Musnad Ahmad 2:141

'Abd al-Razzaq narrated to us, Ma'mar informed us, from al-Zuhri, from 'Ubayd Allah ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Abi Thawr, from Ibn 'Abbas, who said: I remained eager to ask 'Umar ibn al-Khattab about the two women from the wives of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, whom Allah the Exalted mentioned: {If you two repent to Allah, then your hearts have inclined} [At-Tahrim: 4], until 'Umar went for Hajj and I went for Hajj with him. When we were on part of the road, 'Umar turned aside, and I turned aside with him with a water skin. He relieved himself, then came to me, and I poured water over his hands, and he performed ablution. I said: "O Commander of the Faithful, who are the two women from the wives of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, whom Allah the Exalted mentioned: {If you two repent to Allah, then your hearts have inclined}?" 'Umar said: "How strange of you, O Ibn 'Abbas!"—al-Zuhri said: By Allah, he disliked what he asked him about, but he did not conceal it from him—he said: "They are Hafsa and 'Aisha." He said: Then he began to relate the hadith. He said: "We, the people of Quraysh, were a people who dominated our women. When we arrived in Medina, we found a people whose women dominated them, and our women began to learn from their women." He said: "My dwelling was among the Banu Umayya ibn Zayd in the high lands (al-'Awali). One day I became angry with my wife, and she began to talk back to me. I disapproved of her talking back to me, so she said: 'Why do you disapprove of me talking back to you? By Allah, the wives of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, talk back to him, and one of them might shun him from the day until the night.' So I went and entered upon Hafsa and said: 'Do you talk back to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace?' She said: 'Yes.' I said: 'And does one of you shun him from the day until the night?' She said: 'Yes.' I said: 'Whoever among you does that has failed and lost. Does one of you feel secure that Allah will be angry with her because of the anger of His Messenger, and thus she will be destroyed? Do not talk back to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and do not ask him for anything. Ask me for whatever you wish, and do not let it deceive you that your neighbor is more beautiful and more beloved to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, than you'—meaning 'Aisha." He said: "I had an Ansari neighbor, and we used to take turns going down to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. He would go down one day, and I would go down the next. He would bring me news of the revelation and other things, and I would bring him the same. We were talking about how the Ghassan were shoeing their horses to invade us. My companion went down one day, then came to me at night and knocked on my door, then called me, and I went out to him. He said: 'A great matter has occurred.' I said: 'What is it? Has the Ghassan come?' He said: 'No, but something greater and more serious: the Messenger has divorced his wives.' I said: 'Hafsa has failed and lost; I had thought this would happen.'" "When I prayed the morning prayer, I tightened my clothes, then went down and entered upon Hafsa, and she was weeping. I said: 'Has the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, divorced you?' She said: 'I do not know; he is secluded in this upper room.' I came to a black servant of his and said: 'Seek permission for 'Umar.' The servant entered, then came out to me and said: 'I mentioned you to him, and he remained silent.' I went until I reached the pulpit, and there were a group of people sitting there, some of them weeping. I sat for a while, then what I was feeling overcame me, so I came to the servant and said: 'Seek permission for 'Umar.' He entered, then came out to me and said: 'I mentioned you to him, and he remained silent.' I went out and sat by the pulpit, then what I was feeling overcame me, so I came to the servant and said: 'Seek permission for 'Umar.' He entered, then came out to me and said: 'I mentioned you to him, and he remained silent.' I turned to leave, when the servant called me and said: 'Enter, for he has given you permission.'" "I entered and greeted the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and he was reclining on a mat of reeds—Ya'qub narrated it to us in the hadith of Salih, saying: 'a mat of reeds'—which had left marks on his side. I said: 'Have you divorced your wives, O Messenger of Allah?' He raised his head to me and said: 'No.' I said: 'Allahu Akbar! If you could see us, O Messenger of Allah—we, the people of Quraysh, were a people who dominated our women. When we arrived in Medina, we found a people whose women dominated them, and our women began to learn from their women. I became angry with my wife one day, and she began to talk back to me. I disapproved of her talking back to me, so she said: 'Why do you disapprove of me talking back to you? By Allah, the wives of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, talk back to him, and one of them might shun him from the day until the night.' I said: 'Whoever among them does that has failed and lost. Does one of them feel secure that Allah will be angry with her because of the anger of His Messenger, and thus she will be destroyed?' The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, smiled. I said: 'O Messenger of Allah, I entered upon Hafsa and said: Do not let it deceive you that your neighbor is more beautiful and more beloved to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, than you.' He smiled again. I said: 'May I sit, O Messenger of Allah?' He said: 'Yes.' I sat and raised my head in the house, and by Allah, I did not see anything in it that would catch the eye except three hides. I said: 'Supplicate to Allah, O Messenger of Allah, to make things abundant for your Ummah, for He has made things abundant for the Persians and the Romans, and they do not worship Allah.' He sat up straight, then said: 'Are you in doubt, O son of al-Khattab? Those are a people whose good things were hastened for them in the life of this world.' I said: 'Ask forgiveness for me, O Messenger of Allah.'" He had sworn not to enter upon them for a month due to the intensity of his anger toward them, until Allah the Exalted admonished him.