41 — ‘Abdullāh narrated to us: ‘Amr ibn Muhammad ibn Bukayr al-Nāqid narrated to me: ‘Īsā ibn Yūnus ibn Abī Ishāq narrated to us, saying: Ibn Dirham narrated to me—Abū ‘Abd al-Rahmān said: “I believe he was ‘Urayf ibn Dirham”—saying: I heard al-Sha‘bī say: Abū Juhayfah narrated to me that he heard ‘Alī say:

“Shall I tell you who are the best of this community after its Prophet? Abū Bakr and ‘Umar.”

42 — ‘Abdullāh narrated to us: ‘Amr ibn Muhammad al-Nāqid narrated to me: ‘Īsā ibn Yūnus narrated to us: My father narrated to us, from his father, from one of ‘Alī’s companions, from ‘Alī, a similar report, with the words:

“And if I wished to name the third, I would have named him.”