Rabia Basri is one of the amazing women of old times.
She is widely considered a Muslim saint and Sufi mystic.
More than 5 years ago I wrote a little poem about her:
(The purpose of this blog post was not to share the poem,
but to share a quote that i read from her,
so please read on beyond the poem)
Unconditional love always wins
There was a girl, named Rabia
Captured by vicious men
Sold as slave at a very tender age
Imagine, if you can
Work was tough
Hard, early until late, every day
The master was rough
Bad temper was his way
The master came home quite late one night
He could hear from Rabia’s room some noise
He was concerned, went nearer
It was a whispering voice
He was curious to whom his servant
Would still talk to so late at night
He went to the window to see
And could not believe the sight
The girl he treated rough and hard
Was sitting there to pray
Asking blessings for her master
From the Creator of night and day.
Through his heart, a remorseful wave:
Who was he to treat this saintly girl as slave
He set Rabia from slavehood free
A true saint, she went on to be
I think the story of her life is very well written in wikipedia.
Just googling the name of the saint will bring you there.
The actual reason for this blog post was that I read just yesterday
a fantastic quote from this superbly wise woman.
Initially it may be difficult to grasp and accept,
but if we let it sink in, she has a very strong point, I think.
Here comes the quote:
"O God! if I worship Thee in fear of Hell, burn me in Hell;
and if I worship Thee in hope of Paradise, exclude me from Paradise;
but if I worship Thee for Thine own sake, withhold not thine everlasting
beauty."
I think that there is such a deep truth in it.
How many preachers do we hear rave about hell and heaven
as if they would have a part in the decision where you 'd end up.
If we start praying, just to be closer to our Creator,
the whole paradigm shifts and our prayer reaches a new dimension
beyond, yes a dimension way beyond the ordinary.
