Abu Mualla reported,

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ delivered a sermon one day and said, "A man has been given a choice by his Lord between living in this world as long as he wishes and eating in this world whatever he wishes, or meeting his Lord, and he chose to meet his Lord."Abu Bakr wept at this. The companions of the Prophet ﷺ said, "Are you not amazed at this old man? The Messenger of Allah ﷺ mentioned a righteous man whose Lord gave him a choice between this world and meeting his Lord, and he chose to meet his Lord."But Abu Bakr was the most knowledgeable among them about what the Messenger of Allah ﷺ meant. Abu Bakr said, "Rather, we would ransom you with our fathers and our wealth."The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then said, "There is no one among the people who has been more generous to us in his companionship and with his wealth than the son of Abu Quhafa. Were I to take a close friend, I would have taken the son of Abu Quhafa as my close friend. But there is the affection and brotherhood of faith, the affection and brotherhood of faith," repeating it twice or three times, "and indeed your companion is the close friend of Allah."

حدثنا محمد بن عبد الملك بن أبي الشوارب حدثنا أبو عوانة عن عبد الملك بن عمير

عن ابن أبي المعلى عن أبيه

أن رسول الله ﷺ خطب يوما فقال إن رجلا خيره ربه بين أن يعيش في الدنيا ما شاء أن يعيش ويأكل في الدنيا ما شاء أن يأكل وبين لقاء ربه فاختار لقاء ربه قال فبكى أبو بكر فقال أصحاب النبي ﷺ ألا تعجبون من هذا الشيخ إذ ذكر رسول الله ﷺ رجلا صالحا خيره ربه بين الدنيا وبين لقاء ربه فاختار لقاء ربه قال فكان أبو بكر أعلمهم بما قال رسول الله ﷺ فقال أبو بكر بل نفديك بآبائنا وأموالنا فقال رسول الله ﷺ ما من الناس أحد أمن إلينا في صحبته وذات يده من ابن أبي قحافة ولو كنت متخذا خليلا لاتخذت ابن أبي قحافة خليلا ولكن ود وإخاء إيمان ود وإخاء إيمان مرتين أو ثلاثا وإن صاحبكم خليل الله