He was from the People of Paradise

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ 

Imam Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Hanbal (r.a.) recorded a narration, with its isnad from Hadhrat Muhammad ibn Hathib (r.a.) that he said, “I heard ‘Ali reciting: 

سُوۡرَةُ الاٴنبیَاء

إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ سَبَقَتۡ لَهُم مِّنَّا ٱلۡحُسۡنَىٰٓ أُوْلَـٰٓٮِٕكَ عَنۡہَا مُبۡعَدُونَ (١٠١) 

Those for whom the Good (Record) from Us has gone before, will be removed far therefrom. (Surah al-Anbiya’:101) 

And he said that from amongst them is ‘Utsman.” 

This is found in Fadha’il asw Swahabah and is swahih.  Imam Abu Bakr Ahmad bin ‘Amr ibn Abi ‘Aaswim (r.a.), in his as-Sunnah; Imam Abu Ja’far Muhammad ibn Jarir ath-Thabari (r.a.), in his Tafsir; and Imam Abu al-Qasim Mahmud ibn ‘Umar az-Zamakhshari (r.a.), in his Mukhtaswar Kitab al-Muwafaqah, all recorded it as well.  In addition, in Imam ath-Thabari’s (r.a.) Tafsir, a similar atsar is recorded through a different chain of transmission.