Music of a Distant Drum: Classical Arabic, Persian, Turkish, and Hebrew Poems

(Princeton University Press) This book contains 129 poems from the four leading traditions of the Middle East, all translated into English by Bernard Lewis, many for the first time. Together, the poems provide a fascinating and unusual window into Middle Eastern history. Lewis is a professor emeritus of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University.

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The February 2026 cover of PAW, featuring a photo of Joseph Nye.
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