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Rabi’a al-‘Adawiyya (717-801 C.E.) was a female Sufi saint from Basra in modern-day Iraq, who first set forth the doctrine of mystical love and who is widely considered to be the most important of the early Sufi poets. The defining work on her life and writing was written over 50 years ago by Margaret Smith, a small treatise written as a Master's Thesis.
Life & Philosophy
Also known as Rabi`a al-Qaysiyya or Rabi'a of Basrah, she was born in Basra, Iraq between the years 95 A.H. and 99 A.H. (about 717 C.E.). Much of the poetry that is attributed to her is of unknown origin. After a life of hardship she became spontaneously realized. When asked by Sheikh Hasan al-Basri how she discovered the secret, she responded by stating:
You know of the how, but I know of the how-less. Attar, Rabe'a al-Adawiya, from Muslim Saints and Mystics, trans. A.J. Arberry, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1983
One of the many myths that swirl around her life, is that she was freed from slavery because her master saw her praying while surrounded by light, realized that she was a saint and feared for his life if he continued to keep her as a slave.
One day, she was seen running through the streets of Basra carrying a torch in one hand and a bucket of water in the other. When asked what she was doing, she said:
I want to put out the fires of Hell, and burn down the rewards of Paradise. They block the way to God. I do not want to worship from fear of punishment or for the promise of reward, but simply for the love of God.
While she apparently received many marriage offers (including a proposal from Hasan al-Basri himself), she remained celibate and died of old age, an ascetic, her only care from the disciples who followed her. She was the first in a long line of female Sufi mystics.
Her name is also transliterated as Rabi'a and Rābiʻa al-ʻAdawiyya al-Quaysiyya of Basra.
Notes
External links
- Islamicedfoundation.com - Poetry Excerpts
- Ismaili Web - Rabia the Slave
- Khamush.com - Rabi'a Basri
- Mythinglinks.org - 8th Century Islamic Saint
- Other Women's Voices
- Poetseers.org - Rabia al Basri
- Rabi'a, Al-Hallaj and Ibn 'Arabi
- Sufimaster.org - Teachings
"Rabia"