Truly those who initiated the slander the worst calumny against ‘Ā’isha — mother of the believers may God be pleased with her — accusing her of fornication are a band from among yourselves a group from among the believers. She said that these were Hassān b. Thābit ‘Abd Allāh b. Ubayy Mistah b. Uthātha and Hamna bt. Jahsh. Do not suppose O you believers other than the mentioned band that it is bad for you; rather it is good for you for God will reward you for it and reveal ‘Ā’isha’s innocence and the innocence of the one who is supposed to have committed it with her namely Safwān b. al-Mu‘attal. She ‘Ā’isha related ‘I accompanied the Prophet s during a raid and this was after the requirement to wear the veil had been revealed. When he was through with it the raid he headed back to the campsite and one night having drawn close to Medina he announced that all should march off home. So I walked a distance away from the campsite and relieved myself. But when I came back to the campsite I realised that my necklace ‘iqd meaning qilāda had snapped. So I went back to look for it. In the meantime they had strapped my litter’ — in which one rides — ‘thinking that I was inside for in those days women were slight and ate very small portions ‘ulqa. Finally I found my necklace but when I went back to where I had been staying overnight they had already departed. I sat in the place where I had camped; I assumed that the group would notice my absence and come back for me. But my eyes were overcome by drowsiness and I fell asleep. Safwān had pitched camp behind the army to rest for some of the night ‘arrasa then set off while it was still night until he reached the site of the camp. He saw what looked like a person sleeping and recognised me when he eventually saw me having seen me on numerous occasions before the requirement of the veil. I woke up to the sound of him saying ‘To God we belong and to Him we shall surely return’ innā li’Llāhi wa-innā ilayhi rāji‘ūn for he had recognised me. So I concealed my face with my gown jilbāb — in other words I covered it up with my wrap mulā’a.
