(1) Ibn Taymiyya cites this hadith in many of his works with wording that begins: “And the best generation is my generation…” or “The best of generations is the generation…,” and so forth. I searched at length for a narration with this precise wording but could not find it. The hadith has, however, been transmitted from many Companions, including Abū Hurayra, Abd Allah ibn Masūd, Imrān ibn Husayn, Ā'isha, al-Numān ibn Bashīr, and Burayda al-Aslamī—may Allah be pleased with them. It has been narrated in various wordings, including: “The best among you belong to my generation”; “The best people are those of my generation”; “The best of my community is the generation…”; “The best of this community is the generation among whom I was sent”; “I was sent among the best generations of the children of Adam”; and, “Which people are best?” He replied, “I and those who are with me.” See: al-Bukhārī, 3/171 (“The Book of Testimonies,” chapter “One Should Not Testify in Support of False Testimony When Called to Testify”), 3, 3–5 (“The Book of the Virtues of the Prophet’s Companions,” chapter “The Virtues of the Prophet’s Companions and Those Who Accompanied or Saw the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace”), 8/91 (“The Book of Heart-Softening Reports,” chapter “The Need for Caution Regarding the Splendor of This World”), 8/134 (“The Book of Oaths and Vows,” chapter “When Someone Says: ‘I Bear Witness by Allah…’”), and 8/141–142 (“The Book of Oaths and Vows,” chapter “The Sin of One Who Fails to Fulfill His Commitment”); Muslim, 4/1962–1965 (“The Book of the Virtues of the Companions,” chapter “The Excellence of the Companions, Then Those Who Follow Them…”); *Sunan al-Nasā'ī* with al-Suyūtī’s commentary, 7/17 (“The Book of Oaths and Vows,” chapter “Fulfilling a Vow”); *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, ed. Abd al-Rahmān Muhammad Uthmān, 3/339–340 (“The Book of Tribulations,” chapter “Reports Concerning the Third Generation”), 3/376 (“The Book of Testimonies”), and 5/357 (“The Book of Virtues,” chapter “Reports Concerning the Virtue of Those Who Saw the Prophet…”); *Sunan Abī Dāwūd*, 4/297 (“The Book of the Sunnah,” chapter “The Virtue of the Companions of Allah’s Messenger…”); *Sunan Ibn Mājah*, 2/791 (“The Book of Legal Rulings,” chapter “The Disapproval of Giving Testimony When One Has Not Been Asked to Testify”); *Tartīb Musnad Abī Dāwūd al-Tayālisī*, ed. Shaykh Ahmad Abd al-Rahmān al-Bannā (al-Munīriyya Press, al-Azhar, 1353/1934), 2/198–199 (“The Book of Virtues,” chapter “Reports Concerning the Virtue of the Earliest Generations”); *al-Musnad* (al-Ma'ārif ed.), 5/209, 6/29, 86, 116, 12/90, 15/106; and *al-Musnad* (al-Halabī ed.), 2/340, 373, 410, 416, 417, 479, 4/267, 276, 277, 278, 426, 427, 436, 440, 5/350, 357, 6.