POETRY of Rabi`a al-Adawiyya

Siham · September 06, 2006, 08:22:38 PM

Rabi'a al-Adawiyya (d. 801) is one of the most famous Sufis of Basra, in present-day Iraq. She was born into a very poor family. When both her parents died, she was sold into slavery, but was later set free by her master due to her asceticism and piety.

Rabi'a's love and passion for God was so intense that there was no room left in her heart or mind for any other thought or interest. For Rabi'a the only thing that mattered was absorption in God Alone, putting all her hope in God and losing herself in His praise. The nightly prayer became for her a sweet and loving conversation between her and her Beloved.

In the history of Sufism, Rabi'a has become a legend, epitomizing devotional adoration along the path of asceticism and love.

Siham · September 06, 2006, 08:23:36 PM

Your hope in my heart is the rarest treasure
Your Name on my tongue is the sweetest word
My choicest hours
Are the hours I spend with You --

O God, I can't live in this world
Without remembering You--
How can I endure the next world
Without seeing Your face?

I am a stranger in Your country
And lonely among Your worshippers:
This is the substance of my complaint.

Excerpts from 'Doorkeeper of the Heart'

Jannah · November 17, 2006, 08:43:35 AM

Rabia Al-Adawiyyah of Basra:

Brethren, my rest is in my solitude,
And my Beloved is ever in my presence,
Nothing for me will do but love of Him;
By love of Him I am tested in this world.
Whereso I be I contemplate His beauty;
He is my prayer-niche; He mine orient is.
Died I of love and found not His acceptance,
Of mankind I most wretched, woe were me!
Heart's mediciner, Thou All of longing, grant
Union with Thee; 'twill cure me to the depth.
O Thou, ever my joy, my life, from Thee
Is mine existence and mine ecstacy.
From all creation I have turned away
For union with Thee ---mine utmost end.

Halima · November 17, 2006, 05:32:09 PM

I never hear the call of prayer without remembering the trumpet blare on the Day of Resurrection. I never see the snow without remembering the fluttering scrolls of deeds being handed out. I never see a swarm of locusts without remembering the assembly on the Day of Judgment.

-Rabia, "Rabi'a the Mystic"

Halima · November 17, 2006, 05:36:06 PM

O my Lord, the stars glitter

O my Lord,
the stars glitter
and the eyes of men are closed.
Kings have locked their doors
and each lover is alone with his love.

Here, I am alone with you.

Siham · December 11, 2006, 05:02:50 PM

"Renunciation of the world is followed by peace; its desire brings sorrow. Restrain your desires, discipline your self, and do not allow anyone to oppress your soul."

(Rabi'a: "Rabi'a the Mystic")

Siham · December 15, 2006, 09:00:16 PM

You are the sole companion of my heart, though my body is available for those who wish its company. This body is hospitable to its guests; the love of my heart is the guest of my soul.

(Rabi'a, "Rabi'a the Mystic")

Jannah · December 18, 2006, 06:44:44 AM

O God, Another Night is passing away,

O God, Another Night is passing away,
Another Day is rising --
Tell me that I have spent the Night well so I can be at peace,
Or that I have wasted it, so I can mourn for what is lost.
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.

Siham · December 27, 2006, 03:27:05 PM

I love You two kinds of love,
A love of longing and a love because You deserve that love.
Through the love of longing I am attracted to You
from all other, through remembrance.
And through the other love,
I cannot see the Universe before seeing You,
But it is not for me to praise in this or in that love,
But the praise is to You in this and that.

Siham · December 27, 2006, 03:55:14 PM

"If My love is true I will obey you,
For the Lover is obedient to the one he loves."

Siham · January 08, 2007, 12:38:25 AM

O Lord...
Once I wanted You so much
I didn't even dare walk past Your house—
And now
I am not even worthy to be let in

nuh · January 08, 2007, 01:29:34 AM

نوح

Siham · January 08, 2007, 09:17:31 PM

Rabi'a al-Badawiya: a Muslim Woman Saint

Rabi'a al-Badawiya is often confused with the more well-known Rabi'a al-'Adawiya, but appears to be the same as Rabi'a bint Isma'il al-Shamiya, a Sufi woman well-known for becoming enraptured in spiritual states. While in such states of love she would recite the following Arabic poem:

Habibun laysa ya'diluhu habib
wa-la siwahu fi qalbi nasib
habibunghaba 'an basari wa-shakhsi
wa-lakin 'an fu'adi ma yaghib

A beloved whom no beloved can equal
and for other than whom there is no share of my heart
is a beloved who is absent from my vision and my person
but who is present to my heart.

Siham · January 12, 2007, 07:53:06 PM

Once a rich merchant, seeing Rabi'a's house falling into disrepair, gave her a thousand pieces of gold and a new house. ...Immediately she returned the money to the merchant and said, "I fear I will become attached to this house and will no longer be able to occupy myself with the other world. My only desire is to be of service to God."

Siham · January 12, 2007, 07:58:30 PM

Fear is like a candle whose flame helps a person distinguish goodness from evil; and fear of God allows a person to turn away from evil. Those who fear mere creatures flee from them; but those who fear God flee to Him.

Halima · January 16, 2007, 01:24:04 AM

How numerous Your favors bestowed upon me, favors of gifts and grace and assistance. Your love is now my only desire and my ultimate bliss.

-Rabi'a, "Rabi'a the Mystic"

Halima · January 17, 2007, 08:51:34 AM

You are the sole companion of my heart, though my body is available for those who wish its company. This body is hospitable to its guests; the love of my heart is the guest of my soul.

-Rabi'a, "Rabi'a the Mystic"

Halima · January 17, 2007, 08:52:52 AM

One springtime Rabi'a entered a house, and did not come out. A follower said to her: 'Come outside, and see the beauties of the creation.' Rabi'a said: 'Come inside, and see the creator. If you see the creator, you become too preoccupied to look at the creation.'

-Attar: Rabi'a

Siham · February 15, 2007, 09:54:24 PM

"Lord, the night is gone. The dawn has lighted the sky. How I long to know if You accepted or rejected my prayers. Comfort me, Lord, for only you can comfort this state of mine. You gave me life and nurtured me; Yours is all the praise. If You would ever drive me away from Your door, I would never abandon it for the sake of Your love, which I carry in my heart."

[Rabi'a, "Rabi'a the Mystic"]

Siham · February 16, 2007, 08:23:19 PM

"The source of my suffering and loneliness is deep in my heart. This is a disease no doctor can cure. Only Union with the Friend can cure it."

[Rabi´a al-Adawiyya]

Siham · February 20, 2007, 03:20:39 PM

Stay close by the door, if you desire all beauty
and leave aside sleep, if you wish to arrive

And make of the spirit your first place of account
to the beloved, whose lights shine as from gold

All of them worship out of fear of fire!
and consider deliverance abundant good fortune-

Or, so they mat dwell in the garden, and reach
to the meadows of paradise, and there drink from its rivers

Of gardens or fire I have no opinion
I seek no exchange for my dearest love

Siham · February 20, 2007, 03:27:12 PM

O Lord!
If I worship You from fear of Hell, case me into Hell
If I worship You from desire for Paradise, deny me paradise
but if I worship you for Your own sake
then withhold not from me Your Eternal beauty

Halima · March 16, 2007, 10:40:19 PM

If anyone asks why Rabi'a is ranked equal with men, we reply that Muhammad, the chief of prophets, said, "God does not judge you by your outward forms. It is not outward form that matters, but inner intention." Moreover, since we derive much of our religion from Muhammad's wife Aisha, then it is right to take spiritual inspiration from a woman. When a woman is on the path of God, it is not appropriate to define her by her womanhood.

-Attar, "Rabi'a"

Siham · March 29, 2007, 04:30:44 PM

O Lord, if tomorrow on Judgment Day
You send me to Hell, I will tell such a secret
That Hell will race from me
Until it is a thousand years away.

O Lord, whatever share of this world
You could give to me,
Give it to Your enemies;
Whatever share of the next world
You want to give to me,
Give it to Your friends.
You are enough for me.

Siham · April 09, 2007, 02:42:32 PM

Eyes are at rest, the stars are setting.
Hushed are the stirrings of birds in their nests,
Of monsters in the ocean.

You are the Just who knows no change,
The Balance that can never swerve,
The Eternal which never passes away.

The doors of Kings are bolted now and guarded by soldiers.
Your Door is open to all who call upon You.

My Lord,
Each love is now alone with his beloved.
And I am alone with You.

Siham · April 11, 2007, 01:55:00 PM

With my Beloved I alone have been,
When secrets tenderer than evening airs
Passed, and the Vision blest
Was granted to my prayers,
That crowned me, else obscure, with endless fame;
The while amazed between
His Beauty and His Majesty
I stood in silent ecstasy
Revealing that which o'er my spirit went and came.
Lo, in His face commingled
Is every charm and grace;
The whole of Beauty singled
Into a perfect face
Beholding Him would cry,
'There is no God but He, and He is the most High.'

Siham · May 03, 2007, 04:12:07 PM

My Beloved

My peace, O my brothers and sisters, is my solitude,

And my Beloved is with me always,

For His love I can find no substitute,

And His love is the test for me among mortal beings,

Whenever His Beauty I may contemplate,

He is my "mihrab", towards Him is my "qiblah"

If I die of love, before completing satisfaction,

Alas, for my anxiety in the world, alas for my distress,

O Healer (of souls) the heart feeds upon its desire,

The striving after union with Thee has healed my soul,

O my Joy and my Life abidingly,

You were the source of my life and from Thee also came my ecstasy.

I have separated myself from all created beings,

My hope is for union with Thee, for that is the goal of my desire

- Rabi´a al-Basri

Jannah · May 04, 2007, 06:38:07 AM

From Rabi'a al-Adawiyya (from Doorkeeper of the Heart by Charles Upton)

I am fully qualified to work as a doorkeeper,

and for this reason:

What is inside me, I don't let out:

What is outside me, I don't let in.

If someone comes in, he goes right out again –

He has nothing to do with me at all.

I am the Doorkeeper of the Heart, not a lump of wet clay.

AND

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.

Halima · June 15, 2007, 11:38:16 AM

He does not refuse sustenance to the one who speaks ill of Him. How then could He refuse sustenance to the one whose soul is overflowing with love for Him?

-Rabi'a, "Rabi'a the Mystic"

simply_sister · June 27, 2007, 03:53:58 AM

From Rabi'a al-Adawiyya (Doorkeeper of the Heart by Charles Upton)

~~ How long will you keep pounding on an open door
Begging for someone to open it? ~~

-----------------------------------------

~~ Oh God, You know that the only thing I want in this life
Is to be obedient to Your command.
Even the living sight of my eyes
Is service at your court. ~~

Halima · June 28, 2007, 01:46:27 PM

O Beloved of hearts, I beseech only You.
Have pity this day on those who turn to You.
My Hope, my Rest, my Delight,
this heart can love none other but You.

-Rabi'a, "Rabi'a the Mystic"

Halima · July 13, 2007, 05:25:41 PM

Shed tears when you are aggrieved.
Your grief will heal those in grief.
Be steadfast and awaken, fast regularly, starve!
Starvation is one of the labors of surrender.

-Sha'wana in "Rabi'a the Mystic"

Halima · July 13, 2007, 05:52:11 PM

God kindles the fire of love in the hearts of the chosen, so that their carnal selves are consumed. Once ignited the fire of longing never dies. That is the flame about which the Prophet said, "When God wills the good of his servant, He kindles a light of faith in his heart."

When they asked him what were the signs of that fire, he replied, "Deviation from the abode of vanity; progression toward the Eternal."

-Abu Sa'id, "Rabi'a the Mystic"

Halima · August 10, 2007, 01:09:35 PM

They asked her: 'When sinners repent, does God accept their repentence, or not?' She replied: 'Sinners can only repent if God gives them a spirit of repentence; and when God gives people this spirit, he accepts their repentance. But if people try to repent without receiving this spirit, he will not accept their repentance.'

-Attar, "Rabi'a"

Halima · October 02, 2007, 12:20:47 PM

Fear is a state of darkness in which the soul wanders, bewildered, seeking help, and then comes hope as a ray of light, and grace prevails.

-Al-Sarraj, "Rabi'a the Mystic"

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POETRY of Rabi`a al-Adawiyya