And when He, glorified and exalted is He, informed of their punishment, there were among the believers those who heard it and remained silent. Among them were those who heard it and spoke of it, astonished by the one who said it, or questioning its matter. And there were those who denied it. He, glorified and exalted is He, followed it with a reprimand of them, in the style of His address to them, praising those who denied it. He said, beginning and urging: "If only" meaning why not, "when you heard it" O you who claim to have faith. And when this slander had been conspired against by men and women, He said: "The believers" meaning among you, "and the believing women". The original was: You thought, but He turned to the third person as a warning for reprimand, and explicitly mentioned the women, and alerted to the description necessitating good suspicion, warning those who thought ill of the evil end: "about themselves" truly, "good" while they are less than the one who was lied about. They declared her innocence because a person does not think of people except what is attributed to them or to their brothers, for the believers are like one body. Or they thought what is thought of a man when he is alone with his mother, and of a woman when she is alone with her son. For the wives of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, are the mothers of the believers. "And they said: This is a great lie" meaning a tremendous falsehood, a back that is turned on its face, "clear" meaning evident in itself, clarifying for others. And its clarification and appearance is that the doubter almost says: 'Take me,' for he strives in his concealment with all his effort. And the coming of Safwan with Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, riding on his camel entering the army at the height of noon while all the people are watching, and the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, among them receiving revelation, is a clear indication of his good deed, oblivious to what the people of doubt think of him. It is the clearest evidence of her innocence and the falsehood of the slanderers. And if there had been the slightest doubt, each of them would have come alone in a manner of concealment and fear, recognizable by his betrayal. For matters are tasted, and a person does not think of people except what is in himself. And indeed, Abu Ayyub al-Ansari and his wife, may Allah be pleased with them, acted according to what this verse indicated. Ibn Ishaq said: My father, Ishaq ibn Yasaar, informed me from some men of Banu Najjar that Abu Ayyub, Khalid ibn Zayd, may Allah be pleased with him, said to his wife, Umm Ayyub: 'O Abu Ayyub, do you not hear what the people are saying about Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her?' He said: 'Yes, and that is a lie. Were you, O Umm Ayyub, to do it?' She said: 'No, by Allah, I would not do it.' He said: 'Then Aisha, by Allah, is better than you.' And al-Baghawi narrated that he said: 'Glorified are You, this is a great slander.' Then the verse was revealed in accordance with his words, may Allah be pleased with him.