People who love taqsim and people who find it aimless are usually hearing the same thing and lacking the same key.

The shape

A taqsim opens by establishing the tonic and the first jins, unhurriedly, so the ear settles. It then explores upward, testing the boundaries of the maqam, pausing on notes that create tension. Somewhere in the middle it may modulate, and the departure is meaningful only because the home was established so carefully. Then it returns, usually by a route that acknowledges where it has been, and lands on the tonic in a way that feels earned.

The silence between phrases is not a gap. It is where the listener catches up, and a player who fills it has misunderstood the form.

Listening differently

Try following one thing: where the player rests. Those resting notes map the maqam for you in real time, and once you hear them the improvisation stops being decorative and becomes navigational. It is the same pleasure as watching someone find their way through a place they know well.