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1810 — Al-Firyābī also narrated to us. He said: Qutayba ibn Saīd narrated to us. He said: Abū al-Ahwas narrated to us, from Abū Ishāq, from Abū Juhayfa, who said: I heard Alī ibn Abī Tālib—may Allah be pleased with him—say from the pulpit in Kufa, “The best of this nation after its Prophet is Abū Bakr, and the best of them after Abū Bakr is Umar. As for the third, I could name him if I wished.”
١٨١٠ - وَحَدَّثَنَا الْفِرْيَابِيُّ , أَيْضًا , قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا قُتَيْبَةُ بْنُ سَعِيدٍ قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو الْأَحْوَصِ , عَنْ أَبِي إِسْحَاقَ , عَنْ أَبِي جُحَيْفَةَ قَالَ: سَمِعْتُ عَلِيَّ بْنَ أَبِي طَالِبٍ , ﵁ عَلَى الْمِنْبَرِ بِالْكُوفَةِ يَقُولُ: إِنَّ خَيْرَ هَذِهِ الْأُمَّةِ بَعْدَ نَبِيِّهَا أَبُو بَكْرٍ , ثُمَّ خَيْرُهُمْ بَعْدَ أَبِي بَكْرٍ عُمَرُ وَالثَّالِثُ لَوْ شِئْتُ سَمَّيْتُهُ