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Fahrünnisa Bilecik was born in Konya in 1967. She graduated from Mimar Sinan University, Faculty of Science and Literature, Department of Turkish Language and Literature in 1989. The same year she started working with İlhan Ayverdi, President of Kubbealtı Academy Culture and Art Foundation, for the Big Turkish Dictionary with Examples project. She became a research assistant in Marmara University Faculty of Science and Literature, Department of Turkish Language and Literature in 1990 and received her master’s degree with a thesis titled “Edirneli Nazmi in Divan Journals”. She received her Ph.D. degree with her dissertation titled “Kız Jibek Legend”. After 16 years, she resigned from her position at Marmara University and started working in Kubbealtı Academy Culture and Art Foundation as Dictionary Project Manager and continued until İlhan Ayverdi’s passing. In 2010, she established Department of Turkish Language and Literature at Bartın University and still works at this department as a faculty member.

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Asuman Kulaksız, MD was born in Istanbul in 1954. She studied biology in Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute between 1974 and 1978. She graduated from Istanbul University, Cerrahpaşa Medical School in 1983 as a medical doctor. She currently works as an internal medicine specialist. She was born into a sufi family and continues her education with the guidance of her teachers Samiha Ayverdi and Meşkûre Sargut.

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Bruce Lawrence was born in New Jersey in 1941. He received his BA from Princeton University, MA from Episcopal Divinity School, and Ph.D. from Yale University, History of Religions Department.Having begun studying Arabic when he was 17 years old, Dr. Lawrence has been doing research on the history of Islam since then and has written countless books and articles. He received “DOST Service to Islam Award” in 2012 with his book The Qur'an - A Biography. He is fluent in Arabic, Urdu, Persian, and French. He has been teaching History of Islam classes for more than 20 years at Duke University.

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F. Cangüzel Güner Zülfikar graduated from the School of Letters at Ankara University (1986). She completed her masters’ in the History Department of the Institute of Social Studies of Ankara University (1989). She received her PhD in History from the Institute of Social Studies of Hacettepe University (1999). She worked as a lecturer at Gazi and Bilkent Universities. She taught classes at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University (2005-2013). She worked as the Associate Director of the UNC-CH Carolina Center for the Study of the Middle East and Muslim Civilizations (2006-2010). She was among the founders of the Turkish Studies Program in UNC-Chapel Hill (2009) and until December 2013 continued working as the lecturer of the program. She has been working at Istanbul Commerce University since October 2013.

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Carl W. Ernst was born in Los Angeles in 1950. He is a specialist in Islamic studies, with a focus on West and South Asia. Ernst received his PhD degree from Harvard University in 1981 and worked at Pomona College between 1981 and 1992. His published research, based on the study of Arabic, Persian, and Urdu, has been mainly devoted to the study of three areas: general and critical issues of Islamic studies, premodern and contemporary Sufism, and Indo-Muslim culture. He received the DOST Service to Islam Award in 2005 for his book Following Muhammad which has been translated into Turkish. He is William R. Kenan, Jr., Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

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Cemalnur Sargut was born in Istanbul in 1952. She has a degree in Chemical Engineering. As President of the Istanbul branch of TURKKAD (Turkish Women’s Cultural Association), she has been providing services in the field of tasawwuf which she has been studying and carrying out research for more than 30 years. Among her published books are her commentaries on Fusus al-Hikam and studies on great Sufi Masters’ commentaries on the Qur’an. She gives public spiritual lectures on Rumi’s Masnavi and Ibn Arabi’s Fusus. She also does weekly TV programs on these subjects. She delivers seminars on a regular basis at various universities, churches, and institutions in the United States, Germany, and India. She initiated the establishment of chairs entitled “Ken’an er Rifai Distinguished Professorship on Islamic Studies” at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, USA (2009) and at Peking University, the Institute of Advanced Human Studies, China (2011).

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Emin Işık was born in Hatay in 1936. He received his first religious training from his father Hoca Şemseddin who was the imam of their village. After primary school, he received Qur’an memorization training in Antakya. He graduated from Istanbul Higher Islamic Institute in 1964 and served as teacher and administrator in Istanbul İmam Hatip High School for four years. He received his Ph.D. degree from Istanbul Higher Islamic Institute, Department of Qur’an and Commentary with his dissertation on Abu Bakr Ibn al-Enbari’s book of “Kitâbu’l-Vakfi ve’l-İbtidâ”. He worked at the same Institute for 40 years and retired in 2001. He has written more than one hundred articles and encyclopedia entries. He continues his research in his private library. Some of his books are “The Life and Character of Celal Hoca”, “Willpower Establishing the State”, “Thing Qur’an Brought”, “Pigeons of Belh”.

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Emine Bağlı was born in Çankırı in 1944. She graduated from Ankara University, Faculty of Political Science, Department of Economics and Finance and worked as an administrator in different state organizations including positions of general manager and deputy undersecretary. She retired from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in 2007. She has been a member of Turkish Women’s Cultural Association (TURKKAD) since its establishment. She has served as the President of TURKKAD since 2000.

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Ercan Alkan was born in Sivas in 1978. He graduated from Marmara University, Faculty of Divinity in 2000. He completed his MA on “Letâifu’l-İ’lâm fî İşârâti Ehli’l-İlhâm and his translation of Mütercimi Meçhul” in the Institute of Social Sciences, Department of Basic Islamic Sciences at Marmara University in 2002. He received his PhD degree from Marmara University, Department of Tasawwuf. Alkan worked as an adjunct professor at Indiana University for two years. He served as editor in several journals and worked at the Center for Science Research (ILAM). He currently is an assistant professor in Marmara University, Department of Tasawwuf. He authored a book titled “Tasawwuf is Calling You”.

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Eren Bayar was born in Isparta in 1977. She graduated from Istanbul University, Department of Philosophy in 1999. After graduation she worked as a philosophy teacher in different schools. She received spiritual training from her family. She has been studying Qur’an commentaries with Cemalnur Sargut and participating in Masnavi commentary classes open to the public as a co-speaker.

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Erhan Yetik was born in Samsun in 1945 and received his BA degree from Istanbul Higher Islamic Institute in 1967. He was sent to Libya Islam University by the Ministry of National Education to do research. He worked as a teacher and principal in different schools. He received his Ph.D. degree from Marmara University, Social Sciences Institute in 1986. He became assistant professor in 1989, associate professor in 1996 and professor in 2004 in the Department of Tasawwuf History. He worked as department chair in Ondokuz Mayıs University, School of Divinity since its establishment. He also served as a member of the faculty board. Yetik retired in 2012 and lives in Samsun. He wrote tens of articles and encyclopedia entries. Two of his books titled “Life, Books and Tasawwuf Understanding of Ismail Anakaravi” and “Tariqas and Religious Life”. He knows Arabic and English.

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Esin Celebi Bayru is the 22nd generation granddaughter of Mawlana. Her father is Celaleddin Celebi. She has studied Arab and Persian Philology. She worked in the tourism sector for many years. She lives in Istanbul. She established International Mawlana Foundation in 1996 with her brother and spiritual senior Faruk Hemdem Celebi to explain Mawlana’s teachings and thoughts. Bayru is currently the acting president of this foundation and serves as consultant for programs done in the name of Mawlana.

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Arzu Eylül Yalçınkaya was born in Istanbul in 1978. Yalçınkaya completed her undergraduate studies in Marmara University, School of Divinity in 2000. After her graduation, she has worked as a "Religious Culture and Ethics" teacher for 13 years. In the meantime, Yalçınkaya studied Masnavi and commentary of the Qur’an (Tafsir) with Cemalnur Sargut. Yalçınkaya obtained her master’s degree from Istanbul University, Faculty of Divinity, and Department of Basic Islamic Sciences by accomplishing her master thesis "Masnavi Discourses of Ken'an Rifai" in 2013. She has been an active member of TURKKAD since 2000 and both participated and volunteered in their cultural, social and educational activities. Her first book “Neyden Dinle” (Listen from the Nay), prepared for the young audience and contained stories from the Masnavi was published by Nefes Publication in 2008. In 2013, two books, “Sohbetler” (Spiritual Discourse) and “Mesnevi Hatıraları” (Memories of the Masnavi) that Yalçınkaya edited was published by the same publication house. At the moment she lives in Boston and continues her studies in Harvard University on Religious Studies.

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Gürbüz Ertürk was born in Bayburt in 1938. He is an architect graduated from Ankara State Architecture and Engineering Academy. Besides private works, he was involved with many important projects in Turkey and Libya and worked as construction site coordinator and general manager at big companies. He was a member of the team lead by late Ekrem Hakkı Ayverdi to identify Ottoman Architectural Pieces in Europe between 1976 and 1977. He worked as the deputy director at National Palaces Directorate of Turkish Parliament during 1999-2003 and played an important role in preventing the collapse of many late Ottoman era buildings including Dolma Bahçe Palace. He worked in restoring Kenan Rifai’s house in Fatih in 1998 and Ummü Kenan Lodge in 2007.

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Neyzen Mustafa Hakan Alvan was born in Sakarya, where he completed his conservatory training. He received training from the great masters Bekir Sıtkı Sezgin, Neyzen Ümit Gürelman, Haydar Sanal, Erol Sayan, Ph.D. Necmettin Hacıeminoğlu and Ph.D. Faruk Sümer. Afterwards he worked as a reed flute player at the conservatory of Istanbul University and TRT Istanbul Radio. Mustafa Hakan Alvan has more than 200 compositions in Sufi music and is currently working at The Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Istanbul Historical Turkish Music Ensemble of Republic of Turkey.

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Hatice Dilek Güldütuna graduated from Istanbul Cerrahpaşa, Faculty of Medicine. She studied Islamic Science, Jewish-Christian Religious Studies and philosophy in Frankfurt J. W. Goethe University. She completed her MA on the symbolism of letters in Ibn Arabi. She is currently working on her Ph.D. at the same university.

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James Morris was born in the US in 1949. He received his PhD degree in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations from Harvard University with a thesis on Mulla Sadra. He received his B.A in Civilizational Studies from University of Chicago. Morris has taught Islamic and religious studies at the Universities of Boston, Exeter, Princeton, and Oberlin. He lectures widely on Islamic philosophy and theology, Sufism, the Islamic humanities, and the Qur’an. Recent books include Ostad Elahi’s Knowing the Spirit (2007); The Reflective Heart: Discovering Spiritual Intelligence in Ibn ‘Arabi’s ‘Meccan Illuminations’ (2005); and Orientations: Islamic Thought in a World Civilisation (2004); together with the forthcoming Openings: From the Qur’an to the Islamic Humanities.

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Kenan Gürsoy was born in Ankara in 1950. He completed his undergraduate education at Rennes University and Sorbonne University with a scholarship from the French Government. He received his Ph.D. degree from Erzurum Atatürk University, Faculty of Letters, Department of Philosophy in 1979. Later he started working as associate professor at Ankara University, Faculty of Language, History, and Geography, Department of Philosophy and became a full professor in 1989 at the same university. He worked at Galatasaray University, Faculty of Science and Literature between 2000 and 2009 and served as dean and Department of Philosophy chair. He served as Republic of Turkey’s Ambassador to the Vatican during 2009-2014. His research interests are Turkish Tasawwuf, existentialist philosophy, phenomenology, ethics, and comparative religious ethics. Some of his books are Ethics and Tasawwuf; Do We Have a Philosophy Tradition?; Do We Have a Universal Project?; Opinions on Existence and Philosophy.

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Mehmet Demirci was born in Konya in 1942. He graduated from Istanbul Higher Islamic Institute in 1965. Since 1970 he has been giving lectures on Sufism at Izmir H. Islamic Institute and subsequently Dokuz Eylul University, Faculty of Theology. He received his PhD degree from Dokuz Eylül University, School of Divinity in 1984 with the dissertation titled “Tasawwuf According to Ghazali”. Some of his works are Love of God and The People of Yunus, Sufism in Yahya Kemal and Mehmed Akif, Mawlana and Mawlavi Culture, Nur al-Muhammadi, Moral from Masnavi Stories, Sufi Culture in the Hadiths, Sufi Culture from History to Present-Articles, Historical-Mystical Legends and Commentaries.

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Melike Türkan Bağlı was born in Ankara. She completed her studies in Psychological Services at Ankara University, Faculty of Educational Sciences in 1992. She worked at the same department first as a research assistant and later as a faculty. She is a faculty at Maltepe University, Faculty of Education since 2012. She attends events in areas of Tasawwuf, culture, and education as a member of Turkish Women’s Cultural Association.

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Mohammed Rustom received his MA and PhD degrees from Toronto University in Islamic Thoughts. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Islamic Studies at Carleton University, specializing in Sufism, Islamic philosophy, and Qur’anic Studies. He is proficient in Arabic and Persian. His specialty is in Tasawwuf, Islamic Philosophy, and Qur’anic Studies. He is the main editor of an anthology of William Chittick’s writings entitled In Search of the Lost Heart: Explorations in Islamic Thought, and is the author of The Triumph of Mercy: Philosophy and Scripture in Mulla Sadra. He is currently writing a book on the Sufi teachings of ‘Ayn al-Qudat Hamadani.

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Mustafa Kara was born in Rize in 1951. After primary school, he attended his father’s course and became a Hafız. He graduated from Kayseri Higher Islam Instıtute in 1974. He received his PhD degree from Uludağ University with the dissertation titled “Ibn Arabi According to Ibn Teymiyye”. He is a professor of Tasawwuf at the School of Divinity, Uludağ University. He has written extensively on tasawwuf and the history of sufi orders/tarîqas, the sufi and mystical movements in both Ottoman and modern times. Among his books, “Tasavvuf ve Tarîkatler Tarihi” [Tasawwuf and Hisroty of Tariqas]; “Bursa’da Tarîkatler ve Tekkeler” [Tariqas and Tekkes in Bursa]; “Metinlerle Günümüz Tasavvuf Hareketleri” [Contemporary Sufi Movements through Texts]; “Metinlerle Osmanlı’da Tasavvuf ve Tarîkatler” [Tasawwuf and Tariqas in Ottoman Period through Texts]; “Türk Tasavvuf Tarihi Araştırmaları” [Studies on Turkish Sufi History] can be cited.

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Mustafa Tahralı was born in Konya in 1934. He received his undergraduate education in Ankara University, School of Divinity. He worked in the Office of Ankara Mufti during 1963-1966 as religious commissary and became Deputy Mufti of Kütahya in 1966. He went to France in 1967 to work on his doctorate and completed his dissertation titled “Life, Works, and Tariqa of Ahmad al-Rifai” in Paris Sorbonne III University in 1973. After returning to Turkey he was appointed as Tasawwuf History and Islamic Turkish Literature teacher in İstanbul Higher Islamic Institute. He became a faculty member in Marmara University, School of Divinity, Department of Tasawwuf History in 1982. Currently he is part of the faculty at İstanbul 29 Mayıs University, Department of Philosophy. His research interests are Ottoman Thought and Tasawwuf Philosophy.

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Mustafa Tatçı was born in Denizli in 1961. He graduated from Uludag University, Necati Bey Faculty of Education, the Department of Turkish Language and Literature in 1984. He completed his master’s degree on the concept of “Hayretî Dîvânı’nda Din ve Tasavvuf”; and his PhD with a dissertation on “Yûnus Emre Dîvânı-İnceleme-Tenkitli Metin” (1990). He is currently at Gazi University, Faculty of Education, the Department of Education on Turkish Language and Literature. He has many works on Classic Turkish Literature and Turkish Tasawwuf Literature (especially on schools of Yunus Emre and Niyâzî-i Mısrî). Some of his books are Life, Works and Thoughts of Niyazi Mısri; Bibliography of Yunus Emre; Emir Buhari: A Sufi from Bukhara in İstanbul; Divan of Azizi Mahmud Hüdayi; Menakibname of Hasan Ünsi; Complete Works of Yunus Emre; Nasuhi: Tasawwuf in the Footsteps of Prophet; A Perfected Human Being Exiled in Limnos.

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Omid Safi, of Iranian descent, was born in Florida. He completed his doctoral studies at Duke University in the area of Sociology of Religion and Anthropology. He worked at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for long years and currently is the Director of Duke University Islamic Studies Center. He specializes in Modern Islamic Thought, Middle East Islam History, Rumi, Islamic Sufism, and Iranian Poetry. He has publications in Gender in Islam, Theory and Methodology in Asian Religions, Middle East Culture and Literature. He teaches in these areas at UNC-CH, Harvard, and Duke University. He uses Kenan Rifai’s Commentary on Rumi’s Masnavi translated into English by Victoria Holbrook in his classes. He is a member of American Academy of Religion, Middle East Studies Association, and Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi Society.

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Orhan Seyfi Büyükaksoy, grandson of Kenan Rifai, was born in Istanbul in 1929. After completing his primary and high school education in İstanbul, he joined the Republic of Turkey Government Lending Agency (Emniyet Sandığı). He served as branch director in İstanbul and İzmir and retired from this organization after working for 45 years. He got married to Taliha Büyükaksoy in 1954 and had two children and four grandchildren.

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Osman Nuri Küçük was born in Erzurum in 1967. He received his undergraduate degree in 1998 and master’s degree in 2001 from Atatürk University, School of Divinity. He was sent to Egypt for research in 2004 with a scholarship from the Ministry of National Education. He received his Ph.D. degree from Ankara University, Social Sciences Institute, Department of Tasawwuf with a dissertation titled “Ego Transformation in Mawlana: Süluk” in 2007. He is currently a faculty at Erciyes University, School of Divinity. He is proficient in Arabic and English. He published articles on Tasawwuf Thought and Mawlana. His books are Perfected Human Being in Fusus al-Hikam and Masnavi; Spiritual Progress According to Mawlana: Ego’s Transformation and Miraj; Mawlana’s Tasawwuf Ideas in Axis of Fihi Ma Fih; Mawlana and Power: His Relations with Administrators and Claims of Mongol Espionage.

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Sachiko Murata, born in 1943, completed her BA in family law at Chiba University in Japan, worked for a year in a law firm in Tokyo, and then went to Iran to study Islamic law. She completed a PhD in Persian literature at Tehran University in 1971, and then transferred to the faculty of theology, where she was the first woman and the first non-Muslim to be enrolled. She finished her MA in Islamic jurisprudence in 1975, and while continuing work on her PhD dissertation in law she became a research associate at the Imperial Iranian Academy of Philosophy. Her work on her second PhD was cut short by the revolution. Since 1983 she has taught religious studies at Stony Brook. She taught “Muslim Confucius” and other Islamic Thoughts classes at Peking University, Kenan Rifai Islamic Research Chair, which was established by Turkish Women’s Cultural Association (TURKKAD) since 2012. In this class, she used a book on a Chinese scholar Huiru from Ibn Arabi School, which she prepared with William C. Chittick and Weiming Tu.

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Sadık Yalsızuçanlar was born in Malatya in 1962. After graduating from Hacettepe University, Department of Turkology, he worked in publishing and as a teacher. His first short story was published in New Asia newspaper’s art enclosure. He joined Turkish Radio and Television in 1988 and worked as a producer. He won Turkish Authors Union’s Attempts Award with his book “Dream Cinema” and Story Award with “Passenger Ornamenting Cities”. He also won TV Program Award with his production “Poet’s Lutes, Lover’s Saz and Depot” from Turkish National Culture Foundation and Turkish Authors Union. Some of his more than 40 books are Wanderer; Phoenix; Glass and Diamond; House of Existence; Moment; Parrot Hurting the Truth; Passenger Ornamenting Cities; Bird’s Sleep; Lonely; Very Clear; 40 Custody Stories; Kurds’ Test with Fire; Dream Cinema; Tasawwuf Pamphlet; Nothing; Bricks with Secrets; Fidelity Apartment.

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Semih Ceyhan was born in İstanbul in 1973. He graduated from the Faculty of Theology at Marmara University in 1995. He completed his master’s degree with a thesis titled: “Abdullah Salâhî Uşşâkî’nin Vücûd (Varlık) Risâleleri” in 1998 and completed his PhD with a thesis titled: “İsmail Ankaravî ve Mesnevî Şerhi” in 2005. He studied language and worked both in Tunisia and England for one year each. He worked as a researcher at Turkish Diyanet Foundation, Islamic Studies Center between 2005 and 2013. He has been working as an associate professor in Divinity School of Marmara University since 2013. He has publications in the area of Tasawwuf History and some are İsmail Ankaravi: Tasavvuf with Hadiths and Mawlawi Rule of Conduct; 1001 Sufi (Süleyman Şeyhi from Köstendil); The Secret of Masnavi (with Mustafa Topatan); Tariqas in Turkey: History and Culture.

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Stephen Hirtenstein has studied Ibn Arabi since the 1970s. He is the editor of Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi Society’s Journal and Institute of Ismaili Studies. He specializes in works of Ibn Arabi and people from the same school. He is the founding manager of Anqa Publishing. He writes about Ibn Arabi and attends conferences to explain Ibn Arabi’s thoughts and teachings. He also organizes Ibn Arabi’s Footprints tours.

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Süleyman Uludağ was born in Amasya in 1940. He is a graduate of İstanbul Higher Islamic Institute. He started working at Kayseri Higher Islamic Institute in 1970 and moved to Bursa Higher Islamic Institute in 1975. He currently is a faculty at Uludağ University, School of Divinity, Department of Tasawwuf and encyclopedic entree author at Turkish Diyanet Foundation’s Encyclopedia of Islam. Having a deep knowledge of Tasawwuf culture and other Islamic disciplines, he published articles, books, and translations on Tasawwuf, Akaid, Kelam, and Islamic Thought. Some of his books are Woman with an Eye of a Sufi; Dictionary of Tasawwuf Terms; Research on Ibn Haldun; Structure of Islamic Thought; Science of Kelam and Akaid of Islam; Essence of Tasawwuf: Şifau’s-Sail (Ibn Haldun); Pamphlet of Kuşeyri (Abdulkerim Kuşeyri); Tasawwuf in Time of its Birth (Kelabazi); Science of Kelam and Akaid of Islam (Taftazani); Knowledge of Truth (Hucvuri).

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Turan Koç was born in Kayseri in 1952 and graduated from Ankara University, School if Divinity in 1977. He received his PhD degree from Dokuz Eylül University in the field of Religion Philosophy and worked as faculty in Erciyes University, School of Divinity, Department of Philosophy and Religion Sciences. He is currently the dean of İstanbul Sabahattin Zaim University, Faculty of Islamic Sciences. He is specialized in Islamic Civilization and Social Sciences and Religion Philosophy. He also has works in art and literature and published original articles and translations. Some of his books are Thought of Immortality; Language of Religion; Witnesses of Existence; Aesthetic of Islam; The Tradition of Ibn Arabi and Davud al-Kayser; Like Blood, Dropped on Time.

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Turgut Alsırt was born in his grandfather Hacı Tevfik Bey’s waterside residence in Çengelköy, İstanbul in 1932. His father was a veteran of Çanakkale War residing in Kuleli, Istanbul. He then moved to Izmir. Alsırt got his primary education in Izmir, finished high school in Kabataş, Istanbul and graduated from Istanbul University School of Medicine in 1957. He had his specialty in OBGYN from Zeynep Kamil Hospital in 1964. He worked at Hacettepe Hospital in Ankara from 1965 to 1982. He worked as an MD in different organizations from 1982 to 1997 when he retired. He describes going under the wings of Samiha Ayverdi in years 1954-55 as his life’s turning point. He says, “Like many Turkish Muslim youth, I lived and am still living in an environment established by Mother Samiha.”

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Türkan Erkmen was born in İzmit in 1926. She is the child of an immigrant family. Her mother raised her with sufi manners and she graduated from Istanbul Girls High School in 1946. She worked as a teacher in several schools. After reading Samiha Ayverdi’s “Never Seting Day” book, Erkmen became Ayverdi’s student.

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Vasfi Emre Ömürlü was born in Istanbul on 1969 as a member of a musician family. His father, Yusuf Ömürlü, is a conductor and composer in Turkish Classical Music and Sufi Music and has provided initial knowledge on music to Vasfi Ömürlü. Beginning from the childhood; he attended concert practices and regular music theory classes in Kubbealtı Culture and Art Group Chorus, where his father is the musical director. Beginning from high school, he attended ney (reed flute) classes of Ömer Erdoğdular. After completing initial studies in ney, he began to provide ney lessons in Kubbealtı Art and Culture Group with the suggestion of his master. During his undergraduate education, he began to study Islamic and sufi music with Hafız Kazım Büyükaksoy, who was one of the greatest authorities in this field. Especially, he has become professional in improvisational side of Islamic and sufi music, like mevlid, kaside, durak forms. After his undergraduate studies he traveled with Ahmed Özhan in Turkey for different concerts. After he met with Cinuçen Tanrıkorur who is a composer, conductor, singer, and an ud player whose name was known internationally, Vasfi Ömürlü attended almost every concert, TV show, and CD recordings with him. After his return from US completing his Ph.D. in the Ohio State University in 2002, he attended Yıldız Technical University as an associate professor and then became the chair of Mechatronic Engineering Department. Vasfi Emre Ömürlü, individually or with chorus, has performed many concerts as a singer and a conductor. Currently, he is leading musical group Lâ Edrî and performing concerts in Türkiye and several countries, like Germany and India regularly.

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Born and raised in Milford, Connecticut, William C. Chittick did his B.A. in history at the College of Wooster (Ohio) and then went to Iran, where he completed a Ph.D. in Persian literature at Tehran University in 1974. He taught comparative religion in the humanities department at Aryamehr Technical University in Tehran and, for a short period before the revolution, was assistant professor at the Imperial Iranian Academy of Philosophy. He returned to the United States in January, 1979. For three years he was assistant editor at the Encyclopaedia Iranica (Columbia University), and from 1983 he has taught religious studies at Stony Brook. He served as Kenan Rifai Islamic Research professor at Peking University in 2012. Chittick is author and translator of thirty books and one hundred-fifty articles on Islamic thought, Sufism, Shi’ism, and Persian literature. Chittick regularly teaches Islam, Islamic Classics, and other courses in religious studies. On occasion he directs qualified students in the reading of Arabic or Persian texts. He is currently working on several research projects in Sufism and Islamic philosophy.

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Yusuf Ömürlü was born in İstanbul in 1936. He graduated from Fine Arts Academy as an architect with MS degree. He started his music training with Arif Sami Toker and attended Üsküdar Music Group during 1956-1960. He initiated music trainings at Kubbealtı Academy together with Münir Nurettin Selçuk, Kemal Batanay, and Cahit Gözkan in 1971. After having a stroke in 1975, Ömürlü stopped architectural works and focused on music. He prepared musical notes for 1007 hymns, 465 Turkish Classical Music pieces, 120 instrumental pieces, 100 composed poems of Yahya Kemal, and 78 composed poems of Kenan Rifai. He prepared the book titled “Hymns to the Prophet of Mercy”, which included 428 hymns in 2007. He composed 10 pieces in different Turkish makams. He currently serves as the conductor of Kubbealtı Academy Culture and Art Foundation Music Group.