Usama said, "I was in the mosque when Abbas and Ali bin Abu Talib came to me and said, 'Usama, ask permission for us to see the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.'"So I went to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and informed him, saying, "Ali and Abbas are seeking permission to enter."He asked, "Do you know what they want?"I replied, "No, by Allah."He said, "But I know."Then he gave them permission to enter.They said, "Messenger of Allah, we have come to ask you which of your family members is most beloved to you."He answered, "The most beloved of my family to me is Fatimah, daughter of Muhammad."They said, "Messenger of Allah, we are not asking you about Fatimah."He said, "Then it is Usama bin Zayd, the son of the one whom Allah has favored and whom I have favored."
كنت في المسجد فأتاني العباس، وعلي بن أبي طالب فقالا: يا أسامة، استأذن لنا على رسول الله ﷺ، قال: فأتيت رسول الله ﷺ فأخبرته فقلت: علي والعباس يستأذنان، فقال: أتدري ما حاجتهما؟ قلت: لا والله، قال: لكني أدري، قال: فأذن لهما، قالا: يا رسول الله جئناك لتخبرنا أي أهلك أحب إليك؟ قال: أحب أهلي إلي فاطمة بنت محمد، فقالا: يا رسول الله، ما نسألك عن فاطمة، قال: فأسامة بن زيد ابن الذي أنعم الله عليه وأنعمت عليه.
Bazzar (2619, 2620) narrated it through multiple routes from Abu Awana, who said, Umar bin Abu Salama told me, from his father, who said, Usama bin Zayd narrated to me, and he related it. Its chain is hasan because of Umar bin Abu Salama, for he is hasan al-hadith.Tirmidhi (3819) narrated it by this same route, and he added at the end of the hadith, saying, They both said, "Then who?" He said, "Ali bin Abu Talib." Abbas said, "O Messenger of Allah, you have placed your uncle last among them?" He said, "Because Ali preceded you in migration." He said, "This is a hasan hadith."It is as he said, except that some of its wording is unusual. For more, see the book Fadail al-Sahabah.