Rug of a Thousand Colours

TESSA RANSFORD was born in India and first learnt Urdu when she went to live in what was West Pakistan in 1960. She spent eight years working in Pakistan and had three children during her time there. In 1984 she founded the Scottish Poetry Library and she lived in Edinburgh for many years.A Rug of a Thousand Colours is an exploratory project between a Palestinian poet who is now a resident in Scotland and an established Scottish poet. The poems explore Tessa and Iyad’s personal responses to the Five Pillars of Islam. Although from different backgrounds the two poets form a dialogue which is interwoven throughout the poems and creates a vivid tapestry of ideas surrounding the Five Pillars of Islam. Each poet translates the other’s work so that each poem is presented in English and in Arabic. IYAD HYATLEH is a Palestinian poet who was born and grew up in Syria in the 1960s. He started writing poetry early and published his work in Arabic magazines, giving many readings in Syria, Lebanon and Yemen. He has lived in Glasgow since 2000, and has taken part in many events and translation and poetry workshops, including EdinburghInternational Book Festival. Some of his poems have been published in magazines and collective pamphlets in Scotland, as well as featuring on BBC radio.A Rug of a Thousand Colours is an exploratory project between a Palestinian poet who is now a resident in Scotland and an established Scottish poet. The poems explore Tessa and Iyad’s personal responses to the Five Pillars of Islam. Although from different backgrounds the two poets form a dialogue which is interwoven throughout the poems and creates a vivid tapestry of ideas surrounding the Five Pillars of Islam. Each poet translates the other’s work so that each poem is presented in English and in Arabic.

• Acknowledgements 6Here 8Foreword by David Finkelstein 10Introduction by Tessa Ransford 12Introduction by Iyad Hayatleh 20Fifty 26the five pillars of islamShahada (Testimony) 36Testimony 42Salah (Prayer) 46Prayer-sequence 50Zakat (Almsgiving) 58Almsgiving 62Siyam (Fasting) 66Fasting 70Hajj (Pilgrimage) 72Pilgrimage 76Afterword by Carole Hillenbrand 82

Tessa Ransford has been a distinctive voice in Scottish poetry for nearly four decades. By refusing to conform to literary fashion or gendered preconceptions, she has enriched the poetic ecology. DONALD SMITH Ransford is an eclectic and committed poet; eclectic in her willingness to absorb whatever tradition of thought or craft fits her immediate purpose and committed to what have seemed to her inescapable spiritual and aesthetic truths. Scottish Review of BooksIyad Hayatleh and Tessa Ransford create a vivid tapestry of dialog exploring their different cultural backgrounds and views regarding religion, tradition and society. This is a powerful explanatory project between a Syrian/Palestinian poet who is now a resident in Scotland and an established Scottish poet, signifying a unity of imagination, experience and perception. Scottish Review of Books