their homelands and their wealth for the sake of Allah, in support of His religion, and in quest of His bounty and good pleasure, and that they were truthful in all of this. He also described the Helpers as the people of the city of migration and support, endowed with genuine faith. He praised them for loving their Emigrant brothers, preferring them to themselves, sharing with them, and being free of avarice—and by virtue of that they attained success.

These are some of their collective virtues, yet there are also particular merits and ranks by which some of them surpass others, in proportion to their precedence in accepting Islam, striving in jihad, and undertaking the Hijrah.

Accordingly, the most excellent of the Companions are the four Caliphs: Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, ‘Uthman, and ‘Ali. After them come the remainder of the Ten who were given glad tidings of Paradise—namely these four together with Talhah, al-Zubayr, ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn ‘Awf, Abu ‘Ubaydah ibn al-Jarrah, Sa‘d ibn Abi Waqqas, and Sa‘id ibn Zayd. As a group, the Emigrants excel the Helpers; so too do the veterans of Badr and the participants in the Pledge of Ridwan. Moreover, those who embraced Islam and fought before the Conquest hold a higher rank than those who embraced it afterward.