Al-Matalib al-'Aliyah 2091 — hadith 2090-2094

It is narrated from Abu Mijlaz (may Allah have mercy on him) that Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) was lying down, reclining, in one of the gardens of Madinah; then he related the whole story. Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) asked: "Whom will you appoint as caliph after me?" A man among those present said: Al-Zubayr bin al-Awwam (may Allah be pleased with him). He (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Then you would make caliph a man who is miserly and harsh-tempered," that is, one whose character is not good. Then a man said: We will make Talhah bin Ubaydullah (may Allah be pleased with him) caliph. He (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "How can you make caliph a man who gave the very first thing the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) granted him, a piece of land, as the dowry (mahr) of a Jewish woman?" Then a man among those present said: We will make Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) caliph. At this he (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "By my life! You will never make him caliph; but by the One in whose Hand is my soul, if you were to make him caliph, he would keep you (firmly) upon the truth even if you disliked it." The narrator relates that at this Sayyiduna al-Walid bin Uqbah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: We know who the caliph after you will be. So Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) sat up (straight) and asked: "Who?" He said: Uthman bin Affan (may Allah be pleased with him); and al-Walid was the maternal half-brother of Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him). Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Then what of Uthman's fondness for wealth and his (excessive) kindness and generosity towards his family?"
Imam Ishaq bin Rahwayh (may Allah have mercy on him) recorded this narration in his Musnad.