The Sufficient (Vol 2) · Hadith 1614 (#Ḥadīth #8)

8ـ عِدَّةٌ مِنْ أَصْحَابِنَا عَنْ سَهْلِ بْنِ زِيَادٍ عَنْ جَعْفَرِ بْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ الأشْعَرِيِّ عَنِ ابْنِ الْقَدَّاحِ عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ الله (عَلَيهِ السَّلام) قَالَ قَالَ أَمِيرُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ (عَلَيهِ السَّلام) أَحَبُّ الأعْمَالِ إِلَى الله عَزَّ وَجَلَّ فِي الأرْضِ الدُّعَاءُ وَأَفْضَلُ الْعِبَادَةِ الْعَفَافُ قَالَ وَكَانَ أَمِيرُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ (عَلَيهِ السَّلام) رَجُلاً دَعَّاءً.

8. A number of our people have narrated from Sahl ibn Ziyad from Ja’far ibn Muhammad al-Ash’ari from ibn al-Qaddah from Abu ‘Abdillah who has said the following: “Amir al-Mu’minin, Ali ibn abu Talib has said, ‘The most beloved of deeds before Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Holy, on earth is pleading before Him for help and the best worship is chastity.’ The Imam said, ‘Amir al-Mu’minin, Ali ibn abu Talib was a very prayerful man.’”

Gradings are classical jarḥ-wa-taʿdīl, name-matched to a rijāl index (not individually re-verified).