "Ask permission for Umar."The boy went in and spoke to the Prophet ﷺ, then came back and said, "I spoke to the Prophet ﷺ and mentioned you to him, but he was silent."So I turned away and sat down with the group by the pulpit. Then what I was feeling overcame me again, and I came and said to the boy, "Ask permission for Umar."He went in and came back and said, "I mentioned you to him, but he was silent."So I went back and sat with the group by the pulpit. Then what I was feeling overcame me again, and I came to the boy and said, "Ask permission for Umar."He went in and came back to me and said, "I mentioned you to him, but he was silent."As I turned to leave, the boy suddenly called me and said, "The Prophet ﷺ has given you permission."So I went in to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and there he was, lying on the bare plaited strands of a mat with nothing between him and it, the strands having left their mark on his side, leaning on a leather cushion stuffed with palm fibre. I greeted him.Then I said, still standing, "Messenger of Allah, have you divorced your wives?"He raised his eyes to me and said, "No."I said, "Allah is greatest."Then, still standing, trying to put him at ease, I said, "Messenger of Allah, if you had only seen me. We of the Quraysh used to have the upper hand over our women, but when we came to Madinah we found a people whose women had the upper hand over them."The Prophet ﷺ smiled.Then I said, "Messenger of Allah, if you had only seen me. I went in to Hafsa and said to her, 'Do not let it deceive you that your companion is more comely than you and more beloved to the Prophet ﷺ.'" He meant Ayesha.The Prophet ﷺ smiled a second time. When I saw him smile I sat down. Then I raised my eyes and looked around his room, and by Allah, I saw nothing in it worth the eye resting on except three hides.I said, "Messenger of Allah, pray to Allah to give your community abundance. The Persians and the Romans have been given abundance and granted the world, yet they do not worship Allah."The Prophet ﷺ sat up, for he had been reclining, and said, "Are you really thinking such thoughts, Ibn Khattab? Those are a people who have been given their good things early, in this present life."I said, "Messenger of Allah, ask forgiveness for me."The Prophet ﷺ had withdrawn from his wives on account of that matter, when Hafsa disclosed it to Ayesha, for twenty-nine nights. He had said, "I will not go in to them for a month," out of the intensity of his displeasure with them when Allah reproached him. When twenty-nine nights had passed, he went in to Ayesha, beginning with her.Ayesha said to him, "Messenger of Allah, you swore that you would not come in to us for a month, and it is only the morning of the twenty-ninth night. I have been counting them one by one."He said, "The month is twenty-nine nights." And that month was twenty-nine nights.Ayesha said, "Then Allah sent down 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 every one of them said what Ayesha had said."

عن ابن عباس قال

لم أزل حريصا على أن أسأل عمر بن الخطاب عن المرأتين من أزواج النبي ﷺ و 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 يا ابن 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، فإذا نزلت 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. فصبت 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 أ تغاضب 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 ولا تهجريه، 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: لا أدري، ها هو ذا معتزل في المشربة فخرجت فجئت إلى المنبر فإذا حوله رهط يبكي بعضهم، فجلست معهم قليلا، ثم غلبني ما أجد فجئت 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: قد ذكرتك 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: لا يغرنك أن كانت جارتك أوضأ منك وأحب إلى النبي ﷺ يريد عائشة. فتبسم النبي ﷺ تبسمة أخرى فجلست حين رأيته تبسم، فرفعت بصري في بيته فو الله ما رأيت في بيته شيئا يرد البصر غير أهبة ثلاثة، فقلت: يا رسول الله! ادع الله فليوسع على أمتك، فإن فارس والروم قد وسع عليهم، وأعطوا الدنيا وهم لا يعبدون الله. فجلس النبي ﷺ وكان متكئا فقال: أوفي هذا أنت يا ابن الخطاب؟ إن أولئك قوم قد عجلوا طيباتهم في الحياة الدنيا فقلت: يا رسول الله استغفر لي. فاعتزل النبي ﷺ نساءه 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.