Consulted by Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra)
During the final illness of Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra), he appointed Hazrat Umar (ra) as the Khalifa. When he had made this intention, he called Hazrat Abdur Rahman (ra) bin Auf and asked for his opinion about Hazrat Umar (ra). Hazrat Abdur Rahman (ra) bin Auf answered, “O Khalifa of the Messenger (sa), he is held in high esteem in the eyes of other people as well, but he can be rather strict in his temperament.” Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra) then said, “The reason why he possessed this is that he would see me being lenient and so he would be strict to keep things balanced.” Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra) continued, “When he is given this responsibility, he shall abandon many of his practises such as this and you shall not witness the same strictness in him.” Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra) then said, “O Abu Muhammad, I have observed him closely that whenever I would express my displeasure at someone in a certain matter, Hazrat Umar (ra) would counsel me to show leniency to them, and whenever I would show leniency to someone, he would advise me to be strict.” Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra) then said, “O Abu Muhammad, do not mention what I have told you to anyone else.” Hazrat Abdur Rahman (ra) bin Auf agreed to this.
(Tarikh al-Tabari, Vol. 3, Dhikr Istikhlafah Umar bin Khattab, p. 352, Dar-ul-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah, Beirut, 1987)