A Tale of Rabia | Darvish
A Tale of Rabia
Salaam and Greetings of Peace:
A thief once broke into the home of the saint of Basra, Rabia (d. 801), and found nothing. As he was about to leave, she said to him, “if you wish to remain true to your vocation of thievery, you must take at least something. Do not leave empty handed.” “But I could not find anything,” he replied, “the house is empty!” “Take then this jug of water, perform the ablution, enter into the prayer niche and perform two cycles of prayer. This way you will at least leave with something.” Surprisingly, the thief agreed. As he retired to pray, Rabia lifted her hands in supplication, “O God, this man came to my door and I had to send him away empty handed. I have now sent him to do Your door, do not let him leave empty handed.” As she finished her words, the thief began to find such comfort in prayer, he could not stop. In the morning, Rabia found him prostrate. “Dear friend, how was your night?” she asked. “I found such sweetness in prayer,” he replied, “that I was unable to leave. By morning, I found my heart transformed, such that I have now vowed to abandon thievery.”
Ya Haqq!
