Reminder: I long to enter the garden of bliss

My soul said to me: I long to enter the Garden of Bliss. I replied: A noble longing indeed. To aspire to God’s mercy is an elevation, and to hope in His bounty is an act of worship. Yet the Garden has a clear path; it is not traversed by wishful thinking, nor attained by mere claims.
Do you not know that its way is obedience embraced, desire resisted, and the self disciplined? And yet I see you incline wherever passion inclines, grow heavy when called to the night prayer, and postpone repentance as though death were delayed at your command. Do you seek a dwelling prepared for the God-fearing while persisting in the causes of deprivation?
True hope is that which is joined with action; true fear is that which begets humility and restraint. As for empty wishes, they are the capital of the bankrupt. The merchandise of God is precious: it is not obtained through bodily ease nor by preferring fleeting pleasures, but through resisting desire, persevering against the lower self, and turning sincerely to one’s Lord.
If you are sincere in your longing, then rise to action and hasten before the hour passes. For they are but numbered breaths; when they are spent, hope is cut off and the matter is decided.

(by: Dr Mohammed Akram Nadwi, Oxford, 4 Ramadan 1447)