Wayfarer's Worship: A Gentle Ascent

"The case of the wayfarer's engagement in worship is like that of the man desirous of having a constant appetite for food: first, he must select a food that suits his taste and then stop eating before he has eaten to his fill so that he continually feels an appetite. It is to this gentleness and mildness that the advice of Hazrat Sadiq ('a) to Abd al‑Aziz Qaratisi relates:

O Abd al‑Aziz, verily faith has ten degrees, like the steps of a ladder, which one climbs step by step.... When you see someone who is at a lower step than yours, lift him up gently to yourself and don't put a burden upon him which would strain him to the breaking point.

On the whole, that which can be concluded from what has been said is that worship is effective in wayfaring which arises solely and exclusively from inclination and interest, and to this refers the statement of the Imam,

“Do not force worship on yourself (making it unpleasant).”

Allama Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Husayni Tihrani (ra)