Rabi'a al-'Adawiyya (c.717-801) was a Sufi saint and mystic who lived in Basra in what is now Iraq. Like a Christian nun, she took a vow of chastity and refused all offers of marriage. Her sanctity and pure love for God were such that one contemporary called her "a second Mary." A biographer said that after dark, Rabi'a would go up on the roof of her house and begin her evening devotions with this prayer.
O my Lord, the stars are shining and the eyes of men are closed, and kings have shut their doors and every lover is alone with his beloved, and here am I alone with Thee.
