God's Mercy in Spiritual Progress

"Allah (swt) can make you an Arif at once but He doesn't do that. Because if that eternal light comes at once, it will ignite, burn and destroy you.

God is merciful, he moves you class by class, station by station, and step by step until you become an Arif; you should travel in a way that you do not get a stomach disease (by eating very less), do not go crazy, do not go to the desert, and do not abandon your house and social life."

Allama Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Husayni Tihrani (ra)