(52) باب فَضْلِ الصَّحَابَةِ ثُمَّ الَّذِينَ يَلُونَهُمْ ثُمَّ الَّذِينَ يَلُونَهُمْ
'Abdullah (b. Mas'ud) reported Allah's Apostle (ﷺ) as saying:
The best among people are of my generation, then those next to them. (The narrator said): I do not know whether (he said) it three times or four times. Then there would fellow after them such persons whose evidence would precede the oath, and in case of some others, the oath (would precede) the evidence.
Reference: Sahih Muslim 2533 d
In-book reference: Book 44, Hadith 301
USC-MSA web (English) reference(deprecated numbering scheme): Book 31, Hadith 6153