Philosophy
She was the one who first set forth the doctrine of Divine Love and who is widely considered to be the most important of the early Sufi poets.
Much of the poetry that is attributed to her is of unknown origin. After a life of hardship, she spontaneously achieved a state of self-realization. When asked by Sheikh Hasan al-Basri how she discovered the secret, she responded by stating:
"You know of the how, but I know of the how-less."
One of the many myths that surround her life is that she was freed from slavery because her master saw her praying while surrounded by light, realized that she was a saint and feared for his life if he continued to keep her as a slave.
While she apparently received many marriage offers (including a proposal from Hasan al-Basri himself), she remained celibate and died of old age, an ascetic, her only care from the disciples who followed her. She was the first in a long line of female Sufi mystics.
It is also possible that she helped further integrate Islamic slaves into Muslim society. Rabi'a was passionate against all forms of slavery. She refused a slave later in life.
Read more about this topic: Rabia Basri
Famous quotes containing the word philosophy:
“The philosophy of action for action, power for the sake of power, had become an established orthodoxy. Thou has conquered, O go-getting Babbitt.”
—Aldous Huxley (18941963)
“The real discovery is the one which enables me to stop doing philosophy when I want to.The one that gives philosophy peace, so that it is no longer tormented by questions which bring itself into question.”
—Ludwig Wittgenstein (18891951)
“And new Philosophy calls all in doubt,
The element of fire is quite put out;
The Sun is lost, and thearth, and no mans wit
Can well direct him where to look for it.”
—John Donne (c. 15721631)