“I once was with abu al-Hassan, al-Awwal on a table of food and he asked for sweet basil saying, ‘I like to begin my food with it because it opens up blockages, and strengthens one’s appetite for food and takes away al-Subul (the paths). If I begin my food with it I then do not mind what I eat thereafter of food; I will not be afraid of illness or calamity.’ When we completed eating, he (the Imam) asked for it again and I saw him searching on the table-spread for its leaves. He (the Imam) ate them and gave to me saying, ‘Finish eating with this; it makes what you ate pleasant, strengthens your appetite for what you may eat thereafter, takes away heaviness and makes burps pleasant as well as one’s breath.’”