Ali to His Son: I Am Nothing but a Man from Among the Muslims

Narrated Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥanafiyyah: I asked my father, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (may Allah be pleased with him), “Who are the best people after the Messenger of Allah ﷺ?” He said, “Abū Bakr.” I asked, “Then who?” He said, “Then ʿUmar.” I feared that if I asked again he would say ʿUthmān, so I said, “Then you?” He replied, “I am nothing but a man from among the Muslims.”