The woman who became the first female saint in the Sufi mystical tradition

Rabia Al-‘Adawiyya Al Qasiya — or, more simply: the great Rabia Al-Basri

“The real work is in the Heart:

Wake up your Heart!

Because when the heart is completely awake,

Then it needs no Friend.”

— RABIA AL-BASRI (717-801 CE)

The Sufi mystical path is open to all genders but still, most of the great saints we hear spoken about are men. It makes one question — were there any Sufi women?

Indeed, there were and, we do not talk about them enough. So, let us commemorate one of the most celebrated Sufi saints to walk this Earth — a woman named Rabia Al-‘Adawiyya Al Qasiya. Or, more simply: the great Rabia Al-Basri.

Depiction of Rabiʼa grinding grain from a Persian dictionary.

Most accounts of Rabia Al-Basri’s early life are narrated by the famed Sufi saint and poet Farid al-Din Attar, as Rabia herself did not leave behind any written works. But, from start to finish this holy woman’s life can only be described as magical and divine.

Rabia’s story begins in the 8th century. Around 717 CE, Rabia was born into a highly respected but very poor family in Basra, Iraq. The name Rabia actually means “fourth” in Arabic, as Rabia was the fourth and final sister born into the home.

However, soon after her birth, her father had a dream in which the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) appeared to him and told him:

“Your newly born daughter is a favorite of the Lord, and shall lead many Muslims to the right path. You should approach the Amir of Basra and present him with a letter in which should be written this message: ‘You offer Durood to the Holy Prophet one hundred times every night and four hundred times every Thursday night. However, since you failed to observe the rule last Thursday, as a penalty you must pay the bearer four hundred dinars’”.

Her father did as the dream instructed. The Amir resonated with the message, seeing it as a spiritual confirmation of sorts. Thus, he became overjoyed to be in the presence of the Prophet (ﷺ) and happily paid Rabia’s father the money. He also told her father that he would provide for him and his family should they need anything.

And so, the crown of mysticism that covered Rabia’s head had made itself known in her infancy and would continue to make itself known throughout her life — just like many Sufi saints whose lives were a series of divine omens and spiritual confirmations that heralded their respective legacies.

After her father died, Basra was struck by famine so, Rabia chose to say goodbye to her sisters and depart by caravan to new vistas. Misfortune struck when the caravan was stopped by robbers, who took Rabia as captive and sold her in the market as a slave. The master she was sold to would be a man who would make her endure very harsh physical labor.

Despite the labor, she often fasted (out of devotion to God). She also would escape the bonds of slavery — and the bonds of the material world as a whole — by praying throughout the night and becoming lost in the world of Spirit. She was no stranger to the world of mystical experience and would immerse herself in her invocations.

One night, her master heard her praying feverishly and when he went to check on her, he saw what is described as one of Rabia’s many miracles — as she was prostrating in the dark, above her head a lamp floated freely in space at the precise moment she was uttering:

“O my Lord, you know that my heart only longs to obey You, for the light of my eye is under Your service. If I were able to, I would not stop one moment calling upon You, but You have left me under the mercy of a cruel being from Your creation.”

Due to a mixture of awe and fear from what he saw, her master could not bear to keep such a holy, saintly woman as his slave! He freed her the next morning and Rabia was a slave no more.

Just as divine decree had saved her family from poverty in infancy, so had divine decree saved her from a life of slavery.

Beyond her miracles, steadfast devotion to God and high level of spiritual knowledge (she was a disciple of the great Sufi mystic Hasan Al-Basri) — Rabia was one of the first Sufis who set forth the doctrine of Divine Love and the idea that God should be loved for God's own sake and not out of fear.

She detailed this in one of her most famous poems, where she said:

“I carry a torch in one hand

And a bucket of water in the other:

With these things I am going to set fire to Heaven

And put out the flames of Hell

So that voyagers to God can rip the veils

And see the real goal.”

“For the Love of God”, a painting by Islamic surrealist artist Safia Latif, featuring a depiction of Rabia and imagery inspired by Rabia’s poetry.

Interestingly, Rabia was also known for remaining strictly celibate, which was surprising in a religion like Islam which considers marriage to be “one half” of one’s deen [faith]. Instead, she rejected many marriage proposals and was firm in her desire to give herself only to God, her Beloved.

Her devotion to God was so intense that she would spend all night in prayer and divine contemplation, praying and reciting the Qur'an. She would even chide herself if she fell asleep because she felt it took her away from her time with the Beloved. It is said her only possessions were a broken jug, a rush mat and a brick which she used as a pillow.

But, Rabia had many visitors, some of whom were important mystics, as her influence gained her the respect of her contemporaries. Her reputation also attracted disciples who wished to learn from her and her teachings, which she often gave in poetic form. These disciples would go on take care of her in old age, given her voluntary state as an unmarried woman without spouse or children.

To this day, Rabia is widely considered to be the most important of the early Sufi poets. The definitive work on her life and writing is apparently a small treatise that was written over 50 years ago — as a Master’s thesis penned by a woman named Margaret Smith.

Indeed, Hazrat Bibi Rabia Al-Basri remains one of the most memorable, influential Sufi women in history. She was utterly consumed by ecstatic love and divine contemplation — as reflected in her spiritual legacy of having a deeply intimate, trusting relationship with divinity that overruled all else in her life. She was, after all, the original pioneer of Divine Love in the Sufi mystical tradition.

Beyond that, Rabia was an intensely independent woman who did not fit the traditional mold of the women in her time. Her devotion to divinity was — in a sense — a radical feminist act. She is a legend, an inspirational example of a fierce woman who fearlessly and devotedly committed to her One and Only passion: God.

1. “Rabia al Basri.” Science and Nonduality (SAND), 13 Feb. 2024, scienceandnonduality.com/article/rabia-al-basri/. Accessed 8 Mar. 2024.

2. “The Knower of Allah, Rabia al-Adawiyya.” Sidi Muhammad Press, sufimaster.org/teachings/rabia-al-adawiyya/. Accessed 8 Mar. 2024.

3. Admin. “Following in the Footsteps.” Rabia Institute, 11 Nov. 1970, www.rabiainstitute.org/following-in-the-footsteps/. Accessed 8 Mar. 2024.

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