Steadfastness is the quality that will aid our progress, even if that progress be slow. Be steadfast and you may reach your goal; and even if you don’t, your Lord perceives your sin- cere intention and may convey you towards your goal, just when you have despaired. Our Grandsheikh said that such per- severance in the face of immense odds is most difficult.
Imagine that a person has been told: “There is a treasure waiting for you inside the Earth, a fourth of the way to China – you must dig and take it. Here is a broken pick and a spade with a broken handle, now you may start digging”.
Imagine being ordered to such a task with such tools! You must start; don’t say: “It is impossible! Even an oil drill can’t reach down that far!”
No, you must say: “My Lord has ordered me to proceed and He has given me these instruments with which to proceed with my task, so I must start digging”.
Then you dig, and when you collapse from exhaustion your Lord may deliver that treasure up to you in the blink of an eye.
So don’t lose hope! If we are directing our faces towards the Divine Presence and asking to attain to it, He may take us to that state, but we can never make it on our own.
