529 - Al-Maymuni informed me, saying: Shababah narrated to us, saying: Al-Furat narrated to us, saying: I said to Maymun ibn Mihran: 'Are Abu Bakr and 'Umar better in your estimation, or 'Ali?' He said: He began to tremble until his staff fell from his hand, then he said: 'I never thought that I would remain until a time when someone would draw an equivalence between them, for they were the head of Islam and the head of the community (al-jama'ah).'
٥٢٩ - أَخْبَرَنِي الْمَيْمُونِيُّ، قَالَ: ثَنَا شَبَابَةُ، قَالَ: ثَنَا الْفُرَاتُ، قَالَ: قُلْتُ لِمَيْمُونِ بْنِ مِهْرَانَ: أَبُو بَكْرٍ وَعُمَرُ عِنْدَكَ أَفْضَلُ أَوْ عَلِيٌّ؟ قَالَ: فَارْتَعَدَ حَتَّى سَقَطَتْ عَصَاهُ مِنْ يَدِهِ، ثُمَّ قَالَ: «مَا كُنْتُ أَظُنُّ أَنِّي أَبْقَى إِلَى زَمَانٍ يَعْدِلُ بَيْنَهُمَا، إِنَّهُمَا كَانَا رَأْسَ الْإِسْلَامِ، وَرَأْسَ الْجَمَاعَةِ»
