Muslim calligrapher Yasser Abu Saymeh has dedicated the past two months to Christian art, writing the Gospel of Luke in ornate Arabic script to be presented to Pope Benedict XVI when the Roman Catholic leader visits the Holy Land next month. Abu Saymeh never read a New Testament text before he was picked for the prestigious assignment by Bethlehem's Christian mayor. He said he has since come to appreciate the shared strands of the two faiths. “I found that many of the things emphasized in Christianity exist in our religion,” said the 51-year-old Abu Saymeh. The artist has nearly completed the Gospel's text, which will eventually cover 65 poster-sized pages. The pope will receive the gift on May 13, when he visits Bethlehem as part of a pilgrimage. Abu Saymeh was trained in Baghdad and works in a small studio in Bethlehem. He opens his workshop early every day, right after dawn prayers at a mosque near his home. The walls are decorated with handwritten verses from the Qur'an and Arabic poetry. Writing tools are laid out on an old table, including two dozen calligraphy pens and black, green and red ink. When it came to choosing a calligrapher for the project, the choice quickly fell on Abu Saymeh. He had won distinction in 2007, when he presented a handwritten copy of the Qur'an to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for the holy month of Ramadan. Mayor Victor Batarseh said he picked Abu Saymeh not just because of his talent, but to send a message of peaceful religious coexistence. “It's a message to the world that Bethlehem is the city where Christianity was born,” he said. “It's also the place of brotherly relations between Muslims and Christians.” The calligrapher said he took on the mission, in part, because he wanted to send a conciliatory message and distance himself from extremists.
