Salūl.

When we reached Madinah I fell ill and remained bedridden for a month, while the people were pouring forth the talk of the slander. I, however, heard nothing of it. What puzzled me during my sickness was that I could no longer sense from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ the kindness I used to experience when I was unwell. He would simply enter, greet me, and say, “How is that one?” and then depart. That was what aroused my suspicion, though I still had no notion of any evil.

After I had begun to recover, I went out one night with Umm Mistah to al-Manāsiʿ, the place where we relieved ourselves. We never went out except after nightfall; this was before we had latrines near our homes, for we followed the practice of the early Arabs in relieving ourselves outside the settlement, and we found it distasteful to build privies close to our dwellings.

I set off with Umm Mistah—she was the daughter of Abu Ruhm ibn ʿAbd Manāf, her mother the daughter of Sakhr ibn ʿĀmir, the maternal aunt of Abu Bakr al-Ṣiddīq; her son was Mistah ibn Uthāthah ibn al-Muṭṭalib. When we had finished our business and were heading back toward my house, Umm Mistah stumbled over her cloak and exclaimed, “May Mistah be ruined!” I said, “What a terrible thing to say! Do you insult a man who fought at Badr?” She replied, “O unsuspecting girl, have you not heard what he has been saying?” I asked, “What is it?” and she told me the words of the slanderers.

My illness grew worse upon worse. When I returned home, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ entered, greeted me, and again said, “How is that one?” I asked, “Will you permit me to visit my parents?”—for I wanted to verify the report from them. He gave me leave, and I went to my parents’ house. I said to my mother, “Mother, what are the people talking about?” She said, “My daughter, take it easy. By Allah, whenever an attractive woman is cherished by a husband who has co-wives, they are bound to multiply talk against her.” I cried, “Glory be to Allah! Have the people really been saying this?” And I wept the whole night, my tears never drying and my eyes finding no sleep; when morning came I was still weeping.

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then summoned ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib and Usāmah ibn Zayd, for revelation had been delayed, to consult them about separating from his wife. Usāmah advised the Messenger of Allah