'Aishah said: Oh my head! The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: If that were to happen while I was alive, I would ask forgiveness and pray for you. 'Aishah said: Oh my loss! By Allah, I think that you would love my death. If that were to happen, you would spend the rest of your day with one of your wives. The Prophet (PBUH) said: Rather, it is I who say, Oh my head! I have thought, or I have wanted, to send for Abu Bakr and his son and appoint [Abu Bakr as a successor] so that people would not say or wish what they desire. Then I thought: Allah would not allow it to be otherwise, and the Muslims would prevent it to be otherwise.

I said to the Prophet (PBUH) while we were in the cave: If one of them were to look down at his feet, he would surely see us at his feet. The Prophet (PBUH) replied: O Abu Bakr, what do you think of two, of whom Allah is the third?

A slave was given the choice by Allah the Almighty between being given whatever he wanted of the worldly pleasures and what Allah has, so the slave chose what Allah has. Abu Bakr wept and said: May our fathers and mothers be sacrificed for you. Narrator said: We were amazed by him and people said: Look at this old man, the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) is telling a tale of a slave whom Allah the Almighty gave a choice and he says, "May our fathers and mothers be sacrificed for you". But the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) was the one who was given the choice, and Abu Bakr knew him the best. The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) once said: The one who has favored me most of all both with his company and wealth is Abu Bakr. If I were to take an intimate friend, I would have taken Abu Bakr as an intimate friend. But the brotherhood of Islam remains. Let there be no windows in the mosque except the window of Abu Bakr.

A woman came to the Prophet (PBUH) asking him for something. He said to her: Come back later. She replied: What if I came back and did not find you, O Messenger of Allah - as if she was referring to his death- The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said to her: If you came back and dis not find me, then go to Abu Bakr.

The Messenger of Allah sent me on the army of Zthat-Us-Salasil. I came to him and said: O Messenger of Allah, who is the most beloved person to you? He said: 'Aishah. I said: And among the men? He said,: Her father. I said: Then who? He said: 'Umar. Then he enumerated some other men.

The Prophet (PBUH) entered a garden and commanded me to guard the gate of the garden. Then a man came asking for permission to enter, so he said: Let him in and give him the glad tidings that he will enter Paradise. It was Abu Bakr. Then another man came asking for permission, and Prophet (PBUH) said: Let him in and give him the glad tidings that he will enter Paradise. It was 'Umar. Then another man came asking for permission, so Prophet (PBUH) paused for a moment before saying: Let him in and give him the glad tidings that he will enter Paradise, yet there will be a calamity that will befall him. It was 'Uthman ibn Affan.

During the time of the Prophet (PBUH), we did not consider anyone equal to Abu Bakr, then 'Umar, then 'Uthman. After that, we refrained from giving preference to any of the companions of the Prophet (PBUH) over one another.