Rābiʼa al-ʼAdawiyya al-Qaysiyya (Arabic: رابعة العدوية القيسية; c. 716 – 801 CE)[1] or Rabia Basri was a poet, one of the earliest Sufi mystics and an influential religious figure from Iraq.

Attar of Nishapur, a Sufi saint and poet who lived some four centuries later, recounted a now-famous story of her early life.

[6] Explaining her refusal to lift her head toward the heavens (towards God) as an act of modesty, she's noted as having said: "Were the world the possession of a single man, it would not make him rich ... because it is passing away.

"[5] According to Sufi accounts, she was the first to set forth the doctrine of divine love known as Ishq[7] and is widely considered as being the most important of the early renunciants, a form of piety that would eventually be labelled Sufism.

[4] There is no evidence in the historical archive that Rabia ever met Hasan al-Basri; however, the following stories, which first appeared in Attar of Nishapur's Tazkirat al-Awliya, is a common trope in the modern period:[8] After a life of hardship, she spontaneously achieved a state of self-realization.

"[12] She decided to stay celibate in order to live life unlike other Muslim women of her time, and devote herself completely to God.

[15] The Indonesian song "Jika Surga dan Neraka Tak Pernah Ada" sung by Ahmad Dhani and Chrisye on their 2004 album Senyawa, is based on Rabia's quotes[16] about worshipping God out of love, not out of fear of punishment or desire for a reward.