Rabia of Basra ( c. 717-801) is without a doubt the most popular and influential of female Islamic saints and a central figure in the Sufi tradition. She was born nearly five hundred years before Rumi, and although it is rarely said, she, perhaps more than any other poet, influenced his writings.

When God said, “My hands are yours,” I saw that I could heal any creature in this world; I saw that the divine beauty in each heart is the root of all time and space.

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