Musnad Ahmad 31:225

Ibn Numayr narrated to us, al-A‘mash narrated to us, ‘Atiyyah ibn Sa‘d narrated to us—at the door of this mosque—he said: I heard Abu Sa‘id al-Khudri say: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said: "Indeed, the people of the high ranks are seen by those below them just as you see the rising star in the horizon from the horizons of the sky. And Abu Bakr and ‘Umar are among them, and they were favored."