This book presents 113 poems, which reflect attitudes of the bedouin, a desert-dwelling, non-literate tribe, to a variety of personal, social and political experiences. Each poem is translated into English with an introduction describing its setting and with notes that clarify the cultural, linguistic and historical background. The poems are also presented in Arabic script and in phonemic transliteration. They are arranged according to their purpose: poems of expression, communication, instruction and entertainment, and poems reflecting the bedouin response to Turkish, British, Egyptian, and Israeli rulers from 1882 to 1982.