Biography of Lütfi Filiz

At the last decade of Ottoman Empire, as the war was going on at various regions of the mother land , Lütfi Filiz was born in Izmir-Tire in one of the small towns of Anatolia in 1911. He is the fifth child of his family with seven children of that is two girls and five boys. When he was born, three of his brothers were fighting in the fronts; one in Galicia, one in Caucasus, and the other one in Tripoli.

At the time being, his family was considered as wealthy. His father, Abdurrahman Efendi was earning his life by repairing watches. Hence, the nick name of the family in Tire was ‘watchers'. Abdurrahman Efendi was very faithful to his Armenian master, from whom he had learned watch repairing, to a degree that he did not leave giving service to him until he died. Because of this fidelity of Abdurrahman Efendi, the Nacaryans, one of the distinguished clock merchants in Izmir, had provided many support to him through his life.

In 1915, at the first year of the first world war an unpreventable conflagration started in the Greek inhabitants' region of Tire. Consequently, more than half of the town had been burned out. The little kid Lütfi and his parents, Abdullah Efendi and Ayse Hanim had hardly survived from the firebreak and they had to immigrate to a small village, Karaali, which is close to Tire.

The duration in Karaali was the term for young Lütfi who had been intensively educated by his father. Every day on his return from work to home, Abdurrahman Efendi made little Lütfi to get know one page of the Holy Koran by heart. Hence, Lütfi had learned the Holy Koran by heart when he was only five years old. At the age of seven, that was the starting age of primary schools, Lütfi was accepted to the second year students' class since he had already known how to read. Hence, he had graduated from the primary school within five years that was one year earlier than the normal period for graduation. After the graduation from primary school he attended to “medrese” that used to correspond to both high school and University of today. He could attend to medrese only for one year since it had been closed according to the new administrative regulations. Consequently, he started to be busy with his father's profession of watch repairing.

When he was fifteen years old, he realized that he could not get any progress in his profession by staying in Tire so that he went to Izmir to work for a good master for three years. As he became eighteen years old he come back to Tire and started to work by himself.

In 1932, his first military duty was completed as a ‘messenger' who transmits information at the military barracks, Hilal in Izmir. According to the new law constituted in 1934, he had accepted the family name of ‘Filiz'. In 1938, he had married with Nuriye Hanim with whom he lived for forty nine years. His two daughters and two sons were born from this marriage. When his first child became one year old the second world war started, for the possible warfare he was called to join with army as the reserve of troops so he did the additional army duty at Gelibolu for one year.

Lütfi Filiz has been very sensible and has a great enthusiasm for music since he was very young. He used to love sleeping in his father's armful with the hymns performed by his mother. As he grew up, his interest in music became more intensive so that he started to play the musical instrument ‘Ud'. In the beginning he had played Ud, in hidden places, preferable at home. At his young ages he played Ud at parks and music parties performed in Tire. However, his father did not tolerate his interest in music so that he could hardly convince him by the argument that he played instruments for the musician band of regiment. Hence, he could be able to play flute and trombone at the ‘Band of Republican Party of Tire', which has been established shortly after the foundation of Turkish Republic. At that time, he met with the master of the band, Mr.Slavo who had come from old Czechoslovakia and insisted Lütfi to play the violin. He started to play the violin and gave a performance as the second violin at the gorgeous celebration party held for the foundation of the Republic. When he was forty five years old , he was interested in playing Ney by the influence of thought of Tasavvuf. Hence, he founded the union named “music and stage lovers union of Tire”. One of the famous teachers of Turkish classical music, Arif Sami Toker was invited to this union. He gained the knowledge of Turkish Music during this period of time. Consequently, Lütfi Filiz performed many concerts on the radio in between 1955-1960. Based on the inspiration and knowledge of music gained in this period, later on he composed many hymns.

When he was thirty-four years old, the most miracle change in of Lütfi Filiz's life had occurred. The irresistible seeking of reality had proceeded him to reach Osman Dede. Until he met Osman Dede he was living according to the rules of Islam by means of “Seriat”. Most of the things had started to be changed in his life as soon as he had been thought the knowledge of the reality, ( Ilm-i Ledun) by Osman Dede. Osman Dede's father was a Bektashi. However, Osman Dede had completed all the stages of “Melami” and went to Kahire to attend to the “Atesbaz-i Veli dergahi” in order to pass through a severe trial* for 1001 days to be a Mevlevi Dede. On his return from Kahire, Osman Dede had gone to Konya and then he was invited to Tire by Mevlevi Huseyin Efendi. He went there and spent the last five years of his life in Tire. Osman Dede who was known as Mevlevi in Tire, raised Lütfi Filiz until the last moment of his life time.

In 1949, Lütfi Filiz experienced a mystical sorrow for ten years since Osman Dede had passed away. A zakirbasi ** named Sevki Dede was living in Tire. Lütfi Filiz was told that Sevki Dede communicated with only very respectable persons. So that Lütfi Filiz requested Sevki Dede to transmit his greetings to the persons he met at where he goes. By keeping this request in his mind ,Sevki Dede went to Izmir and visited Aziz Senol Efendi and said Lütfi's greetings to him. Consequently, even if they did not meet with face to face but they became to be acquainted with one another via the close friend. After one year of Sevki Dede's transmitting the greetings, Lütfi Filiz went to the office of Aziz Efendi who is known as hat-maker in Izmir- Kemeralti.

He addressed to him as,

“ I had believed that I have already learned all of the knowledge of book of Universe my bellowed.
By seeing the vision of your face, I have started from the first letter of the alphabet , elif.”
From that time he belonged to Aziz Dede by heart.

This event was a new birth for Lütfi Filiz and the accumulated inspiration in his mind has been transformed into the poem, the hymns and the musical compositions created under the deep influence of Aziz Dede. Most of the poems contented in “Fani Divani *** ” were the product of this period of time. In 1979 he had stopped working for his profession of watch repairing, which he had carried out for 56 years. He had taken over the responsibility of “Master” duty, right after the death of Kenzi Aziz Senol in 8 th of March 1981.

He moved into Istanbul to live together with his children, after the death of his wife, Nuriye Hanim with whom he had lived for 49 years, since then he has been visiting Tire in summers.

The collection of the knowledge introduced on his talks performed in between 1983-88 , which has been published by Pan Publication in 1988 entitled as “The Eternity of the Dot”, consisting of four volumes. His musical compositions were first published by notes and then distributed as musical album, Cd and cassette, by Pan Music in 2001.

All of the poems written in forms of Aruz (prosody) and hece **** (syllable) by Lütfi Filiz since 1945, has been collected in his Divan.

Through his life he has regretted that he could not attend to the school at the University level according to the difficult conditions of his time. On the other hand he has raised his daughters and sons and that provided them, the highest education; one of his daughter has become a Medical doctor, the other is a teacher in mathematics. One of his sons is a professional musician (Ney Player) graduated from the conservatoire, the other is an Agricultural Engineer.

All of his grand daughters and sons have had university education. They are graduated respectively from the faculty of Science & Arts department of Geography; from faculty of Engineering department of Civil Engineering (with masters degree); from department of Industrial Engineering (with MBA); from department of Geology (with masters in Computer Science). The younger grand daughter and sons are still students. One is studying at the faculty of Art department of Stage and Costume Designing, the other is in high school, and the youngest one is in the nursery school.

Lütfi Filiz has reflected the Philosophy of Tasavvuf in the purest and the most understandable form on his poems and the other literature. He expresses his view in the sentences of his poem as ;

“ O! mortal, you are not telling these words,
The genuine speaker is Hakk, the translator is myself “
He was born at the time of Sultan Resat and read poems at the accession of the last Sultan, Vahdettin of the Ottoman Empire. He had lived in all of the problems and deprivation of the war of Independence and the foundation of Republic of Turkey. He has also experienced the great changing of the society. Still, he has been living a tranquil life and transferring the knowledge gained to whom strives for.

Translated by
Prof.Dr.Ulker Onbasli

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*The period of religious retirement and fasting of penitence, trial, suffering.
** A chief performer of hymns
***The collection of his poems
**** Meter base on the number of syllable