1153 – Abu Muhammad ‘Abd Allah ibn Sālih al-Bukhārī also reported to us: al-Hasan ibn ‘Alī al-Hulwānī reported to us: ‘Abd Allah ibn Sālih reported to us: Nāfi‘ ibn Yazīd reported to us, from Zuhra ibn Ma‘bad, from Sa‘īd ibn al-Musayyib, from Jābir ibn ‘Abd Allah, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Allah, Glorious and Exalted, chose my Companions above all others, except the prophets and messengers. From among my Companions, He chose four for me: Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, ‘Uthmān, and ‘Alī. He made them the best of my Companions, though there is goodness in all my Companions. He chose my nation above all other nations, and from my nation He chose four generations after my Companions: the first, second, and third in succession, and the fourth on its own.”