1804 — Abū al-Qāsim Ibrāhīm ibn al-Haytham al-Nāqid informed us. He said: Abū Abd al-Rahmān Abd Allāh ibn Umar al-Kūfī narrated to us. He said: Abd Allāh ibn Numayr narrated to us, from Abd al-Malik ibn Sala al-Hamdānī, from Abd Khayr, who said: I heard Ali ibn Abī Tālib—may Allah be pleased with him—say, “Allah took His Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—in death upon the best religion upon which any prophet had ever died.” He then praised him and said, “Abū Bakr—may Allah be pleased with him—was then appointed caliph. He followed the practice and Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him. Abū Bakr then died in the best state in which Allah—Mighty and Majestic—had ever taken anyone in death. He was the best of this nation after its Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him. Umar—may Allah be pleased with him—was then appointed caliph. He followed their practice and their Sunnah. Umar then died in the best state in which anyone had ever died. He was the best of this nation after its Prophet and after Abū Bakr.”