Sayyiduna Ubadah bin al-Samit (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: I was alone with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and I said: Which of your Companions is the most beloved to you, so that I too may love the one whom you love? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: O Ubadah! You must keep this hidden during my lifetime. I said: Very well. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Abu Bakr, then Umar, then Ali. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) fell silent. I asked: Then who? He said: Who else could there be after them? There is al-Zubayr, Talhah, Sa'd, Abu Ubaydah, Mu'adh, Abu Talhah, Abu Ayyub, and you, O Ubadah, and Ubayy bin Ka'b, Abu al-Darda', Ibn Mas'ud, Ibn Awf, Ibn Affan; and these people from among the mawali (freed slaves): Salman, Suhayb, Bilal and Salim the freed slave of Abu Hudhayfah. These are my special ones; and otherwise every one of my Companions is honoured and beloved to me, even if he be an Abyssinian slave." The narrator says: I asked Sayyiduna Ubadah (may Allah be pleased with him): The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not mention Sayyiduna Hamzah (may Allah be pleased with him) and Sayyiduna Ja'far (may Allah be pleased with him)? Sayyiduna Ubadah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: They had already been martyred at the time I asked this question; this was a later matter.
Al-Tabarani recorded it. Its chain contains a narrator, Ishaq bin Ibrahim, who narrated from Abu Qilabah. The author mentioned him in Mizan al-I'tidal and did not cite anyone's criticism of him; he only mentioned that a false hadith about virtues is transmitted through him. The author says: I do not know what the reason for its falsehood is. And Allah knows best.
Hadith Referenceمجمع الزوائد ومنبع الفوائد / كتاب المناقب / 14939