Abu 'Abdur-Rahman as-Sulami
 

Dhikr an-niswa al-muta'abbidaat as-sufiyyaat
[Remembrance of Devoted Sufi Women]
 

[Translated by Rkia E. Cornell in the following edition:
Abu 'Abdur-Rahman as-Sulami, Early Sufi Women, Dhikr an-niswa al-muta'abbidat as-sufiyyat, Louisville, KY: Fons Vitae, 1999, pp. 78-79]
 

Chapter I - Raabi'a al-'Adawiyya

[...]

Also on his authority, Rabi'a was asked: "How is your love for the Prophet (may God bless and preserve him)?" To which she replied, "Verily, I love him. But love for the Creator has turned me away from love for created things."

[Shayban al Ubulli] also said: One day, Rabi'a saw Rabah [al-Qaysi] kissing a young boy. "Do you love him?" she asked. "Yes," he said. To which she replied, "I did not imagine that there was room in your heart to love anything other than God, the Glorious and Mighty!" Rabah was overcome at this and fainted. When he awoke, he said, "On the contrary, this is a mercy that God Most High has put into the hearts of his slaves."

[...]