And in one narration:

[Abū Bakr ibn Ayyāsh—the narrator of this report from Āsim ibn Abī al-Najūd, from Zirr ibn Hubaysh, from Abd Allāh ibn Masūd, may Allah be pleased with him—said] (1): “All the Companions of the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—unanimously agreed to appoint Abū Bakr as successor.”

The statement (2) of [Abd Allāh] (3) ibn Masūd, “They were the members of this ummah whose hearts were the most righteous, whose knowledge was the deepest, and who were the least given to affectation,” is a comprehensive statement. By the righteousness of their hearts, he explained the soundness of their aims and intentions; by the depth of their knowledge, he explained the completeness and precision of their understanding; and by their lack of affectation (4), he explained how readily this came to them and how they refrained from speaking without knowledge.

This is contrary to what [this] (5) fabricator said, for he described most of them as seeking worldly gain and some of them as ignorant, whether through incapacity or negligence.

What Abd Allāh said is true, for they are the best of this ummah, as hadiths from the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—have been recurrently transmitted to that effect. He said:

“The best generation is the generation among whom I was sent, then those who follow them, and then those who follow them.” (6)

They are the finest of the ummah—the justly balanced witnesses over mankind—whom Allah, by His permission, guided to the truth concerning that over which people differed (7). Allah guides whomever He wills to a straight path. Thus, they are not among—