Rabi’a

One of the earliest Sufi saints, Rabi’a also has the distinction of being one of the first among women saints in Islam.

Historically, Islam conferred the dignity of saintship on women as well as on men, in complete equality between the sexes. Since Islam has no order of priesthood and no priestly caste, nothing prevented a woman from reaching the highest religious rank as a Muslim saint. The development of mysticism (Sufism), gave women their great opportunity for sainthood. Margaret Smith, author of Rabia states, “The goal of the Sufi’s quest was union with the Divine, having renounced this world and its attraction, being purged of self and its desires, inflamed with a passion of love for God, journeyed ever onward, looking  towards his final purpose, through the life of illumination, with its ecstasies and raptures, and the higher gnosis and attained to the vision of God, in which the lover might become one with the Beloved, and abide in Him for ever.” The Sufis themselves gave a woman—Rabi’a—the first place among the earliest mystics and chose her to represent the first development of mysticism in Islam.

Rabi’a was born around 717 AD in Basra in the poorest of homes. On the night of her birth, there was no oil in the house and no cloth to wrap the new born child in. Greatly distressed by the lack of provisions, the father went to sleep. He dreamed that the Prophet Muhammad appeared to him and said, “Do not be sorrowful, for this daughter who is born is a great saint.”

At a young age, Rabi’a became an orphan. She was captured by a slave trader who sold her into slavery. As a slave, she was kept busy with household duties all day, but when night released her from her chores, she devoted herself to prayer—depriving herself of sleep in the process. One night her master caught sight of her absorbed in prayer. He was astonished to see a light, which illuminated the entire house, miraculously appear over her head.  Terrified, he went back to his room, where he sat in wonder until dawn. Then he approached Rabi´a, told her what he had seen, and offered to give her freedom.

Once freed, Rabi’a moved to the desert and devoted herself to prayer. As she became more widely known, many people, seeking spiritual guidance, beat a path to her door. Known for her beauty, she also received numerous offers of marriage. In reply to such proposals, she said:

“I am not interested, really, in ‘possessing all you own,’
Nor in ‘making you my slave,’
Nor in having my attention distracted from
God even for a split second.”

While Islam typically frowns upon both the unmarried life and the withdrawal from society as a path to God, it nonetheless has embraced Rabi´a wholeheartedly.

During one period, Rabi’a had fasted for seven days and nights, eating nothing. Spending every night in prayer, she had not slept at all. Out of extreme hunger,  she accepted someone’s offering of food and went to fetch a lamp for the house.  When she returned, she found that a cat had spilled the cup of food. Feeling very hungry, Rabi’a said, “I will go and fetch a jug and break my fast with water.” When she brought the jug, the lamp was missing.  She prepared to drink the water in the darkness, but the jug fell from her hands and smashed to pieces. Rabi’a broke into lamentation, saying, “Oh, my Lord, what is this which Thou art doing to wretched me?” She heard a voice saying in reply,

“Have a care.  If you desire it, I will endow you with all the pleasures of this world, but I shall take concern for Me out of your heart, for such concern and the pleasures of this world cannot dwell together in one heart.”

Rabi’a later said, “When I heard this warning, I separated my heart from worldly things and so cut off my worldly hopes that for thirty years every prayer I have performed, I have prayed as if it were my last.”

The story is told that once a disciple said to Rabi’a, “Pray for me.” Rabi’a replied, “Who am I?  Obey your Lord and pray to Him, for He will answer the suppliant when he prays.” For Rabi’a, the fire of all-conquering love demanded eternal union with an eternal flame. The mere mention of death made her tremble—not with apprehension, but with infinite joy.

Rabi’a lived to be almost ninety years old. Toward the end, though she became feeble in body, she remained so clear in her thinking that she was still the guide and spiritual director of the many who sought counsel from her. Many pious folk were sitting around her during her last minutes. She said to them, “Rise and go out.  For a moment, leave the way free for the messengers of God Most High.”

Rabi’a leaves behind numerous teachings and writings.  Here are just a few:

O God!
If I adore You out of fear of Hell, burn me in Hell!
If I adore You out of desire for Paradise,
Lock me out of Paradise.
But if I adore You for Yourself alone,
Do not deny to me Your eternal beauty.

I swear that ever since the first day You brought me back to life,
The day You became my Friend,
I have not slept
And even if You drive me from your door,
I swear again that we will never be separated–
Because You are alive in my heart.
My Joy
My Hunger
My Shelter
My Friend
My Food for the Journey
My Journey’s End
You are my breath,
My hope,
My companion,
My craving,
My abundant wealth.

May God steal from you
All that steals you from Him.

Let me hide in You
From everything that distracts me from You,
From everything that comes in my way
When I want to run to You.

The real work is in the Heart:
Wake up your Heart! Because when the Heart is completely awake,
Then it needs no Friend.

I have two ways of loving You:
A selfish one
And another way that is worthy of You.
In my selfish love, I remember You and You alone.
In that other love, You lift the veil
And let me feast my eyes on Your Living Face.
That I remember You always, or that I see You face-to-face–
No credit to me in either:
The credit is to You in both.

~Jhuma Ahmed
New York, USA