Author Guide · Sufism · Early Islamic Mysticism
Books Written by
Rabia al-Adawiyya died in Basra in 801, by the date Margaret Smith gives (185 AH), and left nothing in writing. What survives are short sayings and stories told about her by later authors: al-Sulami, who died in 1021, and the Persian poet Farid al-Din Attar, writing about four centuries after her death. In those stories she is a former slave, freed for her piety, who lived in seclusion and celibacy, and spoke of loving God for God’s own sake. The scholar Rkia Elaroui Cornell calls her local reputation the best evidence that she existed at all. Her name survives in a Jerusalem shrine, a Cairo mosque, two Turkish films of 1973 and a 2025 album by Rosalía. This guide covers her 6 key translations and studies, in order, and where to begin.
By Lisanne Swart · 6 key translations and studies · 1928–2019 · Updated October 2026
ClickTap a spine to jump to that book below.
Quick answer
No book by Rabia al-Adawiyya survives, and no written work has been conclusively linked to her. Everything readers have comes from later sources. The key books in English are Rabi’a the Mystic and Her Fellow-Saints in Islam by Margaret Smith (1928), A. J. Arberry’s translation of Attar, Muslim Saints and Mystics (1966), Charles Upton’s versions of her sayings, Doorkeeper of the Heart (1988), and Rabi’a from Narrative to Myth by Rkia Elaroui Cornell (2019). Start with Margaret Smith; read Cornell to see how the legend was built. Below: every book in order, and what is known and not known about her.
Where to Start with Rabia al-Adawiyya
If you want the classic account of her life and teaching
→ Rabi’a the Mystic (1928) — Margaret Smith’s 1928 study.
If you want the stories as Attar told them
→ Muslim Saints and Mystics (1966) — Arberry’s translation, chapter 5.
If you want short versions of her sayings
→ Doorkeeper of the Heart (1988) — a 64-page book of versions.
If you want to know what is history and what is legend
→ Rabi’a from Narrative to Myth (2019) — the most recent full-length study.
6 Books of and about Rabia al-Adawiyya, in Order
Margaret Smith: Rabi’a the Mystic and Her Fellow-Saints in Islam
Published by Cambridge University Press in 1928, with the subtitle “being the life and teachings of Rabi’a al-’Adawiyya al-Qaysiyya of Basra, together with some account of the place of the women saints in Islam”. Wikipedia draws on it for the Sufi accounts that make her the first to set out the doctrine of divine love. Cambridge University Press reissued it in 2010.
A. J. Arberry: Muslim Saints and Mystics
A. J. Arberry’s English selection from Tadhkirat al-Awliya, Memorial of the Saints, by the Persian poet Farid al-Din Attar, first published in 1966. Chapter 5 is devoted to Rabi’a. Attar lived some four centuries after her; he tells a now-famous story of her early life, and her exchanges with Hasan al-Basri first appeared in his book.
First Among Sufis
A study of Rabi’a’s life and thought by Widad El Sakkakini, published in English by Octagon Press in London in 1982. As its subtitle says, it presents her as the woman saint of Basra, and its title presents her as the first of the Sufis.
Doorkeeper of the Heart
A 64-page book of English versions of sayings and poems attributed to Rabi’a, by Charles Upton, published by Threshold Books in 1988. As the subtitle says, they are versions rather than literal translations.
Jane Hirshfield (ed.): Women in Praise of the Sacred
An anthology of sacred poetry by women, edited by the poet Jane Hirshfield and published by HarperCollins in 1994. It includes verses by Rabi’a and is one of the books that bring poems attributed to Rabi’a to English readers, set beside the work of other women writing about the sacred.
Rabi’a from Narrative to Myth
A 416-page study by Rkia Elaroui Cornell, published by Oneworld Academic in January 2019. It traces how Rabi’a was portrayed over the centuries, as ascetic, as rebel and as romantic lover, and how she was constructed as a Sufi saint, using medieval and modern sources. The publisher calls it the most significant work on her in more than seventy years.
In What Order to Read Books about Rabia al-Adawiyya
Because nothing written by Rabi’a survives, every book on this page is by someone else, and the order is simply the order of publication. Each one is labelled with its author or translator. The oldest layer of material lies behind them all: the reports of early Basran writers, al-Sulami’s book on Sufi women (translated by Rkia Elaroui Cornell as Early Sufi Women), and Attar’s Memorial of the Saints.
A practical order is to read the stories first, in Arberry’s Attar or in Margaret Smith, then a book of versions such as Upton’s, and finish with Cornell, who separates what the sources say from what later readers added.
A reading path
1. Rabi’a the Mystic (Margaret Smith, 1928)
2. Muslim Saints and Mystics (Attar, tr. Arberry, 1966)
3. Doorkeeper of the Heart (Charles Upton, 1988)
4. Rabi’a from Narrative to Myth (Rkia Elaroui Cornell, 2019)
The years · 717–2019
Quick facts about Rabia al-Adawiyya
- Known for
- Rabia al-Adawiyya is known as the early woman renunciant of Basra whom Sufi tradition credits with first teaching the love of God for God’s own sake, without fear of punishment or hope of reward.
- 717
- Traditional birth year (sources give 714–718)
- 1021
- Death of al-Sulami, early recorder of Sufi women
- 2019
- Cornell’s From Narrative to Myth
- Born
- c. 714–718 (often given as 717, a date from much later sources)
- Died
- 801 (185 AH), Basra, per Margaret Smith; al-Dhahabi gives about 180 AH
- Full name
- Rabi’a bint Isma’il al-’Adawiyya al-Qaysiyya; also called Umm al-Khayr
- Status
- Freed slave linked to the Qays ibn ’Adi tribe, according to her names
- Writings
- None survive; no written work conclusively linked to her
- Main later sources
- Early Basran authors, al-Sulami (d. 1021), Farid al-Din Attar
- Remembered at
- A shrine in Jerusalem venerated as her tomb; the Rabaa al-Adawiya Mosque in Cairo
The red mark is 1928: Margaret Smith publishes the first full study of Rabi’a in English.
How Rabia Comes Down to Us: Sayings, Stories and Legend
Rabi’a is a teacher known only through other people’s books. Cornell finds that the strongest evidence for her is her local reputation in Basra, and that no written work can be conclusively tied to her. Much of the poetry under her name is of unknown origin, and al-Sulami names two other women called Rabi’a, so later sources mixed up their stories. The famous exchanges with Hasan al-Basri first appeared in Attar, and historians find no evidence that she and Hasan ever met.
What the sources preserve is a voice of short, pointed replies. Asked about her prayers, she says, in a report preserved by the later writer al-Munawi, “I desire no reward for it”. Of wealth: “Were the world the possession of a single man, it would not make him rich”. To Hasan al-Basri, in Attar’s telling: “you know of the how, but I know of the how-less.” Translations differ in wording, and modern “versions” such as Upton’s reshape the material freely, so it pays to note which book a saying comes from.
Her link to the theme of unity is love, not metaphysics. Sufi accounts credit her with first setting out the doctrine of divine love, a love that wants God alone and not paradise or safety from hell. A later Sufi poet is covered in the guide to Rumi.
Frequently asked questions about Rabia al-Adawiyya
How many books has Rabia al-Adawiyya written?
None that survive. According to Rkia Elaroui Cornell, no written work has been conclusively linked to her, and the poems attributed to her are mostly of unknown origin. This page lists 6 key books of her sayings and about her life, all written or translated by others.
What are the books about Rabia al-Adawiyya in order?
Margaret Smith, Rabi’a the Mystic and Her Fellow-Saints in Islam (1928); Attar, Muslim Saints and Mystics, translated by A. J. Arberry (1966); Widad El Sakkakini, First Among Sufis (1982); Charles Upton, Doorkeeper of the Heart (1988); Jane Hirshfield (ed.), Women in Praise of the Sacred (1994); and Rkia Elaroui Cornell, Rabi’a from Narrative to Myth (2019).
Where should I start with Rabia al-Adawiyya?
With Margaret Smith’s Rabi’a the Mystic and Her Fellow-Saints in Islam (1928), which gathers her life and sayings from the early sources. For the stories in their medieval form, read chapter 5 of Arberry’s Muslim Saints and Mystics (1966).
What is Rabia al-Adawiyya’s most famous book?
She has none of her own. The best-known book about her is Margaret Smith’s 1928 study, and the best-known stories about her come from Attar’s Tadhkirat al-Awliya, available in English as Muslim Saints and Mystics (1966).
Did Rabia really write the poems and prayers attributed to her?
It cannot be shown. Her life and sayings come from later writers, al-Sulami (d. 1021) and Attar about four centuries after her death among them, and Wikipedia, drawing on Cornell, notes that much of the poetry attributed to her is of unknown origin. Read any saying as attributed to her by a particular source.
Did Rabia meet Hasan al-Basri?
The stories of their exchanges are famous and first appeared in Attar’s Tadhkirat al-Awliya, but there is no historical evidence that they met. Cornell’s Rabi’a from Narrative to Myth (2019) traces how her image was built over the centuries.
When and where did Rabia al-Adawiyya live?
In Basra, in southern Iraq, in the eighth century. Her birth is given as between 714 and 718, and she died in 801 (185 AH), the date Margaret Smith gives; al-Dhahabi reports about 180 AH, at around 80.
What did Rabia teach?
Sufi tradition credits her with first setting out the doctrine of divine love: loving God for God’s own sake rather than out of fear of punishment or hope of reward. The stories also show her living in seclusion and celibacy.
Are there films or music about Rabia?
Two Turkish films appeared in 1973: Rabia, directed by Osman F. Seden with Fatma Girik, and Rabia, İlk Kadın Evliya, directed by Süreyya Duru with Hülya Koçyiğit. Rosalía’s 2025 album Lux includes a quote attributed to her and a tribute track.
Footnotes
- Rabia Basri — Wikipedia
- Rabi’a From Narrative to Myth — Simon & Schuster
- Muslim Saints and Mystics — Routledge
- Early Sufi Women — Fons Vitae
- First Among Sufis — Texas A&M University Libraries catalogue
- Doorkeeper of the Heart — AbeBooks
Bibliography last verified 9 October 2026. Where sources give different first-publication years, this page uses the year in library catalogues or the publisher’s own record.
This list was not put together by a machine.
The notes are all mine,
and the books are all his.
Lisanne x
Written by Lisanne Swart, who has curated reading lists and author guides at lisanneswart.com since 2021.
See more on her personal bookshelf.
“You know of the how, but I know of the how-less.”
— Saying attributed to Rabia al-Adawiyya by Farid al-Din Attar, Tadhkirat al-Awliya, translated by A. J. Arberry
If this shelf interested you, the full bookshelf has more: reading lists by theme, author guides, and notes on what is actually worth your time.
Browse the full bookshelf Get book recommendations