2528 – Ahmad ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān narrated to us; he said: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Ḥātim reported to us; he said: ʿUmar ibn Shabbah narrated to us; my father related to me; he said: Muhammad ibn Jaʿfar narrated to us; he said: Shuʿbah, from al-Ḥakam, who said:

I heard Abū Juḥayfah—he was a leading man, and ʿAlī, may Allah be pleased with him, had appointed him governor of Kūfa during the events of the Camel—say: “I heard ʿAlī declare, ‘Shall I not inform you who is the best of this community after its Prophet? It is Abū Bakr. Shall I not inform you who is the best of it after Abū Bakr? It is ʿUmar. Shall I not inform you who is the best of it after ʿUmar?’” Then he fell silent.