Be constant, even if little

Sometimes doing a good thing or staying away from a bad thing

requires one to struggle against his soul.

‘Ibn al-Mubaarak said: “The souls of righteous people in the past used
to push them to do good deeds, but our souls do not do what we want
them to do except by force, so we have to force them.”

That is the reason that Prophet (pbuh) advised the believers to be

constant in doing a good deed, even if it is little. Because when
something is done constantly it becomes a habit and becomes easier
to be done. Pray constantly even if it is just two raka’ats a few minutes
before Fajr. It is true that waking up for Tahajjud requires one to over-
power his sleep and that comes over time. But once it becomes a habit
and the beauty of Tahajjud dawns on your soul, you will enjoy it
immensely.

Thaabit al-Banaani said: “I struggled for twenty years to make myself

pray qiyaam al-layl, and I enjoyed it (qiyaam al-layl) for twenty years.”