Musnad Ahmad 1153:308

Abu Usama narrated to us, Hisham narrated to us, from his father, from Aisha, who said: When what was mentioned regarding my affair was mentioned, and I did not know of it, the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) stood up as a preacher, and I did not know of it. He recited the Tashahhud, praised Allah the Almighty and extolled Him as He deserves, then said: "Now then, advise me regarding people who have slandered my family. By Allah, I have never known anything but good about my family, and they have slandered them with a man. By Allah, I have never known any evil about him, and he never entered my house except while I was present, nor was I absent on a journey except that he was absent with me." Sa'd ibn Mu'adh stood up and said: "We see, O Messenger of Allah, that you should strike their necks." A man from the Khazraj stood up—and the mother of Hassan ibn Thabit was from the kin of that man—and said: "You have lied. By Allah, if they were from the Aws, you would not have liked for their necks to be struck." It almost led to evil between the Aws and the Khazraj in the mosque, and I did not know of it. When it was the evening of that day, I went out for some need of mine, and Umm Mistah was with me. She stumbled, so she said: "May Mistah be ruined." I said: "Why are you cursing your son?" She remained silent. Then she stumbled a second time and said: "May Mistah be ruined." I said: "Why are you cursing your son?" Then she stumbled a third time and said: "May Mistah be ruined." I rebuked her and said: "Why are you cursing your son?" She said: "By Allah, I am not cursing him except because of you." I said: "Because of my affair?" She then mentioned the talk to me. I said: "Has this really happened?" She said: "Yes, by Allah." I returned to my house, as if what I had gone out for, I had not gone out for; I could not find any relief, little or much. I became ill, and I said to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ): "Send me to my father's house." He sent the servant with me. I entered the house and found Umm Ruman. She said: "What brought you, my daughter?" I informed her, and she said: "Calm yourself regarding the matter, for by Allah, rarely is there a beautiful woman who is with a man who loves her and she has co-wives, except that they envy her and say things about her." I said: "And has my father known of it?" She said: "Yes." I said: "And the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)?" She said: "And the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)." I wept bitterly. Abu Bakr heard my voice while he was above the house reciting, so he came down and said to my mother: "What is the matter with her?" She said: "What was mentioned regarding her affair has reached her." His eyes overflowed with tears, and he said: "I adjure you, my daughter, to return to your house." So I returned. My parents remained with me, and they did not cease to be with me until the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) entered upon me after the afternoon, while my parents were flanking me on my right and on my left. The Prophet (ﷺ) recited the Tashahhud, praised Allah and extolled Him as He deserves, then said: "Now then, O Aisha, if you have committed evil or wronged, repent to Allah the Almighty, for Allah the Almighty accepts repentance from His servants." A woman from the Ansar had come and was sitting at the door. I said: "Are you not ashamed of this woman to say something?" I said to my father: "Answer him." He said: "What should I say?" I said to my mother: "Answer him." She said: "What should I say?" When they did not answer him, I recited the Tashahhud, praised Allah the Almighty, and extolled Him as He deserves. Then I said: "Now then, by Allah, if I were to tell you that I did not do it—and Allah the Majestic and Exalted bears witness that I am truthful—that would not benefit me with you; you have spoken of it, and your hearts have absorbed it. And if I were to tell you that I did do it—and Allah the Almighty knows that I did not do it—you would say: 'She has confessed to it against herself.' By Allah, I find no example for me and you except the father of Yusuf, and I do not remember his name: 'Patience is beautiful, and Allah is the one sought for help against that which you describe.'" At that moment, the revelation descended upon the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), then it was lifted from him. I could see the joy on his face as he wiped his forehead, saying: "Rejoice, O Aisha, for Allah the Almighty has sent down your innocence." I was at my angriest, so my parents said to me: "Stand up to him." I said: "By Allah, I will not stand up to him, nor will I praise him, nor will I praise you both. You heard it and did not deny it, nor did you change it. Rather, I praise Allah who sent down my innocence." The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) came to my house and asked the slave girl about me. She said: "No, by Allah, I do not know any fault in her, except that she would sleep until the sheep would enter and eat her leavened dough or her dough"—Hisham was uncertain. Some of his companions rebuked her and said: "Be truthful to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)," until they pressed her for it. Urwa said: That was considered a fault for the one who said it. She said: "No, by Allah, I do not know anything about her except what the goldsmith knows about the dust of red gold." That news reached the man who was spoken of, and he said: "Glory be to Allah! By Allah, I have never uncovered the garment of a female," and he was killed as a martyr in the way of Allah. Aisha said: As for Zaynab bint Jahsh, Allah the Almighty protected her through her religion, so she said nothing but good. As for her sister Hamna, she perished among those who perished. Those who spoke about it were: the hypocrite Abdullah ibn Ubayy—he was gathering it and collecting it, and he was the one who took the lead in it among them—and Mistah, and Hassan ibn Thabit. Abu Bakr swore that he would never benefit Mistah with any benefit ever. Then Allah the Almighty sent down: "And let not those of virtue among you and wealth swear not to give [aid] to their relatives and the needy" [An-Nur: 22]—meaning Abu Bakr—"and the emigrants in the cause of Allah, and let them pardon and overlook. Would you not like that Allah should forgive you? And Allah is Forgiving and Merciful" [An-Nur: 22]. Abu Bakr said: "Yes, by Allah, we do love that You should forgive us." And Abu Bakr returned to Mistah what he used to do for him.