1201 — Al-Firyābī narrated to us, saying: Amr ibn Uthmān al-Himsī narrated to us, saying: Bishr ibn Shuayb narrated to us from his father, from al-Zuhrī, who said: Al-Qāsim ibn Muhammad narrated to me that Asmā bint Umays informed him that a man from among the Emigrants entered upon Abū Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) when the illness from which he died had grown severe. The man said, “He has appointed over the people as his successor a harsh, stern man.”

Abū Bakr replied, “Are you trying to frighten me by invoking Allah, Mighty and Majestic? I shall say to Allah Most High: ‘I appointed over them the best of Your people.’”