Ebdureîm Rehmî Hekarî (1890-1958) was a poet and a religious scholar of the early twentieth century. He took an active part in Kurdish cultural and political struggles up to 1923, when the Republic of Turkey was established and Kurdish language was banned. He published the first Kurdish play, Memê Alan, in 1919. His poetry was a significant contribution to the evolution of modern Kurdish poetry with his innovations in form. He introduced new rhyme schemes and meters, and free verse to Kurdish poetry. As a religious scholar and a political activist, he tried to combine nationalism with Islam in his writings and played an important role in the development of Kurdish nationalism. Despite his great contributions to modern poetry and Kurdish nationalism, he has been overlooked in both Kurdish literary studies and studies of nationalism. This research is, therefore, an attempt to bring his poetic innovations and his contribution to modern poetry to light. Studying his works, including his unpublished ones, will shed light on less known aspects of Kurdish nationalism and reveals the diversity of voices in Kurdish society regarding the questions of modernity and nationalism.