I was once sitting with a few murids in the company of our shaykh, when someone asked,
"How do we make spiritual progress?"
In that moment our shaykh offered a gem to each one of us, he gave us an invaluable lesson when he responded saying that sohbet is the means to spiritual progress. Sohbet is a Turkish word which refers to an intimate and divinely inspired talk or exchange, our shaykh refers to the English word "association" when discussing sohbet. Therefore, "association with the shaykh" is the means to spiritual progress.

On 27 Shaban 1426, our shaykh discussed what an initiate (murid) is responsible for when seeking spiritual progress: