Mustafa Necati Bursalı

      Poet and writer (b. 1941, Alaca village / Kavak / Samsun). His mother died when he was four, therefore his childhood was difficult. When he left primary school he had also learned the Koran by heart. He continued his education in Merzifon, and then he came to İstanbul and attended lectures given Abdurrahman Gürses, Abdurrahman Şeref Güzelyazıcı and Mahir İz. He was interested in calligraphy and studied with Hamid Aytaç. He studied both calligraphy and the sacred scriptures. He passed an exam in 1964 and became the imam of the Osman Reis Mosque. He worked there for 24 years and then retired.

His articles, essays and studies were published in many reviews and newspapers such as Yeni Asya (1965-77) and İslâm (1965) in which he began his writing career. He came first in the poetry competition held by the review İslâm in 1965 and he came second and third in other competitions. Approximately 40 of his books have been published and he has also written three unpublished poetry books.

WORKS:

Yunus Emre Hayatı ve Bütün Şiirleri (Yunus Emre, His Life and All his Poems, 1986), Anadolu Evliyaları (Saints of Anatolia, 1988), Güldeste ve Kıssadan Hisseler (Anthology of Poems and the Moral of the Story, 1990), Mukaddes Çile (Sacred Suffering, 1990), Hicret ve Devlet Yönetimi (Hegira and the Governance of the State, 1991), Gönül Erleri Evliyalar (People of the Heart, the Saints, 1992), Hz. Muhammed (Prophet Mohammad, 1992), Onlar Nasıl Kuldu (What Kind of People Were They?, 1993), İstanbul ve Anadolu Evliyaları II (The Saints of İstanbul and Anatolia II, 1993), Hz. Hasan ve Hüseyin (Esteemed Hasan and Hüseyin, 1994), Hz. Nuh (Esteemed Nuh, 1994), Hz. İbrahim (Esteemed İbrahİm, 1994), Hz. Adem (Esteemed Adem, 1994), Seçme Dini Hikâyeler (Anthology of Religious Stories, 1999), Gönül Pınarı (The Spring of the Heart, collection, 1999).

He has also prepared prayer books.