Tip to avoid a burnout!

Hakim al-Umma Mawlana Ashraf ‘Ali Thanawi (Allah have mercy on him) said,

‘My respected teacher Mawlana Yaqub Nanotawi (Allah have mercy on him) used to advice the seekers that they should end their routine activities (wird, tilawat, tasbihat, readings, etc.)  before they loose complete interest  in them. Leaving a desire to still do more. If they do not do this they will have a burnout (experience of long-term exhaustion and diminished interest) eventually.

Allah save us all form this.

To make it easier to understand he gave the example of yo-yo (Urdu:chakai/chukdor). The tip for successful play is to pull the string before it unwinds completely. If it were to unwind totally the yo-yo spool will never return and just dangle there aimlessly.

Similar is the tip for a salik (and the instructing murshid) to keep the flame of interest and desire burning.

Undertaking too much, too quickly with drastic lifestyle changes over a short period of time  is usually spiritually unhealthy.

The natural spiritual growth is slow, continuous and imperceptible process. Just like the physical development. Years and decades are required to reach and manifest the signs of spiritual puberty and maturity.

A perfect murshid (Shaykh-e-kamil) is needed for this reason.

(Paraphrased. Malfuz reported in Majalis e Hakim al-Ummat ra, and repeated many times by sayyidi wa sanadi wa murshidi Mufti Mohammad Taqi Usmani (Allah preserve him) in his discourses.)