was having supper, with a bone containing meat in his hand. She came in and said, “O Messenger of Allah, I went out to attend to one of my needs, and ‘Umar said such-and-such to me.” She said: Allah then revealed to him, and when the state of revelation was lifted from him, he had still not put down the bone in his hand. He then spoke, and the report was mentioned.

The wording is al-Bukhari’s. The other version is al-Bayhaqi’s, though it is also narrated by al-Bukhari.

This is the narration of Hisham ibn ‘Urwah—may Allah have mercy on him. Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri—may Allah have mercy on him—differed from him regarding his statement, “after the veil had been prescribed.” Al-Zuhri said, from ‘Urwah, from Aishah:

The wives of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, would go out at night when they needed to relieve themselves, to al-Manasi‘, a wide open tract. ‘Umar would say to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, “Veil your wives!” But the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, did not do so. One night, Sawdah bint Zam‘ah, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, went out after nightfall. She was a tall woman. ‘Umar called out to her, “We have recognized you, O Sawdah!” eager for the verse of veiling to be revealed. So Allah revealed the verse of veiling: “O you who believe, do not enter the houses of the Prophet …” [al-Ahzab 33:53].

It was recorded by al-Bukhari (146), Muslim as well, al-Tahawi in Explanation of Meanings (2/392), Ibn Jarir (28/29), al-Bayhaqi as well, and Ahmad (6/223). The additional wording is Ibn Jarir’s, and its chain is sound. Al-Hafiz (1/249) attributed it to Abu ‘Awanah in his Authentic Collection.

It also has a corroborating report from Anas, in the well-known account of the Prophet’s marriage to Zaynab found in the two Sahih collections and elsewhere. It will come shortly here, Allah willing.

The reader can plainly see the discrepancy between the two narrations: Hisham’s narration indicates that the incident took place after the verse of veiling was revealed, whereas al-Zuhri’s narration indicates that it was revealed before it. Al-Hafiz Ibn Kathir said in his Exegesis (3/505):

“The first is the well-known view.”