A man asked the Prophet ﷺ, "Which martyrs are the most excellent?"He replied, "Those who, when they meet the enemy in the battle line, do not turn their faces away until they are killed. They will recline in the highest chambers of Paradise, and your Lord will smile upon them. When your Lord smiles upon a servant in this world, there is no reckoning against him."
أن رجلا سأل النبي ﷺ: أي الشهداء أفضل؟ قال: الذين إن يلقوا في الصف لا يلفتون وجوههم حتى يقتلوا، أو يتلبطون في الغرف العلى من الجنة، ويضحك إليهم ربك، وإذا ضحك ربك إلى عبد في الدنيا فلا حساب عليه.
Imam Ahmad (22476), Abu Yaala (6855), Ibn Abu Asim in al-Jihad (228), Bayhaqi in al-Asma wal-Sifat (986), and Ajurri in al-Sharia (650) all narrated it through various routes from Ismail bin Ayyash, from Buhayr bin Saad, from Khalid bin Madan, from Kathir bin Mura, from Naeem bin Hammar, and he related it.Ismail bin Ayyash is truthful in his narrations from the Syrians of his own region, and this is one of them. The discussion of this is given at length in the book on faith.