Takhrij Hadith 460: "Jibril came to the Prophet…"

Jibril came to the Prophet ﷺ and said: ‘O Muhammad, Allah loves three of your Companions, so love them: ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib, Abu Dharr, and Al-Miqdad ibn Al-Aswad.’ Then Jibril came to him again and said: ‘O Muhammad, Paradise longs for three of your Companions.’ Anas ibn Malik was present at the time, and he hoped that some of the Ansar would be among them. He wished to ask the Messenger of Allah ﷺ who they were, but he felt too awed to do so. So he left and met Abu Bakr and said: “O Abu Bakr, I was just with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ when Jibril came to him and said: ‘Paradise longs for three of your Companions.’ I hoped that some of the Ansar would be among them, but I felt too awed to ask him. Would you enter upon the Prophet of Allah ﷺ and ask him?” Abu Bakr replied: “I fear that if I ask him and I am not among them, my people will rejoice at my disappointment.” Then ‘Umar ibn Al-Khattab met him, and he gave him the same reply as Abu Bakr. Then he met ‘Ali, and ‘Ali said: “Yes, I will ask. If I am among them, I will praise Allah; and if I am not among them, I will still praise Allah.” So ‘Ali entered upon the Prophet ﷺ and said: “Anas informed me that he was with you a short while ago when Jibril came to you and said: ‘O Muhammad, Paradise longs for three of your Companions.’ Who are they, O Prophet of Allah?” The Prophet ﷺ replied: ‘You are one of them, O ‘Ali. The second is ‘Ammar ibn Yasir, who will take part with you in battles whose merit is great and whose goodness is immense. And the third is Salman. He is one of us, the People of the Household, and he is sincere in counsel, so keep him close to yourself.’