The Bananas

3. A number of our people have narrated from Sahl ibn Ziyad Ali ibn Asbat from Yahya al-San’aniy who has said the following: “I once visited Abu al-Hassan, al-Rida’ عليه السلام, in Makkah. He (the Imam) peeled banana and fed it to Abu Ja‘far, al-Thaniy عليه السلام. I then said, ‘I pray to Allah to keep my soul in service for your cause, is this the blessed newborn?’ He (the Imam) said, ‘Yes, O Yahya, this is the newborn, the like of whom in greatness of blessing is not born in Islam for our Shi ’a.’”