The Prophet ﷺ said, "The Children of Israil were governed by the prophets. Whenever a prophet died, another prophet succeeded him. But there will be no prophet after me. There will be caliphs, and they will be many."The companions asked, "What do you command us to do?"He replied, "Fulfill your pledge of allegiance to the first one, then the next. Give them their due, for Allah will question them about what He entrusted to their care."
عن النبي ﷺ: كانت بنو إسرائيل تسوسهم الأنبياء، كلما هلك نبي خلفه نبي، وأنه لا نبي بعدي، وسيكون خلفاء فيكثرون قالوا: فما تأمرنا؟ قال: فوا ببيعة الأول فالأول، أعطوهم حقهم، فإن الله سائلهم عما استرعاهم.
Bukhari related it in the Hadiths of the Prophets (3455), and Muslim in Leadership (1842), both of them from Muhammad bin Bashshar, who said, Muhammad bin Jafar told us, Shubah told us, from Firas Qazzaz, who said, I heard Abu Hazim say, "I sat with Abu Hurairah for five years, and I heard him narrate from the Prophet ﷺ," and he mentioned it.