Jailed Palestinian poet pays tribute to father who 'died of sorrow'

Ashraf Fayadh, whose father died after hearing his son was to be beheaded, has written his first poem since he was imprisoned two years ago in Saudi Arabia for renouncing Islam

• Tense Times, a poem by Ashraf Fayadh

A Palestinian poet imprisoned in Saudi Arabia for renouncing Islam has written his first poem since he was incarcerated two years ago, provoked by the loss of his father who died after hearing his son was to be beheaded.

The poem, entitled Tense Times, explores Ashraf Fayadh’s grief and the isolation of his imprisonment in the city of Abha in the south west of the ultraconservative kingdom.

Related: Palestinian poet Ashraf Fayadh's death sentence quashed by Saudi court