“’Isma’il ibn Jabir once asked abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), saying, ‘I pray to Allah to keep you well, there is a great deal of optional Salah (prayer) upon me. What should I do?’ He (the Imam) said, ’Perform the compensatory prayer for them.’ He said, ‘They are of a great number.’ He (the Imam) said, ’Perform the compensatory prayer for them.’ He said, ‘I cannot count them.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘Try to perform them.’ Murazim has said, ‘I fell ill for four months in which I could not perform optional Salah (prayer). I said, ’I pray to Allah to keep you well, I pray to Allah to keep my soul in service for your cause, I fell ill for four months and I could not perform any optional Salah (prayer).’ He (the Imam) said, ‘There is no compensatory prayer for them upon you; one suffering from illness is not like one in good health. Whoever is overpowered by Allah, for him Allah is the first to pardon.’”