The Prophet ﷺ said, "The best of people are my generation, then those who follow them, then those who follow them. Then will come a people whose testimony races ahead of their oath and whose oath races ahead of their testimony."Ibrahim said, "They used to strike us for giving testimony and making oaths."
عن النبي ﷺ قال: خير الناس قرني، ثم الذين يلونهم، ثم الذين يلونهم، ثم يجيء أقوام تسبق شهادة أحدهم يمينه ويمينه شهادته. قال إبراهيم: وكانوا يضربوننا على الشهادة والعهد.
Bukhari narrated it in the Book of Testimonies (2652), and Muslim in the Merits of the Companions (2533-210), both from the hadith of Mansur, from Ibrahim bin Yazid, from Ubayda Salmani, from Abdullah, who said, and then he related it. This is Bukhari's wording, and Muslim's wording is similar, containing, "The best of my nation is the generation that follows me, then those who follow them, then those who follow them."He also narrated it through another route (211) from Mansur, from Ibrahim, with the wording, "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was asked, 'Which people are best?' He said, 'My generation, then those who follow them, then those who follow them...'" At the end of it, Ibrahim said, "They used to beat us when we were young boys over pledges and testimonies." This wording is closer to Bukhari's wording.Then Muslim narrated it (212) through another route from Ibn Awn, from Ibrahim, with the wording, "The best of people are my generation, then those who follow them, then those who follow them," adding, "I do not know whether it was in the third or fourth generation that he said, 'Then a generation will come after them who...'" and then he related the rest of the hadith.