Ali Ulvi Kurucu

Poet and writer (b. 1920, Konya – d. 3 February 2002, Medina / Saudi Arabia). He lost his mother at the age of four. In 1929 he was sent to primary school but began to study as a hafız (one who knows the Koran by heart) since his grandfather had decided that he would finish primary and secondary schools outside. He memorized the Koran completely in 1931 and then in 1932 he was sent to Koran School, which had been opened by the Konya Mufti. While he was continuing his own education, he had been charged by his teacher Kadiri Şeyh Ali Efendi with a duty of listening to other students who were studying hafiz. He became the first Head Hafiz of the noon prayer that was held at Konya Kapı Mosque.

His grandfather died in 1935, he started to play football in Konya İdmanyurdu in 1936. His attempt to go to Medina via Adana with his father İbrahim Efendi and his uncle Mustafa Efendi failed. He came to İstanbul with his family in 1939, once again to try to go to Medina. He left İstanbul by ship on 24 February. He arrived in Mecca with his family after an arduous journey. His family settled in Medina and he went to Mısır Ezher University to study. On 12 May 1943, he wrote the poem Ney ile Hasbihal (Heart to Heart Talk with Flute), which he would send to Rıza Tevfik later. 

When his father İbrahim Efendi died in Medina in 1945, he gave up his education to look after his family and came back to Medina in 1946. He married Fatma Hanım in 1947. On 11 April, he sent a letter to Rıza Tevfik, a letter that bore characteristics that reflected his first literary views and included the Nay ile Hasbihal (Heart to Heart Talk with Flute) poem. His Daughter Sare was born in 1948. In the pilgrim season in 1949, he met his uncle Mustafa Efendi who came from Konya. He supported Ali Kemal Belviranlı who was consulting him on the periodical İslamın Nuru and promised to write a poem for each issue. He wrote his first published poem called Mukaddes Türk Gençliğine (To the Sacred Turkish Youth) in 1950 and that poem appeared in the first issue of the periodical İslam’ın Nuru, which was published in April 1951. In the sixth issue in October, his first translation with the title Biri Birine Rekabet Eden İki Dava (The Two Lawsuits That Compete With Each Other) by Hasen Ali Hüsnü appeared and in the eleventh and twelfth issues in March and April of 1952, his first prose with the title Medine-i Münevvere'de Bir Sabah Ezanı (The First Morning Call to Prayer in Medina) was published.

He became the director of the Medina Sultan Mahmud Library in 1953. He came to Turkey for the first time after his left in 1955. In 1958, his first poetry book Nurdan Sesler (Voices from the Divine Radiance) was published. Üveyszade Mustafa Efendi, whom he met for the last time in 1959 died in the following year. In 1975, he became the director of Şeyh-ul-Islam Arif Hikmet Library, which contains the richest handwritten works library in Saudi Arabia. He became paralyzed in 1994, he had an operation on his gallbladder in 1995 and he died in Medina in 2002. He was laid to rest in the Cennetü’l Baki Graveyard.

His poems, which he wrote with prosodic meter, were published in the periodicals İslam, İslam Medeniyeti, İslam Düşüncesi in addition to the periodical İslam’ın Nuru (1951-53) published by Ali Kemal Belviranlı in İstanbul. Ali Ulvi Kurucu took his place among the great poets in Turkish literature due to his book Gümüş Tül (The Silver Tulle) that introduced him to the literature world. Large numbers of people on almost every cultural level read his poems avidly.

He also has translations.

WORKS:

POETRY: Nurdan Sesler (Voices From the Divine Radiance, 1958), Gümüş Tül (The Silver Tulle, 1961), Gümüş Tül ve Alevler (The Silver Tulle and Flames, with addition of new poems to the ones of his first book, 1970).

MEMOIR: Bir Ömürden Sayfalar - Ali Ulvi Kurucu'dan Hatıralar (Pages from a Lifetime - Memoirs of Ali Ulvi Kurucu, prepared by Sare Kurucu, 2002), Medine Notları (The Notes of Medina, prepared by Hayreddin Bulut, 2002).

ESSAY-INTERVIEW: Gecelerin Gündüzü (The Daytime of the Nights, 1990). 

KAYNAKÇA: İhsan Işık / Yazarlar Sözlüğü (1990, 1998) - Türkiye Yazarlar Ansiklopedisi (2001, 2004) – Encyclopedia of Turkish Authors (2005) - Resimli ve Metin Örnekli Türkiye Edebiyatçılar ve Kültür Adamları Ansiklopedisi (2006, gen. 2. bas. 2007) - Ünlü Edebiyatçılar (Türkiye Ünlüleri Ansiklopedisi, C. 4, 2013) - Encyclopedia of Turkey’s Famous People (2013), TDE Ansiklopedisi (c. 5), Yeni Şafak (6.12.2000), TBE Ansiklopedisi (2001), Ali Ulvi Kurucu’nun Ardından (haz. Ali Ulvi Arıkan, 2002), Sare Kurucu / Bir Ömürden Sayfalar - Ali Ulvi Kurucu’dan Hatıralar (2002), İlkadım Dergisi (Nisan 2002), Alim Kahraman / TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (c. 26, 2002), Özgür ve Bilge Dergisi (sayı: 2), Aksiyon Dergisi (sayı: 442, 6.1.2003), Mehmet Nuri Yardım / Yazar Olacak Çocuklar (2004).