English translation
3654. Narrated Abū Sa'īd Al-Khudrī رضي الله عنه: Allah's Messenger ﷺ addressed the people saying, "Allah gave a choice to one of (His) slave to choose this world or what is with Him. The slave chose what is with Allah." Abū Bakr wept, and we were astonished at his weeping caused by what the Prophet ﷺ mentioned as to a slave (of Allah) who had been offered a choice, (we learned later on) that Allah's Messenger ﷺ himself was the person who was given the choice, and that Abū Bakr knew more than us. Allah's Messenger ﷺ added, "Abū Bakr has favoured me much with his company and property (wealth) more than anybody else. If I were to take a Khalīl(1) other than my Lord, I would have taken Abū Bakr, but the Islāmic brotherhood and friendship is sufficient. Close all the gates in the mosque except the gate of Abū Bakr." [See Vol. 1, Hadīth No. 466]
