Al-Waqi'ah 56:13

The group at the forefront (as-sabiqun) will comprise of those who, immediately accept the Truth when it appears before them, and surrender themselves to it without hesitation. According to the Prophet’s wife, ‘A’ishah, the Prophet said, ‘Do you know, on the Day of Judgement, who will be the first to find a place in the protective shade of God?’ People said that God and His Prophet knew best. Then he said, ‘It will be those to whom Truth was presented and they accepted it. When Truth was demanded of them, they gave it. They gave the same decision with regard to others as they did with regard to themselves.’ (Tafsir ibn Kathir). In the early period of the call for Truth, for those who came forward and embraced Islam, it was a discovery. The generation coming after them, regarded Islam as a legacy. It is this difference between discovery and legacy which raises the status of first group over that of the second group. Naturally, the second group is larger in number than the first group. In the Hereafter, there will be ordinary rewards for the second group while, for the first group, there will be royal rewards.