The Freed Slave Who Would Not Marry
Rabia was born poor, the fourth daughter of her family — her name (rabia’ — fourth) reflecting the birth order. She was enslaved as a child. Her owner, witnessing a miraculous light around her during night prayer, freed her.
She never married, despite many proposals — including from the governor of Basra and from eminent Sufi teachers including Hasan al-Basri. Her reported response to one proposal: “Marriage is for those whose ego-self exists. As for me, I have no ego-self.”
She lived alone in a small house in Basra, in extreme simplicity, dedicating her days and nights to prayer and remembrance.
The Two Kinds of Love
Her most famous statement — preserved in slightly different forms in the sources:
“O Allah, if I worship You in fear of Your Hell, burn me in Hell. And if I worship You in hope of Your Paradise, exclude me from Paradise. But if I worship You for Your own sake alone — do not withhold from me Your eternal Beauty.”
This tripartite formulation identifies two forms of religious motivation that she rejects: fear (worshipping to avoid punishment) and hope (worshipping to gain reward). The third form — love for Allah’s own sake, not for any benefit — she calls pure love (mahabba khalisa).
The Candle and the Bucket of Water
Her famous image: she ran through Basra’s streets carrying a candle in one hand and a bucket of water in the other. When asked what she was doing, she said: “I want to set fire to Paradise with this candle and pour water on Hell with this bucket, so that these two veils will be lifted — and it will become clear who worships Allah out of love for Him alone, not out of hope or fear.”
Her Place in the Chain
Rabia’s impact was carried forward by Dhu al-Nun al-Misri, al-Junayd al-Baghdadi, and ultimately through the entire tradition of love mysticism in Persian, Arabic, Turkish, and Urdu Sufi literature. Rumi’s reed, ‘Attar’s birds, Hafiz’s wine of love — all echo her primal distinction between instrumental religion and pure devotion.
See also: Sufi Stations Maqamat, Seerah Al Hasan Al Basri, Rumi Masnavi, Farid Al Din Attar, Tazkiyah, Ihsan