Sufism · ≈717–801
Rabia of Basra
Early Sufism · the school of Basra · Verses on pure love
The woman who first named Sufism love: she prayed to God with no hope of paradise and no fear of hell.
The essence of the teaching: True worship is moved only by pure love for God – for His own sake, not for reward and not from fear of punishment. This is the highest purification of the ego's desires.
Transmission
Rabia ran through the streets of Basra with a torch in one hand and a pitcher of water in the other. They asked her why. She answered: I want to burn paradise and put out hell, so that people might at last love God not out of fear of the fire and not for the sake of gardens, but only because He is. She said to God: if I love You from fear of hell, burn me in hell; if for the sake of paradise, close it to me; but if I love You for Your own sake, do not withhold from me Your eternal beauty. With her, Sufism ceased to be a bargain and became love without conditions.
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