Abdullah bin Abbas reported,

I had long been eager to ask Umar about the two wives of the Prophet ﷺ concerning whom Allah the Exalted said, "If you two turn to Allah in repentance, your hearts have indeed inclined" [Tahrim 66:4]. Then Umar performed the pilgrimage and I went with him. While we were on part of the road, Umar turned aside and I turned aside with him, carrying the water vessel. He relieved himself, then came to me, and I poured water over his hands as he performed ablution.I said, "Commander of the Believers, who are the two women among the wives of the Prophet ﷺ about whom Allah said, 'If you two turn to Allah in repentance, your hearts have indeed inclined' [Tahrim 66:4]?"Umar said, "How astonishing of you, Ibn Abbas!"Zuhri commented, "By Allah, he disliked being asked about it, but he did not conceal it."Umar said, "They are Hafsa and Ayesha." Then he proceeded to relate the story.He said, "We Quraysh were a people who dominated our women. When we came to Medina, we found a people whose women dominated them, and our women began to learn from their women. My house was among Banu Umaya bin Zayd in Awali. One day I became angry with my wife, and there she was answering me back. I objected to her answering me back, but she said, 'Why do you object to my answering you back? By Allah, the wives of the Prophet ﷺ answer him back, and one of them stays away from him from morning until night.'So I went off and entered upon Hafsa and asked, 'Do you answer back the Messenger of Allah ﷺ?'She said, 'Yes.'I asked, 'Does one of you stay away from him from morning until night?'She said, 'Yes.'I said, 'Whoever among you does that has failed and lost. Does any of you feel safe that Allah may become angry with her because of the anger of His Messenger ﷺ, and so she would be ruined? Do not answer back the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, do not ask anything of him, and ask me for whatever you want. Do not be deceived by the fact that your neighbor is more beautiful and more beloved to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ than you,' meaning Ayesha.I had a neighbor from the Ansar, and we used to take turns going down to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. He would go down one day and I would go down another. He would bring me news of revelation and other matters, and I would bring him the same. We were talking about the Ghassan preparing their horses to invade us. My friend went down on his day, then came to me in the evening, knocked on my door, and called out to me. I went out to him, and he said, 'Something tremendous has happened.'I said, 'What is it? Have the Ghassan come?'He said, 'No, but it is greater and more momentous than that. The Prophet ﷺ has divorced his wives.'I said, 'Hafsa has failed and lost. I had been thinking this would happen.'When I had prayed the dawn prayer, I tightened my clothes around me, then went down and entered upon Hafsa, who was weeping. I said, 'Has the Messenger of Allah ﷺ divorced you all?'She said, 'I do not know. He is over there, secluded in this upper chamber.'So I went to a black servant of his and said, 'Ask permission for Umar.' He went in, then came out to me and said, 'I mentioned you to him, but he was silent.' So I went off until I came to the pulpit and sat down. There was a group sitting near it, some of them weeping. I sat for a little while, then what I was feeling overcame me, and I went back to the servant and said, 'Ask permission for Umar.' He went in, then came out to me and said, 'I mentioned you to him, but he was silent.' I turned back, and there was the servant calling me. He said, 'Go in, you have been granted permission.'I entered and greeted the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. He was reclining on a rough mat that had left marks on his side. I said, 'Have you divorced your wives, Messenger of Allah?'He raised his head toward me and said, 'No.'I said, 'Allahu Akbar! If you had only seen us, Messenger of Allah. We Quraysh were a people who dominated our women, and when we came to Medina, we found a people whose women dominated them, and our women began to learn from their women. One day I became angry with my wife, and there she was answering me back. I objected to her answering me back, but she said, "Why do you object to my answering you back? By Allah, the wives of the Prophet ﷺ answer him back, and one of them stays away from him from morning until night." I said, "Whoever among them does that has failed and lost. Does any of them feel safe that Allah may become angry with her because of the anger of His Messenger ﷺ, and so she would be ruined?"'The Messenger of Allah ﷺ smiled.I said, 'Messenger of Allah, I went in to Hafsa and said, "Do not be deceived by the fact that your neighbor is more beautiful than you and more beloved to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ than you."'He smiled again.I said, 'May I sit at ease, Messenger of Allah?'He said, 'Yes.' So I sat down. I lifted my head and looked around the room, and by Allah, I saw nothing in it worth noticing except three hides.I said, 'Pray to Allah, Messenger of Allah, that He may grant abundance to your community, for He has granted abundance to Persia and Rome, though they do not worship Allah.'He sat up straight and said, 'Are you in doubt, son of Khattab? Those are a people whose good things have been given to them in advance in the life of this world.'I said, 'Ask forgiveness for me, Messenger of Allah.'He had sworn not to enter upon them for a month because of the intensity of his anger toward them, until Allah reproached him for it.

و حدثنا إسحق بن إبراهيم الحنظلي ومحمد بن أبي عمر وتقاربا في لفظ الحديث قال ابن أبي عمر حدثنا و قال إسحق أخبرنا عبد الرزاق أخبرنا معمر عن الزهري عن عبيد الله بن عبد الله بن أبي ثور

عن ابن عباس قال

لم أزل حريصا أن أسأل عمر عن المرأتين من أزواج النبي ﷺ اللتين قال الله تعالى {إن تتوبا إلى الله فقد صغت قلوبكما} حتى حج عمر وحججت معه فلما كنا ببعض الطريق عدل عمر وعدلت معه بالإداوة فتبرز ثم أتاني فسكبت على يديه فتوضأ فقلت يا أمير المؤمنين من المرأتان من أزواج النبي ﷺ اللتان قال الله عز وجل لهما {إن تتوبا إلى الله فقد صغت قلوبكما} قال عمر واعجبا لك يا ابن عباس قال الزهري كره والله ما سأله عنه ولم يكتمه قال هي حفصة وعائشة ثم أخذ يسوق الحديث قال كنا معشر قريش قوما نغلب النساء فلما قدمنا المدينة وجدنا قوما تغلبهم نساؤهم فطفق نساؤنا يتعلمن من نسائهم قال وكان منزلي في بني أمية بن زيد بالعوالي فتغضبت يوما على امرأتي فإذا هي تراجعني فأنكرت أن تراجعني فقالت ما تنكر أن أراجعك فوالله إن أزواج النبي ﷺ ليراجعنه وتهجره إحداهن اليوم إلى الليل فانطلقت فدخلت على حفصة فقلت أتراجعين رسول الله ﷺ فقالت نعم فقلت أتهجره إحداكن اليوم إلى الليل قالت نعم قلت قد خاب من فعل ذلك منكن وخسر أفتأمن إحداكن أن يغضب الله عليها لغضب رسوله ﷺ فإذا هي قد هلكت لا تراجعي رسول الله ﷺ ولا تسأليه شيئا وسليني ما بدا لك ولا يغرنك أن كانت جارتك هي أوسم وأحب إلى رسول الله ﷺ منك يريد عائشة قال وكان لي جار من الأنصار فكنا نتناوب النزول إلى رسول الله ﷺ فينزل يوما وأنزل يوما فيأتيني بخبر الوحي وغيره وآتيه بمثل ذلك وكنا نتحدث أن غسان تنعل الخيل لتغزونا فنزل صاحبي ثم أتاني عشاء فضرب بابي ثم ناداني فخرجت إليه فقال حدث أمر عظيم قلت ماذا أجاءت غسان قال لا بل أعظم من ذلك وأطول طلق النبي ﷺ نساءه فقلت قد خابت حفصة وخسرت قد كنت أظن هذا كائنا حتى إذا صليت الصبح شددت علي ثيابي ثم نزلت فدخلت على حفصة وهي تبكي فقلت أطلقكن رسول الله ﷺ فقالت لا أدري ها هو ذا معتزل في هذه المشربة فأتيت غلاما له أسود فقلت استأذن لعمر فدخل ثم خرج إلي فقال قد ذكرتك له فصمت فانطلقت حتى انتهيت إلى المنبر فجلست فإذا عنده رهط جلوس يبكي بعضهم فجلست قليلا ثم غلبني ما أجد ثم أتيت الغلام فقلت استأذن لعمر فدخل ثم خرج إلي فقال قد ذكرتك له فصمت فوليت مدبرا فإذا الغلام يدعوني فقال ادخل فقد أذن لك فدخلت فسلمت على رسول الله ﷺ فإذا هو متكئ على رمل حصير قد أثر في جنبه فقلت أطلقت يا رسول الله نساءك فرفع رأسه إلي وقال لا فقلت الله أكبر لو رأيتنا يا رسول الله وكنا معشر قريش قوما نغلب النساء فلما قدمنا المدينة وجدنا قوما تغلبهم نساؤهم فطفق نساؤنا يتعلمن من نسائهم فتغضبت على امرأتي يوما فإذا هي تراجعني فأنكرت أن تراجعني فقالت ما تنكر أن أراجعك فوالله إن أزواج النبي ﷺ ليراجعنه وتهجره إحداهن اليوم إلى الليل فقلت قد خاب من فعل ذلك منهن وخسر أفتأمن إحداهن أن يغضب الله عليها لغضب رسوله ﷺ فإذا هي قد هلكت فتبسم رسول الله ﷺ فقلت يا رسول الله قد دخلت على حفصة فقلت لا يغرنك أن كانت جارتك هي أوسم منك وأحب إلى رسول الله ﷺ منك فتبسم أخرى فقلت أستأنس يا رسول الله قال نعم فجلست فرفعت رأسي في البيت فوالله ما رأيت فيه شيئا يرد البصر إلا أهبا ثلاثة فقلت ادع الله يا رسول الله أن يوسع على أمتك فقد وسع على فارس والروم وهم لا يعبدون الله فاستوى جالسا ثم قال أفي شك أنت يا ابن الخطاب أولئك قوم عجلت لهم طيباتهم في الحياة الدنيا فقلت استغفر لي يا رسول الله وكان أقسم أن لا يدخل عليهن شهرا من شدة موجدته عليهن حتى عاتبه الله عز وجل