Tafseer of The Prohibition · At-Tahrim · 66:3
And [remember] when the Prophet confided to one of his wives a statement; and when she informed [another] of it and Allah showed it to him, he made known part of it and ignored a part. And when he informed her about it, she said, "Who told you this?" He said, "I was informed by the Knowing, the Acquainted."
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
He, exalted be His mention, says: وَإِذْ أَسَرَّ النَّبِيُّ ("and when the Prophet confided in secret") — Muḥammad ﷺ — إِلَى بَعْضِ أَزْوَاجِهِ ("to one of his wives"), and she, according to the statement of Ibn ʿAbbās, Qatāda, Zayd ibn Aslam and his son ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Zayd, al-Shaʿbī and al-Ḍaḥḥāk ibn Muzāḥim, is: Ḥafṣa. And we have already mentioned the report concerning that earlier.
And His word: حَدِيثًا ("a saying"). And the saying that he confided to her in secret is, according to the statement of these: his word, to that one of his wives to whom he confided it in secret, about his forbidding of his slave-girl (fatāt), or about what he had forbidden to himself of what Allah, exalted be His praise, had made permissible to him, and his oath concerning that, and his word: "Mention it to no one."
And His word: فَلَمَّا نَبَّأَتْ بِهِ ("and when she informed of it"). He, exalted be His mention, says: and when she communicated to her companion the saying that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had confided to her in secret. وَأَظْهَرَهُ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ ("and Allah made him aware of it"). He says: and Allah made His prophet Muḥammad ﷺ aware that she had communicated that to her companion.
And His word: عَرَّفَ بَعْضَهُ وَأَعْرَضَ عَنْ بَعْضٍ ("he made known a part of it and turned away from a [another] part"). The reciters differed over the reading of it. Most of the reciters of the cities, except al-Kisāʾī, read it ( عَرَّفَ ) with doubling (tashdīd) of the rāʾ, with the meaning: the Prophet ﷺ made known to Ḥafṣa a part of that saying and brought it to her knowledge. And al-Kisāʾī used to relate, on the authority of al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī, Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Sulamī and Qatāda, that they read it ( عَرَفَ ) with lightening (takhfīf) of the rāʾ, with the meaning: he made known to Ḥafṣa a part of that deed which she had committed, namely her spreading of his secret after he had asked her to keep it — that is to say: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was angry with her over that and requited her for it; derived from the saying of one to whom another has done wrong: "I shall surely make it known to you, O so-and-so, what you have done," with the meaning: "I shall surely requite you for it." They said: and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ requited her for that deed of hers by divorcing her (ṭalāq).
And the more preferable of the two readings therein, in my view, is the reading of him who read it ( عَرَّفَ بَعْضَهُ ) ("he made known a part of it") with doubling of the rāʾ, with the meaning: the Prophet ﷺ made known to Ḥafṣa, namely that of which Allah had made him aware regarding her communication to her companion — because of the agreement of the proof of the reciters concerning it.
And His word: وَأَعْرَضَ عَنْ بَعْضٍ ("and turned away from a [another] part"). He says: and he refrained from informing her about a part.
And in accordance with what we have said concerning that, the people of interpretation (taʾwīl) have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, concerning His word وَإِذْ أَسَرَّ النَّبِيُّ إِلَى بَعْضِ أَزْوَاجِهِ حَدِيثًا ("and when the Prophet confided a saying in secret to one of his wives"): his word to her: "Do not mention it." فَلَمَّا نَبَّأَتْ بِهِ وَأَظْهَرَهُ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ عَرَّفَ بَعْضَهُ وَأَعْرَضَ عَنْ بَعْضٍ ("and when she informed of it and Allah made him aware of it, he made known a part of it and turned away from a [another] part"), and he was magnanimous ﷺ.
And His word: فَلَمَّا نَبَّأَهَا بِهِ ("and when he informed her of it"). He says: and when the prophet of Allah ﷺ informed Ḥafṣa of that of which Allah had made him aware, namely her spreading of the secret of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ to ʿĀʾisha. قَالَتْ مَنْ أَنْبَأَكَ هَذَا ("she said: who informed you of this?"). He says: Ḥafṣa said to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ: who communicated this to you and told it to you? قَالَ نَبَّأَنِيَ الْعَلِيمُ الْخَبِيرُ ("he said: the All-Knowing, the All-Aware informed me of it"). He, exalted be His mention, says: Muḥammad, the prophet of Allah, said to Ḥafṣa: He informed me of it, the All-Knowing concerning the secrets of His servants and the hidden things of their hearts, the All-Aware concerning their affairs, from Whom nothing remains hidden.
And in accordance with what we have said concerning that, the people of interpretation (taʾwīl) have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, concerning His word فَلَمَّا نَبَّأَهَا بِهِ قَالَتْ مَنْ أَنْبَأَكَ هَذَا ("and when he informed her of it, she said: who informed you of this?") — and she did not doubt that her companion had informed about her — قَالَ نَبَّأَنِيَ الْعَلِيمُ الْخَبِيرُ ("he said: the All-Knowing, the All-Aware informed me of it").
