Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu speaks after a long time: 'If I had the wisdom I have today, I wouldn't have done the same thing'

Prof. Dr. Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu, who ran against AKP Chairman and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as the 'joint candidate' of the CHP and MHP in the 2014 Presidential Elections, spoke about Mehmet Akif Ersoy's Quran translation that has recently come to light.

ERSOY SAID, 'BURN IT IF I DON'T RETURN TO EGYPT'

Mehmet Akif Ersoy, the poet of the National Anthem, began his work on the Quran translation in 1925 upon the insistence of the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM), the Presidency of Religious Affairs, and his close associates, and officially continued his work until 1929.

When Ersoy returned to Turkey in 1936 due to illness, he entrusted his Quran translation to one of his closest friends in Egypt, Yozgat-born Professor İhsan Efendi, the father of Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu. However, Ersoy instructed İhsan Efendi to "burn them" requested.

İhsan Efendi did not burn the translation himself, but while on his deathbed, he entrusted Ersoy's request to his 17-year-old son. İhsanoğlu, along with some family friends, burned the parts of the translation that were present.

A PORTION OF THE NOTEBOOK'S COPY SURFACES AFTER 63 YEARS

When Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu examined the lilac-colored notebook he had found among his files at home some time ago, Mehmet Akif Ersoy's Quran translation, 28 letters sent to Ersoy by his friends, the original handwritten copy of the National Anthem, and the drafts of the 7th volume of Safahat, titled Gölgeler (Shadows), were discovered.

Based on these documents he found, İhsanoğlu co-authored with Fatma Şen "Relics from Akif" The book was published by Yapı Kredi Publications.

Prof. Dr. İhsanoğlu answered questions of interest regarding the book, which presents Mehmet Akif's life, spent through hardships, in a novelistic style with extensive literature research and new documents, as well as the Quran translation.

Question: Mehmet Akif Ersoy plays an important role in your life. Because one of his closest friends in Egypt is your father, İhsan Efendi. Will readers find the much-curious Quran translation in the book?

İhsanoğlu: The late Akif Bey used to quote from the Quran as he delved into religious questions in his writings and articles, and he would express the Turkish translations. Everyone appreciated these. During the Republican era, there was a general desire for the use of Turkish in religious works and for a Turkish translation of the Quran. Akif Bey used to say, 'This task is beyond me.' When the insistence came from official authorities and his loved ones, he said, 'Very well.' He did not do a literal translation; he made the translation according to how he understood the sentences. The great scholar of the era, Elmalılı Hamdi Efendi, was to write the commentary, and Akif Bey was to write the translation. They agreed on this. While Akif Bey was working on the translation in Egypt, he felt its shortcomings. Because he was worried that he could not reflect the miraculous structure of the Quran, and he translated it twice. Akif Bey returned to Turkey in 1936. While returning, he told my father at the Cairo train station, in the presence of İsmail Ezherli Bey, 'If I do not return, burn the Quran.' The incident of burning the Quran took place in 1961, the year my father passed away.

"IF I HAD THE WISDOM I HAVE TODAY, I WOULD NOT HAVE DONE THE SAME THING"

Question: You were 17 years old when you burned Akif's Quran translation with your family friends. Do you remember that day?

İhsanoğlu: I remember it very clearly. A few days before he passed away, my father pointed to the drawers of his five-compartment desk and said, 'These things are in this drawer.' He said, 'If the inevitable happens to me, you will burn these.' It was the summer months of 1961 when my father passed away. I opened the drawers and saw the Quran translation. I was 17 years old. I was not aware that Akif Bey wanted the translation to be burned. I do not know why my father kept it from 1936 to 1961. My father had even made a clean copy of it. Unfortunately, it is all gone. If you ask me whether I would do the same thing if I had the wisdom I have today, no, I would not. Unfortunately, history does not flow that way. In that respect, I remember that day very well.

"I WISH OTHER NOTEBOOKS HAD ALSO BEEN SAVED"

Question: Rumors circulate such as, "Were copies taken before it was burned? Did it fall into the hands of others?" One day, before sending a portion of your father's and your own books to Yozgat Bozok University, you found some documents. Could you tell us about the document you found and what happened afterward?

İhsanoğlu: After Cairo, Alexandria, Istanbul, England, Ankara, and Germany, we settled back in Turkey, and I have a library of 15,000 volumes, which has grown even more now. While I was classifying them, deciding which books would go to Yozgat and which would go to other libraries, one day, inside a file, in a lilac-colored cardboard-covered notebook, I found Mehmet Akif Ersoy's handwriting, his corrections, the Fatiha, the Baqarah, and the beginning of the Al-i İmran surah... That is the story.

"I FOUND AKIF BEY'S İstiklal Marşı POEM IN HIS OWN HANDWRITING"

Question: How did you feel when you found it? How could this notebook have ended up among those documents?

İhsanoğlu: I felt great excitement when I found the notebook belonging to Mehmet Akif. It was a very joyful thing. I wish other notebooks had been saved as well. It had gotten mixed in among the papers from here to there. When I classified the documents, I said, 'These need to be published.' They were not things that belonged to an individual. Among these is the Quran translation. Secondly, there are the drafts of the poetry book 'Safahat' (Shadows), and I found Akif Bey's 'İstiklal Marşı' (National Anthem) poem in his own handwriting, which had never been seen anywhere else. It was featured on the book cover and appeared in this book for the first time. There are nearly 30 letters written to Akif. Letters from Abbas Halim Pasha, his daughter Princess Emine Hanım, composers, poets, Şerif Muhittin, and members of the Teşkilat-ı Mahsusa (Special Organization) head Eşref Kuşçubaşı and his family members. These were truly a big surprise. It shows that Akif Bey lived a life different from his known lifestyle, in difficulties... He asks a friend for a loan. He says, 'I am going to the university, I cannot find the tram or metro fare, I cannot pay.' Akif writes this, the poet of the National Anthem, the national poet. These letters will be published for the first time.

THREE COPIES, ONE TEXT

Question: A short section of Mehmet Akif Ersoy's Quran translation, which remained from the Turkish clergyman Mustafa Runyun to his son and was published in 2012, was released. Considering this book, is it the same as the translation in your book, does it show a parallel?

İhsanoğlu: We examined this subject in a scholarly manner and reached this conclusion: three copies, one text. The translations made by Akif are the Fatiha, the Baqarah, and the beginning of the Al-i İmran surah. When we compare the translation I found with the other texts, the sentence structures are almost identical. He uses one word instead of another. He makes changes in some expressions, he crossed them out and wrote over them. This is important; it is rich material in terms of showing how Akif understood the Holy Quran. In other words, there are three copies. We examined the translation Akif Bey gave to my father, the second is Elmalılı Hamdi Efendi's exegesis, and the third is the Akif translation by Mustafa Runyun. There is already an agreement between Elmalılı Hamdi Efendi and Mehmet Akif. They send them to each other, and they also send a copy to the Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet). This agreement is also included in the book. We brought all three together. We identified the differences between them and examined them in terms of style and vocabulary. There are very few differences between the copies.

Question: Was the letter Mehmet Akif sent to Elmalılı Hamdi, in which he describes his work on the first 40 pages of the Quran, also among these documents? Will you present this to the reader in the book? What is the content of this document?

İhsanoğlu: The letter is dated 1926. He makes a photographic copy when the work first begins and gives it to my father. This is thought-provoking. It is a good thing he did that. It sheds light on the conditions of this work.

Question: Mehmet Akif's book "Gölgeler" (Shadows) was first published in Cairo. He gave three notebooks to your father, İhsan Efendi, when he was leaving Egypt; what is the content of these notebooks?

İhsanoğlu: There are very important things in these notebooks. First, there is the layout of the book "Gölgeler," the text of the National Anthem, and corrections on each poem. It is important in terms of showing how sensitive Akif Bey was and how he played with words.

"IT IS NEWLY EMERGING THAT MEHMET AKİF LIVED WITH DIFFICULTIES IN EGYPT"

Question: Do you think Mehmet Akif lived in exile in Egypt out of necessity?

İhsanoğlu: In exile and in seclusion. The person Akif spoke to there was Abbas Halim Pasha. Then he passed away too. He went to my father the most. How many people are there in that generation who, like him, were involved in struggles, wars, and rebellions, and worked for the benefit of the country and the permanence of the state? It is newly emerging that Mehmet Akif lived with difficulties in Egypt. We knew he lived under the patronage of Prince Abbas. A prosperous life. But it is understood from the letters that he was in great distress. He was teaching at the university. He went 4 days a week. He gave a 1-hour Turkish lesson each time he went. He was paid per lesson. He traveled for about 120 minutes, and there was also the return trip home. It was a very tiring journey.

Question: You are a scholar with good knowledge of the Quran. As mentioned in your book, it is stated in Elmalılı Hamdi Yazır's letters that Mehmet Akif's translation is described as "simple and with a very plain language." You are not a theologian, but do you think Akif used a simple language in his translation?

İhsanoğlu: It is not my place to say anything about a scholar like Elmalılı or a poet like Akif. Arabic, especially the language of the Quran, is a very comprehensive language with a very rich vocabulary. It is difficult to express it in Turkish, which has a smaller number of words. Many nuances are lost in between. Expressing something with 5,000 words is different from doing so with 1,000 words. There might be a problem there. Only experts understand this, not everyone. In this respect, Akif Bey was distressed because he could not convey the nuances he wanted. He lived in fear, thinking, "I have been given this trust; how will I answer to God if I cannot do it well?" He also had a political fear.

"OUR GOAL WAS TO FURTHER ILLUMINATE MEHMET AKİF'S INNER LIFE"

Question: You also use Mehmet Akif's chronological life story and previously studied works in the book. Do you think Mehmet Akif has been described incompletely in other works written about him?

İhsanoğlu: There is, of course, a lot. The publication of this book tells us this: We need to start these things from the beginning. The letters open a window into a closed world. You enter from there. Without those letters, you could not see the suffering and joys in Akif's home and heart. Akif Bey's life was written by his very close friends. Eşref Edip Bey is at the forefront of these. He was a kind of chronicler. We benefited from many works. Our goal was to further illuminate Mehmet Akif's inner life.

HE REQUESTED THE INVESTIGATION OF THE TRANSLATION FROM THE DIYANET

Question: It was written that there was an expectation that Mehmet Akif's Quran translation could be found, and this was expected more from you. Will the reader be able to find what they are looking for with this book?

İhsanoğlu: It is clear who the translation written by Akif Bey went to. It didn't just go somewhere randomly. There is something missing. The text that passed to my father, the text that the late Mustafa Runyun transcribed from the old script to the new script, and the text of Elmalılı Hamdi. What is missing here is the text at the Diyanet. In my opinion, the text that Mustafa Runyun received is the text that Akif Bey sent to the Presidency of Religious Affairs; that text needs to be brought to light.

Question: Your book mentions that while working on Mehmet Akif Ersoy's Quran translation, he sent a copy each to the scholar Elmalılı Hamdi Yazır and the President of Religious Affairs Ahmet Hamdi Akseki. Why haven't the copies from the Diyanet surfaced until now?

İhsanoğlu: During my time as Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, I told the former President of Religious Affairs, Mehmet Görmez, in his office, 'Mr. President, please investigate this; something will surely come of it.' I do not know if they investigated it. If the Directorate of Religious Affairs has not investigated Mehmet Akif's Quran translation, we request that they do so, and we ask that this story be completed.

"I WILL ALSO DONATE THE EXEGESIS THAT Elmalılı Hamdi Yazır SENT TO MEHMET AKİF"

Question: It is mentioned in the book that you possess some parts of Elmalılı Hamdi Yazır's exegesis. Do you consider entrusting these sections to the Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu History and Culture Application and Research Center at Yozgat Bozok University?

İhsanoğlu: I will donate the bound set of Sebilürreşad related to Akif, as well as his work published within the collection of lectures he gave at Darülfünun, to the center. I will also donate the exegesis that Elmalılı Hamdi Yazır sent to Mehmet Akif.

Question: Is it possible that one day we might reach Mehmet Akif's Quran translation from somewhere? Do you see such a possibility?

İhsanoğlu: I hope that the entirety of Mehmet Akif's Quran translation will emerge. It would be a joy if it were in someone's possession, and it would relieve us of that spiritual burden. However, I suspect, as far as I know, that the 30 volumes will not appear again.