—sat down. He had not sat with me since the day the allegation was first voiced, and for a whole month no revelation had come to him concerning my case.

She said: He pronounced the testimony of faith, then said, “To proceed: O ʿĀʾishah, such-and-such has reached me about you. If you are innocent, Allah will surely clear you; but if you have slipped into a sin, seek Allah’s forgiveness and repent to Him, for when a servant acknowledges his sin and then repents, Allah turns to him.”

When he finished speaking, my tears subsided until not a single drop remained.

I said to my father, “Respond to the Messenger of Allah about what he has said.”

He replied, “By Allah, I do not know what I should say to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.”

So I said to my mother, “Answer the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.”

She said, “I do not know what I should say to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.”

I then said (1)—and I was at that time a young girl who had not memorized much of the Quran—“By Allah, you have heard this story until it has settled in your hearts and you have believed it. If I tell you I am innocent—and Allah knows I am innocent—you will not believe me; and if I confess to something—and Allah knows I am innocent—you will believe me. By Allah, I can find no example for myself and you except the words of the father of Joseph: ‘So patience is most fitting, and Allah is the One sought for help against what you describe.’” (Q 12:18)

Then I turned away and lay down on my couch, certain of my innocence and that Allah—Exalted is He—would vindicate me (3). Yet, by Allah, I never thought that Allah would send down revelation about me that would be recited; in my own eyes my affair was too insignificant for Allah to speak about me in verses that would be recited. I only hoped that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ might see a dream through which Allah would declare my innocence.

She said: By Allah, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had not yet risen (4), nor had anyone from the household gone out