abu Zayd said to me the following: “A servant of Ja‘far ibn Muhammad (a.s.), informed me that once one of the followers of the Imam became ill and we went to visit him. We were a group of the followers of Ja‘far ibn Muhammad (a.s.). He (the Imam) met us at a distance on the way and asked, ‘Where are you going?’ We replied, ‘We like to visit so and so patient.’ He said, ‘Wait.’ We waited. He asked, ‘Is there with any of you some apple, pears, peaches or a measure of perfumes or fragrance like ‘Ud or bakhur?’ We replied, ‘We do not have any such things with us.’ The Imam then said, ‘You should know that a patient feels relieved when something is presented to him.’”