Rabi'a

Rabi'a was an early Islamic mystic renowned for her emphasis on divine love and the sincerity of her spiritual practice. This book searches for the real Rabi'a amongst many myths that have circulated about her. It shows she was a widely respected teacher of ethics and an early practitioner of what became Sufism. Although she left no writings, stories of her life and teachings were passed down orally for generations and then written down by Farid al-din 'Attar in his Memorial of God's Friends. While some of these tales may be exaggerated, her wisdom shines through. In this book, her message is presented through descriptions of the universal stages of the spiritual path from asceticism to divine union.