The verse, “And [remember] when you said to the one upon whom Allah had bestowed favour and you had bestowed favour, ‘Keep your wife to yourself and fear Allah,’ while you concealed within yourself what Allah was about to reveal” (Q 33:37), refers to the episode in which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ married Zaynab. When he did so people remarked, “He has married the wife of his son.” In response Allah revealed: “Muhammad is not the father of any of your men; rather, he is the Messenger of Allah and the seal of the prophets” (Q 33:40). What the Prophet ﷺ had been concealing was Allah’s disclosure to him that she would one day be his wife. He kept this to himself out of concern that people would say he had married his son’s wife. Allah intended to nullify the pre-Islamic rules attached to adoption by means of the most decisive act possible—the Prophet’s marriage to the woman who had been regarded as the wife of the man called his son—so that the ruling would be more readily accepted. (1) Reported by al-Tirmidhi (3817, “Chapters on the Merits”) through the chain: Muhammad b. Umar b. al-Rumi → Ali b. Mushir → Ismail b. Abi Khalid → Abu Amr al-Shaybani → Jabala b. Haritha. Al-Tirmidhi graded it Hasan. Muhammad b. Umar b. al-Rumi is considered weak. Al-Hakim also narrated it (3/214) through Ali b. Mushir, declared it authentic, and al-Dhahabi concurred. Ibn Hajar cited it in al-Isaba under the entry of Jabala and added a reference to Abu Ya‘la. (2) Reported by al-Bukhari (4272, “Book of Expeditions,” chapter on the Prophet’s dispatch of Usama b. Zayd to the Huraqat of Juhayna) from Abu ‘Asim al-Dahhak b. Makhlad → Yazid b. Abi ‘Ubayda → Salama b. al-Aqwa‘ with the wording: “I campaigned with the Prophet ﷺ in nine expeditions, and I campaigned with the son of Haritha, whom he appointed over us.” Ibn Hajar notes in his commentary (4250) that the report leaves Zayd unnamed. Abu Muslim al-Kajji transmitted it from Abu ‘Amir with: “I campaigned with Zayd b. Haritha in seven expeditions in which he was placed over us,” and al-Tabarani related the same version from Abu Muslim. Abu Nu‘aym, in the Mustakhraj, recorded it via Abu Shu‘ayb al-Harrani from Abu ‘Asim, and al-Isma‘ili collected it through several chains from Abu ‘Asim. Ibn Sa‘d (3/1/31) narrated, through Abu ‘Asim al-Nabil → Yazid b. Abi ‘Ubayda → Salama b. al-Aqwa‘, the wording: “I campaigned with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in seven expeditions, and with Zayd b. Haritha in nine, during which the Messenger of Allah placed him in command over us.” The isnad is sound. Al-Hakim (3/218) authenticated it, and al-Dhahabi agreed.