The Prophet ﷺ sent him in command of the army of Dhat al-Salasil. He came to the Prophet ﷺ and asked, "Which person is most beloved to you?"He replied, "Ayesha."He asked, "And among the men?"He said, "Her father."He asked, "Then who?"He said, "Then Umar bin Khattab."He went on to name Some men.
أن النبي ﷺ بعثه على جيش ذات السلاسل، فأتيته فقلت: أي الناس أحب إليك؟ قال: عائشة، فقلت: من الرجال؟ فقال: أبوها، قلت: ثم من؟ قال: ثم عمر بن الخطاب، فعد رجالا.
Bukhari narrated it in Fadail al-Sahabah (3662), and Muslim in Fadail al-Sahabah (2348-8), both via Khalid bin Abdullah Hadhdha, from Abu Uthman, who said, Amr bin As told me, and he related it.It has been narrated from Anas that he said, it was asked, "O Messenger of Allah, who is the most beloved of people to you?" He said, "Ayesha." It was asked, "Among the men?" He said, "Her father."Tirmidhi (3890) and Ibn Majah (101) narrated it, both via Mutamir bin Sulayman, from Humayd, from Anas, and he related it. Tirmidhi said, "This is a hasan sahih hadith, rare from this angle from the hadith of Anas."His statement, "a hasan gharib hadith," is not correct, for Abu Hatim was asked about this hadith with this chain and said, "This is a munkar hadith, it is possible that it is Humayd from Hasan from the Prophet ﷺ." He also said elsewhere, "It is really from Hasan, from the Prophet ﷺ, but as for it being from Anas, that is not preserved." See Ilal Ibn Abu Hatim (2651, 2666).Daraqutni likewise confirmed this in his Ilal (2439), saying, "The sahih version is from Mamar, from Humayd, from Hasan, as a mursal report."