KWEE Liberian Literary Magazine Jan. Iss. Vol. 0115 Apr Iss. Vol. 0415 | Page 35

Liberian Literary Magazine Promoting Liberian Literature, Arts and Culture Gifts of the Masters These traditions come from Farid ud din Attar a later sufi saint and poet, who used earlier sources. Rabia herself though has not left any written works. In this segment, we run poems from some of the greatest literary masters that ever lived. GWENDOLYN BROOKS After her father's death, there was a famine in Basra, and during that she was parted from her family. It is not clear how she was traveling in a caravan that was set upon by robbers. She was taken by the robbers and sold into slavery. The Crazy Woman I shall not sing a May song. A May song should be gay. I'll wait until November And sing a song of gray. I'll wait until November That is the time for me. I'll go out in the frosty dark And sing most terribly. Her master worked her very hard, but at night after finishing her chores Rabia would turn to meditation and prayers and praising the Lord. Foregoing rest and sleep she spent her nights in prayers and she often fasted during the day. And all the little people Will stare at me and say, "That is the Crazy Woman Who would not sing in May." My Beloved My peace, O my brothers and sisters, is my solitude, And my Beloved is with me always, For His love I can find no substitute, And His love is the test for me among mortal beings, Whenever His Beauty I may contemplate, He is my "mihrab", towards Him is my "qiblah" If I die of love, before completing satisfaction, Alas, for my anxiety in the world, alas for my distress, O Healer (of souls) the heart feeds upon its desire, The striving after union with Thee has healed my soul, O my Joy and my Life abidingly, You were the source of my life and from Thee also came my ecstasy. I have separated myself from all created beings, My hope is for union with Thee, for that is the goal of my desire There Are The Words That Couldn’t Be Twice Said There are the words that couldn’t be twice said, He, who said once, spent out all his senses. Only two things have never their end – The heavens’ blue and the Creator’s mercy. Anna Akhmatova . Rābiʻa al-ʻAdawiyya al-Qaysiyya (or simply Rabiʿah al-Basri) was a female Muslim saint and Sufi mystic. Not much is known about Rabia al Basri, except that she lived in Basra in Iraq, in the second half of the 8th century AD. She was born into poverty. But many spiritual stories are associated with her and what we can glean about her is reality merged with legend. Rabia al Basri 35