`Ali b. Ahmad b. Musa narrated to us. He said: Muhammad b. Abi `Abdullah al-Kufi narrated to us. He said: Musa b. `Imran al-Nakha`i narrated to us from his uncle al-Husayn b. Yazid al-Nawfali. He said: I heard Malik b. Anas the jurist say:

By Allah, my eye has not seen one more virtuous than Ja`far b. Muhammad in asceticism, in goodness, in worship, and in piety. I would visit him, and he would receive me and be generous with me. So, one day, I said to him: O son of the Messenger of Allah! What is the reward of one who fasts a day in Rajab in faith and anticipation? So, he said – and whenever he spoke, he was honest –: My father narrated to me from his father from his grandfather. He said: The Messenger of Allah (s) said: “Whoever fasts a day in Rajab in faith and anticipation will be forgiven.” So, I said to him: O son of the Messenger of Allah! What is the reward of one who fasts a day in Sha`ban? So, he said: My father narrated to me from his father from his grandfather. He said: The Messenger of Allah (s) said: “Whoever fasts a day in Sha`ban in faith and anticipation will be forgiven.”