(52) باب فَضْلِ الصَّحَابَةِ ثُمَّ الَّذِينَ يَلُونَهُمْ ثُمَّ الَّذِينَ يَلُونَهُمْ
Abu Sa'id Khudri reported Allah's Apostle (ﷺ) as saying:
A time would come for the people when groups of people would set out for fighting in the cause of Allah and it would be said to them: Is there one amongst you who saw Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)? And they would say: Yes, and they would be victorious. Then the people would set out for fighting in the cause of Allah and it would be said to them: Is there one amongst you who saw those (who have had the privilege of sitting in the company of Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)? And they would say: Yes, and victory would be granted to them. Then a group of persons would set out for fighting in the cause of Allah and it would be said to them: Is there one amongst you who saw one of those who saw those who (had the privilege) of sitting in the company of Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)? And they would say: Yes, and the Victory would be granted to them.
Reference: Sahih Muslim 2532 a
In-book reference: Book 44, Hadith 296
USC-MSA web (English) reference(deprecated numbering scheme): Book 31, Hadith 6148