
“in those intervals this rug
part of Grandma’s dowry
folded
so the Devil’s shadow
would not desecrate
Mecca scarlet-woven
with minarets of gold”
– Agha Shahid Ali
Poet Agha Shahid Ali was raised in Kashmir and emigrated to the United States. Cultural and religious identity were themes that loomed large in his work, as demonstrated here in his poem Prayer Rug. Dedicated to his grandmother, Begum Zafar Ali, Prayer Rug sets out from the hours between prayer times and considers how the tradition of prayer structured the intervals of his grandmother’s daily life and divided up her work day in the kitchen. Her cherished mat had also been her dowry, in contrast to the straw mats of the servants who prayed in the garden, and in contrast to the young people who did not pray but looked on, waiting for the prayers to end. The final image of the poem is of his grandmother’s emotion in seeing the unveiled stone in Mecca, while ‘holding on / to the pillars’, the support and foundation of her faith.
Prayer Rug
Those intervals
between the day’s
five calls to prayer
the women of the house
pulling thick threads
through vegetables
rosaries of ginger
of rustling peppers
in autumn drying for winter
in those intervals this rug
part of Grandma’s dowry
folded
so the Devil’s shadow
would not desecrate
Mecca scarlet-woven
with minarets of gold
but then the sunset
call to prayer
the servants
their straw mats unrolled
praying or in the garden
in summer on grass
the children wanting
the prayers to end
the women’s foreheads
touching Abraham’s
silk stone of sacrifice
black stone descended
from Heaven
the pilgrims in white circling it
this year my grandmother
also a pilgrim
in Mecca she weeps
as the stone is unveiled
she weeps holding on
to the pillars
(for Begum Zafar Ali)
Agha Shahid Ali (1949-2001)
From: The Half-Inch Himalayas
1 thought on “Agha Shahid Ali – Prayer Rug”