O GOD, ANOTHER NIGHT. . .

BIOGRAPHY

Rabia lived in Basra, Iraq, in the second half of the 8th century AD. She was born into poverty. But many spiritual stories are associated with her and what we can glean about her is reality merged with legend. These traditions come from Farid ud din Attar, a later sufi saint and poet, who used earlier sources. Rabia herself though has not left any written works.

After her father's death, there was a famine in Basra, and during that time she was parted from her family. It is not clear how she was traveling in a caravan that was set upon by robbers and she was captured and sold into slavery.

In spite of her master working her very hard, at night after finishing her chores, Rabia would turn to meditation and prayers and praises of the Lord. Foregoing rest and sleep she spent her nights in prayers while often fasting during the day.

One day the master of the house observed her at her devotions and was taken aback to see a divine light enveloping her as she prayed. Horrified that he had kept such a saintly soul as a slave, he quickly set her free. Rabia chose this opportunity to go into the desert to meditate and became an ascetic. Unlike many sufi saints, she didn't have an intermediary (did not learn from a teacher or master) but seemed to possess a first-hand interaction with Allah.

Throughout her life, her love of Allah, poverty and self-denial were unwaveringly her constant companions. She did not possess much; other than a chipped jug, a rush mat and a brick, which she used as a pillow. Her nights were spent in prayer and reflection, scolding herself if she slept, for it took her away from her resolute love of Allah.

As her popularity grew, so did her following, who came far and wide to her sermons. She also held deliberations with many of the distinguished religious citizens of the day.

Though she had many offers of marriage, (and as tradition has it, even one from the Amir of Basra,) she refused them all, as she had no time in her life for anything other than Allah.

More interesting than her absolute asceticism, however, is the actual concept of "Divine Love" that she introduced. She was the first to introduce the idea that Allah should be loved for Allah's own sake, not out of fear - as earlier Sufis had done.

She taught that repentance was a gift from God because no one could repent unless God had already accepted him and given him this gift of repentance. She taught that sinners must fear the punishment they deserved for their sins, but she also offered such sinners far more hope of Paradise than most other ascetics did. For herself, she held to a higher ideal, worshipping God neither from fear of Hell nor from hope of Paradise, for she saw such self-interest as unworthy of God's servants; emotions like fear and hope were like veils - i.e., hindrances to the vision of Allah Himself.

She prayed "O Allah! If I worship You for fear of Hell, burn me in Hell, and if I worship You in hope of Paradise, exclude me from Paradise. But if I worship You for Your own sake, grudge me not Your everlasting beauty.

Rabia was in her early to mid eighties when she died, having followed the mystic way to the end. By then, she was continually united with her Beloved. As she told her Sufi friends, "My Beloved is always with me" ..

Thursday, November 22, 2007