Muhammad ibn Yazid ibn Sa'id al-Nahrawani informed me, saying: I found in my father's book, written in his own hand, that he said: Al-Fadl ibn Ja'far narrated to me, saying: O Abu 'Abd Allah, what do you say about the hadith of Qabisah, from 'Abbad al-Sammak, from Sufyan: "The Imams of justice are five: Abu Bakr, 'Umar, 'Uthman, 'Ali, and 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz"? He said: "This is false," meaning what was falsely attributed to Sufyan. Then he said: "No one compares to the companions of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him; no one is equal to them." He said: I asked Abu Ma'mar al-Karkhi about the companions of the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and he said: "Abu Bakr, 'Umar, and 'Uthman." I said: "We have a man among us who says: 'And 'Ali and 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz'." Abu Ma'mar said: "No one has ever said this. Woe to you, who is this man? Why do you keep company with someone like this? Why is Mu'awiyah being faulted? The companions of Muhammad, peace be upon him, are the best of people after the Messenger of Allah. If those who came after them were to perform good deeds equivalent to the mountains, they would still be superior to him, because of the saying of the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him: 'If one of you were to spend the equivalent of Uhud in gold, it would not reach a mudd of one of them, nor even half of it.' And if a man has [animosity] in his heart against the companions of Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, he would be a disbeliever, for Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, says: 'It puts forth its shoot and strengthens it, then it becomes thick and stands on its own stem, delighting the sowers, that He may enrage the disbelievers with them' [Al-Fath: 29]. So whoever has rage in his heart against them is a disbeliever."
