It had now been a full month since the talk about me had begun, and during that entire time no revelation had come to him concerning my case. She said: When he had sat down he recited the testimony of faith and then said, “To proceed, O ʿĀʾisha, such-and-such has reached me about you. If you are innocent, Allah will surely exonerate you; but if you have slipped into sin, seek Allah’s forgiveness and repent to Him—for when a servant admits his sin and then repents, Allah turns to him in mercy.”

When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ finished his words, my tears dried up until I could not feel a single drop. I said to my father, “Answer the Messenger of Allah regarding what he has said.” He replied, “By Allah, I do not know what I should say to him.” I turned to my mother and said, “Reply to the Messenger of Allah.” She answered, “I do not know what I should say to him.”

I was then a young girl who knew little of the Quran, and I said, “By Allah, I know that you have listened to 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. But if I were to confess to something—and Allah knows I am innocent—you would believe me. I can find no example for you except the words of Jacob, the father of Joseph: ‘So patience is beautiful, and Allah is the One whose help is sought against what you describe’ (Yusuf 18).”

Then I turned over and lay on my bed. I knew I was innocent and that Allah would clear me, but, by Allah, I never imagined that He would reveal Qur’anic verses about my case to be recited; my affair seemed too insignificant for Allah to speak of me in revelation that would be recited. I only hoped that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ might see a dream in which Allah would declare my innocence.

By Allah, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had not risen from his place, nor had anyone from the household left, before revelation descended upon him. There overtook him what would overtake him during revelation, so that beads of sweat like pearls trickled from him, although it was a cold day, because of the weight of the words being sent down. When the state passed and he was smiling, the first words he spoke were: “O ʿĀʾisha, by Allah, Allah has declared you innocent.”

My mother said, “Get up to him.” I replied, “By Allah, I will not rise to him; I will praise none but Allah.”

Allah the Exalted then revealed: “Indeed, those who came with the slander are a faction among you” (al-Nur 11)—all ten verses in full. When Allah revealed this concerning my innocence, Abu Bakr—who used to provide for Mistah—