TROUBLEMAKERS

Since no one really knows anything about God,

those who think they do are just
troublemakers.

-- Rabia from Basra

This is from a collection called Love Poems from God: Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West, edited and translated by Daniel Ladinsky.

An excerpt from the book ... about Rabia:

Rabia of Basra (c. 717 - 801) is without a doubt the most popular and influential of female Islamic saints and a central figure in the Sufi tradition. She was born nearly five hundred years before Rumi, and although it is rarely said, she, perhaps more than any other poet, influenced his writings.

Rabia grew up in a part of ancient Mesopotamia that is now Iraq. She was the fourth daughter of impoverished parents, and the story connected with her birth tells of the Prophet Muhammad appearing to her father in a dream to tell him that his daughter would be revered as a great saint.

Peace to all. Even to the troublemakers.

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