ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn and al-Suddi said: Allah had already informed the Prophet that she would one day be among his wives; that, then, was the matter he kept within himself.

Many early scholars have transmitted unusual reports about this episode—some of questionable reliability—which we have intentionally set aside.

Allah, Exalted is He, says: “So when Zayd had fulfilled his need of her, We gave her to you in marriage” (al-Aḥzāb 33:37). Zayd had divorced her; once her waiting period had ended, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent to propose to her on his own behalf, and he married her. It was the Lord of all worlds who joined them in wedlock.

As authentically recorded in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī from Anas ibn Mālik, Zaynab bint Jaḥsh used to boast to the other wives of the Prophet ﷺ, saying, “Your families married you off, whereas Allah married me from above the seven heavens.” In another narration, through ʿĪsā ibn Ṭahmān from Anas, she said: “Allah married me from the heavens.”

It was in connection with her that the verse of the veil was revealed: “O you who believe, do not enter the Prophet’s houses unless permission is granted to you for a meal, and do not wait for it to be prepared…” (al-Aḥzāb 33:53).

Al-Bayhaqī relates—on the authority of Ḥammād ibn Zayd, from Thābit, from Anas—that Zayd came complaining about Zaynab, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ kept telling him, “Fear Allah and keep your wife.” Anas added, “Had the Messenger of Allah ﷺ wished to conceal anything, he would have concealed this.” Zaynab would then boast to the wives of the Prophet ﷺ, saying, “Your families gave you in marriage, whereas Allah married me from above the seven heavens.” Al-Bayhaqī notes that al-Bukhārī also recorded the report.

Al-Bayhaqī further narrates, through ʿAffān, from Ḥammād ibn Zayd, from Thābit, from Anas, that when Zayd complained to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ about Zaynab bint Jaḥsh, the Prophet ﷺ said, “Keep your wife.” At that moment the revelation came: “You were concealing within yourself what Allah was going to disclose” (al-Aḥzāb 33:37). Al-Bayhaqī adds that al-Bukhārī recorded the account in abridged form.

Ibn Jarīr reports, through al-Shaʿbī, that Zaynab used to say to the Prophet ﷺ, “I can lay claim to three merits none of your other wives possess: my grandfather and yours are the same—ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib, father of your father and of my mother Ummaymah bint ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib; Allah—glorified and exalted be He—married me to you from heaven; and the emissary was Gabriel, peace be upon him.”