[The Caliphate and Imamate]
وَأَفْضَلُ الْبَشَرِ بَعْدَ نَبِيِّنَا: أَبُو بَكْرٍ الصِّدِيقُ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ ، ثُمَّ عُمَرُ الْفَارُوقُ ، ثُمَّ عُثْمانُ ذُو النُّورَيْنِ ، ثُمَّ عَلِيٌّ المُرْتَضى رَضِيَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى عَنْهُمْ، وَالْخِلَافَةُ ثَابِتَةٌ عَلَى هذَا التَّرْتِيبِ أَيْضاً. وَالْخِلَافَةُ ثَلَاثُونَ سَنَةً ، ثُمَّ بَعْدَهَا مُلْكٌ وَإِمارَةٌ .
036- The most excellent of mankind after our Prophet is Abū Bakr, the Veracious (al-Ṣiddīq) [ 13/634], then ʿUmar the Discerner (al-Fārūq) [d. 23/644], then ʿUthmān, the Possessor of the Two Lights (Dhu ’l-nūrayn) [d. 35/656], then ʿAlī the Approved (al-Murtaḍā) [d. 40/661] (may God be pleased with them all). Their Caliphate was in this order. The Caliphate was for thirty years and then after it [the form of rule was of that of] a kingdom (mulk) and a principality (imāra).