Rabi'a the Mystic

Margaret Smith's 1928 study is part biography, part translated sourcebook, covering Rabi'a al-Adawiyya of Basra and other early women saints of Islam. It is the only title in this catalog centered on a woman mystic.

About this edition

This Hidden Lantern edition of Rabi'a the Mystic is set from Margaret Smith’s translation, re-typeset for readability with corrected text, modernised layout, and endnotes linked in the digital editions. It runs to 344 pages in print.

Margaret Smith (1884–1970) was a pioneering scholar of Islamic mysticism at the School of Oriental Studies, and the first to give the women mystics of early Islam a full scholarly treatment in English.

Contents

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1. RABI’A THE MYSTIC
2. In Memoriam A. A. S. Preface
3. I. The Place of Women among the Sufis Rabi’a al-‘Adawiyya: Her Birth and Early Years
4. II. Rabi’a’s Choice of Celibacy Her Associates
5. III. Asceticism Rabi’a’s Asceticism and Her Prayer-Life
6. IV. The Miracles of the Muslim Saints Rabi’a’s Miracles
7. V. The Declining Years and Death Rabi’a’s Illnesses and Death
8. VI. The Sufi Doctrine
9. VII. Repentance, Patience, Gratitude
10. VIII. Hope and Fear
11. IX. Poverty, Renunciation, Unification, Dependence
12. X. Love, Gnosis, the Vision, Union
13. XI. The Position of Woman in Muslim Lands In Pre-Islamic and Early Islamic Times
14. XII. The Position Attained by the Woman Saint
15. XIII. Celibacy and the Monastic Life
16. XIV. The Communion of Saints
17. XV. The Cult of Women Saints in Modern Islam
18. List of Authors Quoted
19. Survey of Sources
20. ABOUT THIS EDITION

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