Sandow Birk is in the middle of transcribing the entire Qur'an into English, accompanied by illustrated narratives set in the familiar American landscape. In American Qur'an, bucolic farm scenes, factory workers, golf courses and Hurricane Katrina are rendered in a style that references both Persian miniature painting, medieval manuscripts and contemporary graffiti.

Acording to New York gallery PPOW, who is hosting the latest installment of the ongoing project, Birk "hopes to reflect how consistent the similarities are in the teachings of Islam, Judaism and Christianity" and to "enable more understanding and compassion, versus fear of the unknown." This is characteristic of his larger drive to bring religious texts and social issues to the a wider audience through illustration; Dante's Divine Comedy and Jacqyes Callot's The Miseries of War have also been interpreted by him in lithographs and woodblock, respectively.

The newest 17 suras (chapters) of Birk's American Qur'an will be on show at PPOW Gallery in New York City from September 10th through October 9th.

A few of the exhibition preview images follow.