Rabia al-Basri (Rabia al- Adawiyya): I am fully qualified to work as a doorkeeper, and for this reason:

<<Previous Poem | View All Poems by Rabia al-Basri (Rabia al- Adawiyya) | Next Poem >>

I am fully qualified to work as a doorkeeper, and for this reason:

by Rabia al-Basri (Rabia al- Adawiyya)
(717 - 801) Timeline

English version by
Charles Upton

Original Language
Persian/Farsi

I am fully qualified to work as a doorkeeper, and for this reason:
What is inside me, I don't let out:
What is outside me, I don't let in.
If someone comes in, he goes right out again.
He has nothing to do with me at all.
I am a Doorkeeper of the Heart, not a lump of wet clay.

-- from Doorkeeper of the Heart: Versions of Rabia, Translated by Charles Upton

Amazon.com

Themes

Heart

Recommended Books

	Doorkeeper of the Heart: Versions of Rabia, Translated by Charles Upton
	Early Islamic Mysticism: Sufi, Quran, Miraj, Poetic and Theological Writings (Classics of Western Spirituality), by Michael A. Sells
	First Among Sufis: The Life and Thought of Rabia Al-Adawiyya, the Woman Saint of Basra, by Widad El Sakkakini
	Islamic Mystical Poetry: Sufi Verse from the Early Mystics to Rumi, Translated by Mahmood Jamal
	Love Poems from God: Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West, Translated by Daniel Ladinsky

More >>

<<Previous Poem | More Poems by Rabia al-Basri (Rabia al- Adawiyya) | Next Poem >>

Poetry Chaikhana Sacred Poetry from Around the World

Poetry Chaikhana
Sacred Poetry from Around the World