h herself, suddenly someone knocked
at the door, and a man brought in some food in a bowl. Rabia took it and
set it down; then while she went to light the lamp, a cat came and ate
the food. No sooner had Rabia returned and seen what had happened than
she said to herself, "I will break my fast on water." As she went to
draw water her lamp went out. She then uttered a deep sigh, and said,
"Lord, why dost thou make me wretched?" Whereupon she heard a voice
saying, "O Rabia, if thou desirest it, I will give thee the whole world
for thine own; but I shall have to take away the love which thou hast
for Me from thy heart, for the love of Me and of the world cannot exist
together." "Hearing myself thus addressed," said Rabia, "I entirely
expelled from my heart the love of earthly things, and resolutely turned
my gaze away from them. For thirty years I have not prayed without
saying to myself, 'This prayer, perhaps, is the last which I shall
pray,' and I have never been tired of saying, 'My God, let me be so
absorbed in Thy love that no other affection may find room in my
heart.'"

One day some men of learning and piety came to her and said, "The Most
High has crowned His chosen saints with the gift of performing miracles,
but such privileges have never been granted to a woman. How didst thou
attain to such a high degree?" "What you say is true," she answered,
"but, on the other hand, women have never been so infatuated with
themselves as men, nor have they ever claimed divinity."

Hasan Basri relates, "One day when I had been to Rabia who had fallen
sick, to ask after her, I saw seated at her gate a merchant who wept.
'Why are you weeping?' I asked him. 'I have just brought for Rabia,' he
answered, 'this purse of gold, and I am troubled in mind, not knowing
whether she will accept it or not. Go in Hasan, and ask whether she
will.' Then I went in, and no sooner had I reported to her the words of
this merchant than she said to me, 'Thou knowest well, O Hasan, that the
Most High gives daily bread even to those who do not worship Him; how
then will He not give it to those whose hearts are aglow with love to
Him? Besides, ever since I have known God, I have turned my eyes away
from all except Him. How can I accept anyone's money when I know not
whether it has been gained by lawful or unlawful means? Present then my
excuses to this merchant, and let him go.'"

Another merchant visiting Rabia found her house in ill repair. He
prese