ʿUrwah reported from ʿĀʾishah that she used to pray against anyone who alleged that Abū Bakr had recited those lines of poetry. She said, “By Allah, Abū Bakr never composed poetry—neither in the pre-Islamic era nor after accepting Islam—and both he and ʿUthmān had already abandoned wine before Islam.”

Kathīr al-Nawwāʾ related from Abū Jaʿfar al-Bāqir that the following verse was revealed concerning Abū Bakr, ʿUmar, and ʿAlī: “We shall remove whatever rancour lies in their hearts, so they will be brothers…” (15:47).

Ḥuṣayn narrated from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Laylā that ʿUmar once mounted the pulpit and declared, “Behold, the best person in this community after its Prophet is Abū Bakr. Whoever, after my statement today, claims otherwise is a slanderer upon whom falls the burden borne by all who fabricate lies.”

Abū Muʿāwiyah and others transmitted: Sahl ibn Abī Ṣāliḥ told us, from his father, from Ibn ʿUmar, who said, “In the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ we used to say, ‘When Abū Bakr, ʿUmar, and ʿUthmān are gone, the people will stand on equal footing.’ News of this reached the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and he did not disapprove.”

ʿAlī—may Allah ennoble his face—said, “The best of this ummah after its Prophet are Abū Bakr and ʿUmar.” By Allah the Almighty, ʿAlī uttered these words, and they are mass-transmitted from him, for he proclaimed them from the pulpit of Kūfah. May Allah curse the Rāfiḍah; how ignorant they are!

Al-Suddi reported from ʿAbd Khayr, from ʿAlī, who said, “The one who will receive the greatest reward for his service to the muṣḥaf is Abū Bakr, for he was the first to gather the Quran between two covers.” Its chain is sound.

ʿUqayl reported from al-Zuhrī that Abū Bakr and al-Ḥārith ibn Kaladah were eating khazīrah (a meat porridge) that had been presented to Abū Bakr. Al-Ḥārith said, “Take your hand away, O Caliph of the Messenger of Allah. By Allah, it contains a poison that acts for a year, and you and I shall die on the same day.” He said, “So…”