Rabi'a al-Adawiyya
~714–801 · Arab (Basra, Iraq) · Early Abbasid Caliphate
Known for: The first great female Sufi saint who carried a torch to burn paradise and water to douse hell
Rabi'a was a freed slave who developed divine love (ishq) as Sufism's central principle — loving God not for reward or from fear, but purely for God's sake.
Her image of torching heaven and dousing hell remains one of mystical literature's most powerful statements.
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