Rabia Al-Adawiyya, or the Martyr of Divine Love as she was commonly known in the stories, was a poet, philosopher and Sufi. She was born in Basra around the year 100 AH and died in the year 180 AH. She was born to a pious and ascetic father, and when she was born, her father was expecting a male child, but she was born a female, so she was the fourth female after three girls, so she remained without a name. Her father did not give her a name, so she was called (Rabia), meaning the fourth girl. Her father died when she was less than ten years old. When drought, famine, and plague struck Basra, leaving no one to provide for her, according to one account, thieves and bandits spread, and Rabia was kidnapped by some of them and sold for six dirhams to a cruel Basra merchant who subjected her to all kinds of torture. Farid al-Din al-Attar mentions in his book (Tadhkirat al-Awliya') that her parents died when she was less than ten years old, leaving the girls orphaned with no one to support them during the drought and famine that swept through Basra. Their father left them nothing but a boat that transported people for a few dirhams. Rabia would go out to work in her father's place when she was young, and when she returned, she would sing to relieve her stress, as she possessed a uniquely beautiful voice. Some accounts portray Rabia's upbringing as a carefree girl, consumed by lust and worldly pleasures before her life shifted to Sufism, remembrance of God, and devotion to Him. However, other accounts deny this entirely; she was raised in a virtuous Islamic environment, memorized the Quran, contemplated its verses, and is said to have vehemently rejected marriage. Her difference from the ascetic Sufis and hermits who preceded her stems from her devotion to God out of pure, unconditional love. Accounts also differ regarding the date of her death and the location of her grave. It has been said that her death was in the year 135 AH (180 AH). Orientalist Louis Massignon denies this account and comes close to agreeing with two accounts that converge in determining the date of death; one account says the year 180 AH and the other says the year 185 AH. There is also disagreement regarding the location of the grave; some say it is in Jerusalem on a mountain called Mount Zita, and others say it is in Basra. Whatever the accounts, the account (The Mirror) about Rabia al-Adawiyya, written by the Australian writer Bahman Shokouhi and translated by Dr. Bashar Salman Haloum, has a different opinion about the story of Rabia al-Adawiyya and her life. It is a historical novel that follows the life of the martyr of divine love since she was a child, when poverty and famine surrounded her family, and the family was scattered by land and sea, then her move to Basra as a young slave, and how she gained her freedom, and became a singer whose fame spread and her envious people increased.