The Prophet ﷺ also said, in the hadith recorded in the Musnad:

“You complete the number of seventy nations; you are the best of them and the most honored in the sight of Allah.”

[The best of all generations]

The most excellent part of Muhammad’s nation ﷺ is its first generation. It is firmly established from the Prophet ﷺ, through several transmissions, that he said:

“The best of generations is the one in which I was sent, then those who come after them, then those who come after them.”

This wording is authentically reported in both Ṣaḥīḥ collections through multiple chains.

[The foremost among the earliest forerunners]

Both Ṣaḥīḥs likewise relate that he ﷺ said:

“Do not revile my Companions. By the One in whose hand is my soul, were any one of you to spend gold equal to Mount Uḥud, it would not reach the worth of a single mudd they spent, nor even half of it.”