Abdullah bin Abbas reported,

I had long been eager to ask Umar about the two women among the wives of the Prophet ﷺ concerning whom Allah said, "If you two repent to Allah, your hearts have indeed inclined" [Tahrim 66:4], until Umar performed the pilgrimage and I went with him. While I was pouring water from a vessel for him to perform 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 repent to Allah, your hearts have indeed inclined, but if you back each other against him, then Allah is his Protector' [Tahrim 66:4]?"He said to me, "How astonishing of you, Ibn Abbas!"Zuhri commented, "By Allah, he disliked the question but did not conceal the answer."Umar said, "They were Ayesha and Hafsa."Then he began to relate the story to me. He said, "We Quraysh used to dominate our women. 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 this, but she said, 'Why do you find that strange? By Allah, the wives of the Prophet ﷺ answer him back, and one of them may avoid him from morning until night.'I said to myself, 'Whoever among them does that has failed and lost.'My home was in the Awali district among Banu Umaya, and I had a neighbor from the Ansar. We used to take turns going down to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. He would go down one day and bring me news of revelation and other matters, and I would go down another day and bring him the same.We had been hearing that Ghassan was shoeing horses to invade us. One evening my neighbor came and knocked on the door. I went out to him and he said, 'Something tremendous has happened.'I said, 'Has Ghassan come?'He said, 'Greater than that. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ has divorced his wives.'I said to myself, 'Hafsa has failed and lost. I had been suspecting that this would happen.'When I prayed the dawn prayer, I tightened my garments and set out until I came in to Hafsa, who was weeping. I said, 'Has the Messenger of Allah ﷺ divorced you?'She said, 'I do not know. He has secluded himself in this upper chamber.'So I went and came to a black servant boy and said, 'Ask permission for Umar.' He went in, then came back out to me and said, 'I mentioned you to him but he said nothing.'I went off to the mosque and there were people around the pulpit weeping. I sat with them, but what I was feeling overcame me, so I returned to the boy and said, 'Ask permission for Umar.' He went in, then came back out and said, 'I mentioned you to him but he said nothing.'I went back to the mosque and sat down again, but what I was feeling overcame me, so I came back to the boy and said, 'Ask permission for Umar.' He went in, then came back out and said, 'I mentioned you to him but he said nothing.'I turned to leave, when the boy called me, saying, 'Come in, he has given you permission.' So I went in, and there was the Prophet ﷺ reclining on a mat of woven palm fiber whose marks I could see imprinted on his side.I said, 'Messenger of Allah, have you divorced your wives?'He said, 'No.'I said, 'Allahu Akbar! Messenger of Allah, you should have seen us. We Quraysh used to dominate our women, and when we came to Medina we found a people whose women dominated them, so 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 this, but she said, "Why do you object? By Allah, the wives of the Prophet ﷺ answer him back, and one of them may avoid him from morning until night."'I said to Hafsa, 'Do you answer back the Messenger of Allah ﷺ?'She said, 'Yes, and one of us may avoid him from morning until night.'I said, 'Whoever among you has done that has failed and lost. Does any one of you feel safe that Allah might be angry with her because of His Messenger's anger, and so she would be ruined?'The Prophet ﷺ smiled.I said to Hafsa, 'Do not answer back the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and do not ask him for anything. Ask me for whatever you need, and do not let it deceive you that your companion is more beautiful than you and more beloved to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.'He smiled again. I said, 'Messenger of Allah, may I converse freely with you?'He said, 'Yes.'I raised my head and saw nothing in the room except three pieces of leather. I said, 'Messenger of Allah, ask Allah to grant abundance to your community, for He has granted abundance to Persia and Rome though they do not worship Him.'He sat up and said, 'Are you in doubt, son of Khattab? Those are people whose good things have been hastened to them in this worldly life.'He had sworn that he would not enter upon his wives for a month, and Allah reproached him for that and prescribed for him the expiation for an oath."Zuhri said, Urwa informed me from Ayesha. She said, "When twenty-nine days had passed, the Prophet ﷺ entered upon me, beginning with me. He said, 'Ayesha, I am going to mention something to you, so do not hasten to reply until you consult your parents.' Then he recited this verse, 'Prophet, say to your wives...' [Ahzab 33:28], to the end of the verse."She said, "By Allah, he knew that my parents would not order me to part from him. So I said, 'Do I need to consult my parents about this? I choose Allah, His Messenger, and the abode of the Hereafter.'"Muamar said, Ayub informed me that Ayesha said to him, "Messenger of Allah, do not tell your wives that I chose you."The Prophet ﷺ said, "Allah sent me only to convey, He did not send me to be harsh."He said, this is a hasan sahih gharib hadith. It has been narrated through other chains from Ibn Abbas.

حدثنا عبد بن حميد أخبرنا عبد الرزاق عن معمر عن الزهري عن عبيد الله بن عبد الله بن أبي ثور قال سمعت

ابن عباس رضي الله عنهما يقول

لم أزل حريصا أن أسأل عمر عن المرأتين من أزواج النبي ﷺ اللتين قال الله عز وجل {إن تتوبا إلى الله فقد صغت قلوبكما} حتى حج عمر وحججت معه فصببت عليه من الإداوة فتوضأ فقلت يا أمير المؤمنين من المرأتان من أزواج النبي ﷺ اللتان قال الله {إن تتوبا إلى الله فقد صغت قلوبكما وإن تظاهرا عليه فإن الله هو مولاه} فقال لي واعجبا لك يا ابن عباس قال الزهري وكره والله ما سأله عنه ولم يكتمه فقال هي عائشة وحفصة قال ثم أنشأ يحدثني الحديث فقال كنا معشر قريش نغلب النساء فلما قدمنا المدينة وجدنا قوما تغلبهم نساؤهم فطفق نساؤنا يتعلمن من نسائهم فتغضبت على امرأتي يوما فإذا هي تراجعني فقالت ما تنكر من ذلك فوالله إن أزواج النبي ﷺ ليراجعنه وتهجره إحداهن اليوم إلى الليل قال فقلت في نفسي قد خابت من فعلت ذلك منهن وخسرت قال وكان منزلي بالعوالي في بني أمية وكان لي جار من الأنصار كنا نتناوب النزول إلى رسول الله ﷺ فينزل يوما فيأتيني بخبر الوحي وغيره وأنزل يوما فآتيه بمثل ذلك قال وكنا نحدث أن غسان تنعل الخيل لتغزونا قال فجاءني يوما عشاء فضرب على الباب فخرجت إليه فقال حدث أمر عظيم قلت أجاءت غسان قال أعظم من ذلك طلق رسول الله ﷺ نساءه قال فقلت في نفسي قد خابت حفصة وخسرت قد كنت أظن هذا كائنا قال فلما صليت الصبح شددت علي ثيابي ثم انطلقت حتى دخلت على حفصة فإذا هي تبكي فقلت أطلقكن رسول الله ﷺ قالت لا أدري هو ذا معتزل في هذه المشربة قال فانطلقت فأتيت غلاما أسود فقلت استأذن لعمر قال فدخل ثم خرج إلي قال قد ذكرتك له فلم يقل شيئا قال فانطلقت إلى المسجد فإذا حول المنبر نفر يبكون فجلست إليهم ثم غلبني ما أجد فأتيت الغلام فقلت استأذن لعمر فدخل ثم خرج إلي فقال قد ذكرتك له فلم يقل شيئا قال فانطلقت إلى المسجد أيضا فجلست ثم غلبني ما أجد فأتيت الغلام فقلت استأذن لعمر فدخل ثم خرج إلي فقال قد ذكرتك له فلم يقل شيئا قال فوليت منطلقا فإذا الغلام يدعوني فقال ادخل فقد أذن لك فدخلت فإذا النبي ﷺ متكئ على رمل حصير قد رأيت أثره في جنبيه فقلت يا رسول الله أطلقت نساءك قال لا قلت الله أكبر لقد رأيتنا يا رسول الله وكنا معشر قريش نغلب النساء فلما قدمنا المدينة وجدنا قوما تغلبهم نساؤهم فطفق نساؤنا يتعلمن من نسائهم فتغضبت يوما على امرأتي فإذا هي تراجعني فأنكرت ذلك فقالت ما تنكر فوالله إن أزواج النبي ﷺ ليراجعنه وتهجره إحداهن اليوم إلى الليل قال فقلت لحفصة أتراجعين رسول الله ﷺ قالت نعم وتهجره إحدانا اليوم إلى الليل فقلت قد خابت من فعلت ذلك منكن وخسرت أتأمن إحداكن أن يغضب الله عليها لغضب رسوله فإذا هي قد هلكت فتبسم النبي ﷺ قال فقلت لحفصة لا تراجعي رسول الله ﷺ ولا تسأليه شيئا وسليني ما بدا لك ولا يغرنك إن كانت صاحبتك أوسم منك وأحب إلى رسول الله ﷺ قال فتبسم أخرى فقلت يا رسول الله أستأنس قال نعم قال فرفعت رأسي فما رأيت في البيت إلا أهبة ثلاثة قال فقلت يا رسول الله ادع الله أن يوسع على أمتك فقد وسع على فارس والروم وهم لا يعبدونه فاستوى جالسا فقال أفي شك أنت يا ابن الخطاب أولئك قوم عجلت لهم طيباتهم في الحياة الدنيا قال وكان أقسم أن لا يدخل على نسائه شهرا فعاتبه الله في ذلك وجعل له كفارة اليمين قال الزهري فأخبرني عروة عن عائشة قالت فلما مضت تسع وعشرون دخل علي النبي ﷺ بدأ بي قال يا عائشة إني ذاكر لك شيئا فلا تعجلي حتى تستأمري أبويك قالت ثم قرأ هذه الآية {يا أيها النبي قل لأزواجك} الآية قالت علم والله أن أبوي لم يكونا يأمراني بفراقه فقلت أفي هذا أستأمر أبوي فإني أريد الله ورسوله والدار الآخرة قال معمر فأخبرني أيوب أن عائشة قالت له يا رسول الله لا تخبر أزواجك أني اخترتك فقال النبي ﷺ إنما بعثني الله مبلغا ولم يبعثني متعنتا قال هذا حديث حسن صحيح غريب قد روي من غير وجه عن ابن عباس