Some evil upon Rabia fell;
And one who loved and knew her well
Murmured that God with pain undue
Should strike a child so fond and true.
But she replied, "Believe and trust
That all I suffer is most just.
I had, in contemplation, striven
To realize the joys of heaven;
I had extended fancy's flights
Through all that region of delights,
Had counted, till the numbers failed,
The pleasures on the blest entailed.
Had sounded the ecstatic rest
I should enjoy on Allah's breast--
And for these thoughts I now atone;
They were of something of my own,
And were not thoughts of him alone."
--From the Arabian.