"Allah knows that I am innocent, and that Allah will declare my innocence. But by Allah, I never thought that Allah would send down revelation about me that would be recited. I considered myself too insignificant for Allah to speak about me with such a matter. Rather, I hoped that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ would see a dream in his sleep through which Allah would clear my name."By Allah, the Messenger of Allah had not yet left his seat, nor had anyone of the household departed, when revelation came down upon him. He was overcome by the same state that used to seize him, until drops of sweat poured from him like pearls, even though it was a cold day, from the weight of the words being revealed to him.
والله يعلم أني بريئة، وأن الله مبرئي ببراءتي، ولكن والله ما كنت أظن أن الله منزل في شأني وحيا يتلى لشأني في نفسي كان أحقر من أن يتكلم الله في بأمر، ولكن كنت أرجو أن يرى رسول الله ﷺ في النوم رؤيا يبرئني الله بها، فوالله ما رام رسول مجلسه ولا خرج أحد من أهل البيت حتى أنزل عليه، فأخذه ما كان يأخذه من البرحاء حتى إنه ليتحدر منه من العرق مثل الجمان، وهو في يوم شات من ثقل القول الذي أنزل عليه.
Bukhari reported it in the Book of Military Expeditions (4141), and Muslim in the Book of Repentance (2770), both narrating from Ibrahim bin Saad, from Salih, from Ibn Shihab, who said, "Urwa bin Zubayr, Saeed bin Musayab, Alqama bin Waqqas, and Ubaydullah bin Abdullah bin Utba bin Masud told me, from Ayesha," and he mentioned it in the story of the slander.