Word Weavers: Rabiʿa al-Basri

Rābiʻa al-ʻAdawiyya al-Qaysiyya or Rabiʿa al-Basri (717-801 C.E.) is a highly regarded Sufi saint born in Basra, Iraq. Oral traditions and later written records suggest that she was also a poet. She is thought to be one of the first female Sufi saints and a key figure in developing Ishq-e-Haqeeqi or “divine love,” a central tenet in Sufism.