RabiŽa al-Adawiyya is an Islamic saint. She is believed to have lived from
717 to 801 AD in what is now Iraq. While a poor orphan she was captured by a slave trader
who then sold her into slavery. As a slave she was kept busy with her household duties
until night, but once, night time released her from her chores she devoted herself to
prayer, depriving herself of sleep to do so.
One night her master caught sight of her absorbed
in prayer, and he was astonished to see a light miraculously appear over her head which
illuminated the entire house. Terrified he went back to his room, where he sat in wonder
till dawn. At dawn he approached RabiŽa, told her what he had seen, and gave her her
freedom.
Once free, she moved to the desert where she
devoted herself to prayer. As her holiness became more widely known, numerous individuals
beat a path to her door where they sought her out for spiritual guidance. After she
became well-known, she received numerous offers of marriage. In reply to the marriage
proposal of the Amir of Basra, she said:
