Naseehat for the Zaakireen

Whoever receives tawfeeq of Zikr has indeed received a colossal treasure. Our Hazrat would recite:
“I find Him or not, I will continue searching. I get or I don’t get, I will continue wishing.”

“Or I don’t get” is based on the external, that is according to what the saalik thinks. Otherwise, ‘continuing the search’ is, in itself, ‘finding’.
Someone said beautifully… although it is not surprising to say something which one does not understand. Frequently it happens that the speaker’s mind does not reach where the listener’s mind reaches. Hazrat Moulana Muhammad Ya’qoob Saheb recited a self-composed love poem to someone. The person asked for the poem to be repeated. Moulana repeated it and the person took enjoyment from it for quite some time.
Moulana asked: “What do you find in it so enjoyable?” He explained a meaning of the poem which Moulana’s mind did not even grasp. In any case, the poem is:
“To remain in search of the Friend, that is Mujaahadah (the spiritual exertion).
To think of the greatness of the Beloved, that is Mushaahadah (Divine Vision).”
Truly, Zikr and Fikr are precisely Mushaahadah. Thus, He
declares:
He [the Zaakir, Saalik] thinks of Allah Ta’ala and Allah Ta’ala thinks of him. With such a treasure what else can one wish for?
In short, some Zaakireen think of Zikr without fruits, to be futile. The answer to this is that which has just been explained. One should understand that the Zikr at the beginning has not gone to waste. It too was beneficial, albeit not discernable. At the end the benefit perceived was the benefit of the collective period [of Zikr].

“Remember Me, I will remember you.”
I asked a certain Buzrug: “Why is it that Ulama require less Mujaahadah [spiritual struggle against the lowly desires of man] in Sulook?” He replied: “They make the most Mujaahadah. As long as they are engaged in academic pursuit, they are engaged in Mujaahadah.”
Subhaanallah! What a wonderful point he has brought to the fore! A flint which has been dried by sunlight for years ignites almost immediately. Whereas that which has not felt sunlight; it has always remained in a damp place, it ignites with great difficulty.
The years of sunlight thus, just as the struggle and effort of the student, are not without benefit. Today the effect is apparent. And if a person took it to be futile and sat idle then he is deprived. It has been well said:
“A person brought up in pleasure and comfort, Cannot walk the path to the Friend. Love is the hallmark of those in distress.”
Those who live in comfort and luxury gain nothing. Just look at students. Those among them who live in luxury gain fool’s potential.
In short, if you do not perceive benefit at the beginning of your course then do not become despondent and think that there was no benefit. In fact, the benefit is accruing. Everything will be received at once.
It is just like a person wishes to buy an expensive halwa [sweet dish]. He needs five rupees, whereas his [daily] income is two annas. A wise man advised him to put one, one paisa into a money box and when he has saved up five rupees, he can buy his halwa. Now, if he wishes to buy the halwa before he has saved up five rupees then he is in error.

O Zaakireen! Your daily Baarah Tasbeehs [a name for a specified amount and specified way of making Zikr with the Kalimah Laa Ilaaha Illallah] is also one, one paisa.
If you do not save it up, then how are you going to buy that which you desire [i.e., Divine Proximity and Divine Love]? Yes, when it amounts to five rupees then you will get a dish of halwa.
In short, if it takes long then let it, because taking long is also according to Divine Wisdom. Allah Ta’ala revealed to me wisdom behind it in the Mathnawi [Rhyming Couplets] of Moulana Roomi (Rahmatullahi alaih):
“We moreover have the power that without delay,
We can show the road and bestow the favour of reaching Us come what may.
So that you are saved from the stormy waters of the human condition,
and you are honoured with the treasure of Our Union.

However, (the wisdom in the delay and the Mujaahadah) is, That the sweetness and the pleasures of the destination,
are commensurate to the difficult of the peregrination. (Hence it is a fact that) a person finds the pleasure of his children and family once,
he has undergone the rigours of travels away from his residence.”

Essence of fasting