Divine Love
Rabia is considered the pioneer of Divine Love in the mystical tradition of Islam. Her spirituality is marked by an intimate, loving and trusting relationship with Divinity which over rules all other concerns. She is the devotee, utterly consumed by Divine Love and Contemplation.
A parable:
The great mystic, Rabia of Basra, was immensely beautiful. And a beauty not of this world. Once a rich young man from Iran comes to Basra. He asks people, “Is there anything that is out of the way, something special here?”
“Yes,” they all tell him. “We have the most beautiful woman of the world!”
The young man naturally becomes interested and he asks, “Where can I find her?”
And they all laugh and say, “Well, where else?… in a brothel!”
Before we go ahead with the story, if we understand what is prayer that will help us all.
PRAYER IS NOT SOMETHING THAT CAN BE DONE. Prayer is not something that can be thought either. Prayer is a state of silent being, of utter silence. One simply is… then one is in prayer. If you do prayer, you miss the whole point. Doing remains on the circumference; doing cannot enter to the center of your being.
If you are saying your prayer, you again miss — because in saying it you are thinking of yourself as separate from God, you are relating to God as if he is separate from you. And that is the basic illusion: God is not separate from you.
