Sayyiduna Awf bin Malik al-Ashja'i (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: We were with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) on a journey and we made camp. When night came, my eyes stayed awake and sleep did not come to me. I got up and saw that there was no animal in the army that was not resting its cheek on the ground, and in my estimation the highest thing was the back of the camel saddle. I said: I will certainly go to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and I will not tire tonight until morning. So I went out, passing between the saddles, until I reached the saddle of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and found that he (peace and blessings be upon him) was not at his saddle. I kept passing between the saddles until I went out of the camp, and then I saw a dark shape (a figure). I went towards that dark shape and found that it was Abu Ubaydah bin al-Jarrah and Mu'adh bin Jabal (may Allah be pleased with them both). They said to me: What has brought you out? I said: The same thing that brought the two of you out. There was a thicket close to us, so we walked towards that thicket, and we heard from it a sound like the humming of bees or the rustling of the wind. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Is Abu Ubaydah bin al-Jarrah here?" We said: Yes. He said: "And Mu'adh bin Jabal?" We said: Yes. He said: "And Awf bin Malik?" We said: Yes. Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came out to us. We stood up; we did not ask him (peace and blessings be upon him) about anything, nor did he (peace and blessings be upon him) ask us about anything. Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) went back to his mount and said: "Shall I not tell you what my Lord has just given me a choice about?" We said: Of course, O Messenger of Allah. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I was given a choice between one third of my Ummah entering Paradise without reckoning and without punishment, and being granted intercession." We said: O Messenger of Allah, what did you choose? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I chose intercession." We all said: O Messenger of Allah, make us among the people of your intercession. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said to us: "My intercession is for every Muslim."
Hadith Referenceالمعجم الكبير للطبراني / باب العين / 15198