Category Archives: Bahá’í­

When the time came that Rabe’a should die, those attending her deathbed left the room and closed the door. Then a voice was heard saying, O soul at peace, return unto thy Lord, well-pleased! A time passed and no sound came from the room, so they opened the door and found that she had given […]

A leading scholar of Basra visited Rabe’a on her sickbed. Sitting beside her pillow, he reviled the world. “You love the world very dearly,” Rabe’a commented. “If you did not love the world, you would not make mention of it so much. It is always the purchaser who disparages the wares. If you were done […]

Once Rabe’a fasted for a whole week, neither eating nor sleeping. All night she was occupied with praying. Her hunger passed all bounds. A visitor entered her house bringing a bowl of food. Rabe’a accepted it and went to fetch a lamp. She returned to find that the cat had spilled the bowl. “I will […]

Rabe’a Basri, born in humble circumstances and sold into slavery as a child, later settled in Basra where she attained great fame as a saint and a preacher and was highly esteemed by many of her pious contemporaries. The date of her death is given variously as 135 (752) and 185 (801). To her, a […]