Mystic, poet (B. 1867, Thessaloniki, D-.July 7 1950). He received his
first moral education from Edhem Efendi, who was a member of Uveysi-Kadiri
sect. He completed his education at Galatasaray
High School. He went to
Faculty of Law after graduating. Then he was appointed as the principal of Balıkesir High School. He worked as an education
director in Adana, Manastir, Kosovo, Skopje and Trabzon.
When he was in Manastır, he applied to go to Medina following a holy sign. He was
appointed as İdâdî-i Hamîdî principal. During his four years of service, he
served to Seyyid Hamza er-Rifai , the sheikh of the town.
Upon his return to Istanbul,
he became the sheikh of Ummu Kenan Order, built by his mother. He taught French
at Boys' Teacher School, worked as a member of Tedkîkat-ı İlmiyye, director od Darüşşafaka
and member of Education Council. He went to Madina for a second time and
returned after a short while. As the orders were shut down in 1925, Ummu Kenan
Order was used as a residence by the family members. After his retirement, he
worked as Turkish teacher at Fener
Greek High
School. He had numerous followers from the elite
of Istanbul,
and from the men of literati Sâmiha Ayverdi, Safiye Erol, Sofi Huri, Nezihe
Araz etc.)
"Kenan Rifai has a very
important place among the mystics lived in the first half of 20th century. He
has established his mystic ideas around belief, good morals, love; and raised
many people in the world of science, idea and art." (Mustafa Tahralı)
WORKS:
TRANSLATION: Muktezâ-yı Hayat (from French, science and natural
history books, 1308), Tuhfe-i Ken’an (1327).
BOOKLET: Rehber-i Sâlikîn (1327).
RESEARCH: Ahmed er-Rifâî (1340).
POETRY: İlâhiyyât-ı Ken’an (1341).
PARAPHRASE: Şerhli Mesnevî-i Şerif (1973).
CONVERSATION BOOK: Sohbetler (1991-92).
REFERENCE: Ken’an Rifâi ve Yirminci Asrın Işığında Müslümanlık (Sâmiha Ayverdi, Safiye Erol ve Nezihe Araz ile, ilk baskı 1953, 5. bas. 2003), Mustafa Tahralı / TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (c. 25, 2002, s. 254-255), İhsan Işık / Resimli ve Metin Örnekli Türkiye Edebiyatçılar ve Kültür Adamları Ansiklopedisi (11. cilt, 2009).
