Narrated Ibn Abbas: "When (dead body of) Umar was put on his deathbed, the people gathered around him and invoked (Allah) and prayed for him before the body was taken away and I was amongst them.
Suddenly I felt somebody taking hold of my shoulder and found out that he was Ali bin Abi Talib. Ali invoked Allah's mercy for Umar and said, *'O Umar! You have not left behind you a person whose deeds I like to imitate and meet Allah with more than I like your deeds. By Allah! I always thought that Allah would keep you with your two companions, for very often I used to hear the Prophet (saw) saying, 'I, Abu Bakr and Umar entered (somewhere); and I, Abu Bakr and Umar went out." * [Sahih Al-Bukhari, Vol. 5 - 34]