54 — ‘Abdullāh narrated to us, saying: My father narrated to me, saying: Abū Salamah al-Khuzā‘ī, Mansūr ibn Salamah, narrated to us, saying: ‘Abd al-‘Azīz ibn ‘Abdullāh ibn Abī Salamah—that is, al-Mājishūn—narrated to us, from ‘Ubaydullāh ibn ‘Umar, from Nāfi‘, from Ibn ‘Umar, who said:

“During the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), we regarded no one after the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) as equal to Abū Bakr, followed by ‘Umar, then ‘Uthmān. Then we would stop there and make no further distinctions in merit among them.”