62 – Ibn Masʿud said, “If any of you wishes to take someone as a model, let him emulate the Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, for they were the purest hearts of this ummah, the deepest in knowledge, the least affected, the most upright in guidance, and the finest in conduct. They were a people Allah chose for the companionship of His Prophet and for establishing His religion. So recognize their virtue and follow in their footsteps, for they were upon the straight guidance.”

63 – Al-Hasan al-Basri, when he mentioned the Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, said, “They were the purest hearts of this ummah, the deepest in knowledge, and the least affected. They were a people whom Allah—by the Lord of the Kaʿbah—chose for the companionship of His Prophet ﷺ. So adopt their manners and their paths, for by the Lord of the Kaʿbah they are upon the straight guidance.”

64 – Ibrahim (al-Nakhaʿi) said, “Nothing has been reserved for you that was hidden from those people, leaving you any superiority over them.”

65 – Hudhayfah said, “O assembly of Qur’an-reciters, follow the path of those before you. By Allah, if you remain upright you will have outstripped them by a great distance; but if you abandon it, veering right and left, you will go far astray.”

66 – Nuh al-Jamiʿ narrated: “I said to Abu Hanifah—may Allah have mercy on him—‘What do you say about…’”