Reports on Jafar bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him)

Amir (may Allah have mercy on him) said: I was informed that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sent a messenger to the wife of Sayyiduna Ja'far (may Allah be pleased with him), asking her to send the sons of Sayyiduna Ja'far (may Allah be pleased with him) to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). The children were brought to him (peace and blessings be upon him), and he (peace and blessings be upon him) supplicated in this way: "O Allah, Ja'far has come to You, to the best of rewards. So take his place among his offspring in the best way You have ever taken the place of any servant from among Your righteous servants."

Amir (may Allah have mercy on him) said: When Sayyiduna Ja'far (may Allah be pleased with him) came from Abyssinia, Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) met Sayyidah Asma bint Umays (may Allah be pleased with her) and said to her: "We preceded you in emigration, and we are better than you." She said: "I will not go back until I go to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)." Then she went in to him (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: "O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), I met Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), and he said that they are better than us and that they preceded us in emigration!" At this the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "No, rather you people emigrated twice."

Isma'il (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Sa'id bin Abi Burdah (may Allah have mercy on him) narrated to me: She (Sayyidah Asma, may Allah be pleased with her) said to Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) that day: "It is not so. We were outcasts in a land of people who were hateful and distant, while you were with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), who would admonish the ignorant among you and feed the hungry among you."

Abu Maysarah said: When the news of the martyrdom of Sayyiduna Ja'far (may Allah be pleased with him), Sayyiduna Zayd and Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Rawahah (may Allah be pleased with him) reached the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), he (peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned them and then supplicated in this way: "O Allah, forgive Zayd," saying it three times, "O Allah, forgive Ja'far, and Abdullah bin Rawahah as well."

Salim bin Abi al-Ja'd said: These three were shown to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in a dream. He (peace and blessings be upon him) saw Sayyiduna Ja'far in the form of an angel with two wings, drenched in blood; Zayd was on a throne opposite him; and Ibn Rawahah (may Allah be pleased with him) was sitting with them as well, as if they were turning away from him.

Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to Sayyiduna Ja'far (may Allah be pleased with him): "You resemble me in physical form and in character."

Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to Sayyiduna Ja'far (may Allah be pleased with him): "You resemble me in physical form and in character."

Sayyiduna al-Bara bin Azib (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to Sayyiduna Ja'far (may Allah be pleased with him): "You resemble me in physical form and in character."

Abd al-Rahman bin Abi Layla said that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "As for you, O Ja'far, you resemble me in physical form and in character."

Amir said: On the day of the Battle of Mu'tah, at a place called al-Balqa, Sayyiduna Ja'far (may Allah be pleased with him) was killed, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) supplicated: "O Allah, take the place of Ja'far among his family in the best way You have ever taken the place of any servant from among Your righteous servants."

Imam al-Sha'bi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: When the fortress of Khaybar was conquered, someone came and informed the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that Sayyiduna Ja'far (may Allah be pleased with him) had come from the Negus. At this he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I do not know which of the two makes me happier: the arrival of Ja'far (may Allah be pleased with him) or the conquest of Khaybar." Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) met him, embraced him and kissed him on the spot between his two eyes.

Amir (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) married Sayyidah Asma bint Umays (may Allah be pleased with her), and the sons of Sayyidah Asma, Muhammad bin Ja'far and Muhammad bin Abi Bakr, began boasting to each other. Each of them said: "I am more honourable than you, and my father is better than your father." At this Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said to her: "Judge between them." So Sayyidah Asma (may Allah be pleased with her) said: "I have not seen any young man among the Arabs better than Ja'far (may Allah be pleased with him), and I have not seen any older man better than Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him)." Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said to her: "You have left nothing for us! Had you answered anything other than this, I would have been very displeased with you." Sayyidah Asma (may Allah be pleased with her) said: "By Allah, three men of whom you are the least are indeed the best of men."