Question:
When I was in my teens and twenties, I used to read roughly 3-4 books a week, but sometime in my early to mid-twenties I began to have real difficulties concentrating for any length of time until I couldn’t read 2 pages from beginning to end. By the time I had finished the 2nd page I had forgotten what was written on the 1st and I’d have to start again and the same thing would keep happening until I just gave up trying. The ability to concentrate just seems to have left me. Is there any kind of explanation for this from a Sufi perspective for why this would happen?
Answer:
Tasawwuf is all about action rather than memorization. Furthermore, as stated in two foundational hadiths, what is best is what suffices even if little, and regular action even if little, is best:
مَا قَلَّ وَكَفَى خَيْرٌ مِمَّا كَثُرَ وَأَلْهَى
which means “What is not much but suffices is better than what is much and distracts”
and
كَانَ أَحَبُّ الأَعْمَالِ إِلَى رَسُولِ الله صَلَّى الله عَلَيه وسَلَّم مَا دَامَ عَلَيْهِ الْعَبْدُ وَإِنْ قَلَّ
which means “The most beloved of deeds to the Messenger of Allah (upon him blessings and peace) was what was practiced regularly, even if little.”
Hajj Gibril Haddad
