Despite Spanish prohibitions, Arabs have been part of Cuba's life almost since it was first settled. Today, many Arab Cubans are eager to learn about their roots, and Havana's single open mosque is even attracting a few converts.

The lives of Bedouin and town-dweller are very different, but they do not live in wholly separate worlds. In market towns like Sanaw, in Oman, the two groups meet and trade, and each provides goods that the other needs.

Tucked into the valleys and swallow's-nested onto the cliffs of the central Sinai mountains are the spring-fed gardens of the Jabaliyyah Bedouins, productive oases created with care and patient effort in an unforgiving landscape.

Scanners in the sky—and, on the ground, highly trained French and Arab technicians—provide troves of information to Arab states. Property surveys, crop censuses, city-planning maps, all come from 830 kilometers up.

Wood likes to reveal its natural shapes to Sam Maloof, and his strong, self-taught hands know how to turn those shapes into furniture that is as beautiful as it is useful. For four decades, he has been working toward perfection.

Curative, comforting hot springs have attracted the sick and the weary since time began. Today, many come to Jordan's Ma'in springs simply to soak and swim, while others are baked and slathered for their health's sake.