Avicenna

Avicenna

Ibn Sina (Persian: ابن سینا), or Abu Ali Sina (Persian: ابوعلی سینا), or as the Westerners say Avicenna (c. 980 – June 1037), was a Persian polymath accepted as one of the most important physicians, astronomers, thinkers, writers, and scholars of the Islamic Golden Age, and a physician known as the "father of early modern medicine."

He was born around 980 in the village of Afshana near Bukhara (Uzbekistan) and died in 1037 in the city of Hamadan (Iran). He wrote about 200 books in various fields, giving weight to medicine and philosophy. Known among Westerners as the founder of modern medieval science and the foremost of physicians, Ibn Sina is also known by the name "the Great Master." He became famous for his book "al-Qānūn fī al-Tibb" (The Canon of Medicine), which continued as a fundamental reference work in the field of medicine for seven centuries, and this book was taught as a fundamental work in the science of medicine at various European universities until the mid-17th century.

Ibn Sina received his medical training under a physician named Kushyar. He wrote about 450 treatises on various subjects, 240 of which have come down to the present. Of his surviving writings, 150 are on philosophy and 40 on medicine. The most famous of his works are Kitāb al-Shifāʾ (The Book of Healing), a very extensive work covering philosophy and the sciences, and al-Qānūn fī al-Tibb (The Canon of Medicine). These two works, along with being taught in medieval universities, remained textbooks at Montpellier and Louvain until the year 1650.

The son of Abdullah ibn Sina, one of the scribes of the Samanid court, Ibn Sina first took lessons from his father, then from the famous scholar al-Natili and the Hanafi jurist Ismail al-Zahid. He studied geometry (especially Euclidean geometry), logic, fiqh (jurisprudence), morphology, syntax, medicine, and natural science. Learning Aristotelian philosophy and metaphysics through al-Farabi's al-Ibana, and having cured the ailing prince of Bukhara (997), he gained access to the palace library. When his father died, he received support from Abu Muhammad of Shiraz in Gorgan. He also wrote the Canon of Medicine in Gorgan. He examined the works of all the ancient Greek philosophers and Anatolian natural philosophers known in his age.

The Era He Lived In

Ibn Sina produced a vast corpus of works during the period generally known as the Islamic Golden Age, when translations of Byzantine Greco-Roman, Persian, and Indian texts were intensively studied. The Greco-Roman (Middle and Neo-Platonist and Aristotelian) texts translated by the school of al-Kindi were interpreted, reorganized, and significantly developed by Islamic intellectuals who also worked on Persian and Indian mathematical systems, astronomy, algebra, trigonometry, and medicine.

The Samanid dynasty in Iran, Greater Khorasan, and the eastern part of Central Asia, and the Buyids in the western part of Iran and Iraq, provided a flourishing atmosphere for scholarly and cultural development. In the Samanid period, Bukhara rivalled Baghdad as the cultural capital of the Islamic world. Here Ibn Sina had access to the great libraries of Balkh, Khwarazm, Gorgan, Rayy, Isfahan, and Hamadan.

Various texts (such as the Ahd with Bahmanyar) show that Ibn Sina discussed philosophical matters with the greatest scholars of the time. Aruzi Samarqandi recounts how, before leaving Khwarazm, Ibn Sina became acquainted with al-Biruni (a famous scientist and astronomer), Abu Nasr al-Iraqi (a famous mathematician), Abu Sahl al-Masihi (an esteemed philosopher), and Abu al-Khayr al-Khammar (a great physician). Alongside the developing studies of the Quran and Hadith, Islamic philosophy, fiqh, and theology (kalam) were further developed in this period by Ibn Sina and his opponents.

Early Years and Education

Ibn Sina was born around 980 in the town of Afshana near Bukhara, in present-day Uzbekistan (according to the book written by his student al-Juzjani, his birth date may be 979). His father Abdullah was an esteemed scholar who came from Balkh, an important city of the Samanid Empire, and was of the Shia Ismaili sect. His father was in constant contact with the Ismaili missionaries (dāʿīs), and for this reason his house had become a place where subjects such as geometry, philosophy, and Indian mathematics were discussed. Ibn Sina, who began to grow up in this environment, first memorized the Quran at the age of 10 and then received instruction in literature, language, fiqh, and creed. He studied Indian arithmetic with Mahmud al-Massah, fiqh with the Hanafi jurist Abu Muhammad Ismail al-Zahid, and Porphyry's Isagoge, Euclid's Elements, and Ptolemy's Almagest with Abu Abdullah al-Natili.

Adulthood

In 997, at the age of seventeen, Ibn Sina was made physician to Emir Nuh II, whom he had saved from a dangerous illness. The most important reward he received in return for this service was the ability to make full use of the Samanids' official library. In a fire that broke out in the library a short time later, his enemies accused him of deliberately committing arson.

Ibn Sina lost his father at the age of 22. He was later given an administrative post, probably appointed governor of Harmaytan in his father's place.

In December 1004 the Samanid dynasty came to an end. Ibn Sina declined the offer of Mahmud of Ghazni and went west to Urgench. The vizier there was a friend of learning and granted him a small salary. Seeking a field to employ his talents, Ibn Sina travelled step by step through the region from Merv to Nishapur and the frontiers of Khorasan. He reports that he served the Khwarazmshah, ruler of Khwarazm, and the Mamunid ruler Abu al-Hasan Ali. The latter reigned from 997 to 1009, which shows that Ibn Sina moved there at some point in that period.

He may have moved in 999, the year the Samanid Empire fell, after the Karakhanid Khanate seized Bukhara and imprisoned the Samanid emir Abd al-Malik II. Because of his high position and strong connection with the Samanids, Ibn Sina may have found himself in an unfavourable position after the fall of his ruler.

The ruler Qabus, himself a poet and scholar who had provided refuge to Ibn Sina, died in a revolt that broke out at this time. Ibn Sina himself had also fallen gravely ill.

At last he came upon an old friend in Gorgan on the shore of the Caspian Sea. He settled with him and began giving lessons in logic and astronomy in this city. The beginning of the Canon also falls in this period. Through the Gorgan minister Abu al-Husayn al-Sahli, a patron of the Greek sciences, Ibn Sina entered the service of Abu al-Hasan Ali.

Later Years and Death

Ibn Sina's remaining 10–12 years were spent in the service of Abu Ja'far. Here he worked as physician and scientific advisor and even took part in wars. In these years he began to study literature and philology. During a campaign to Hamadan he suffered a severe attack of colic. When he reached Hamadan he did not apply the recommended treatments and surrendered himself to fate. On his deathbed he gave his goods to the poor, freed his slaves, and until his last day recited the Quran every three days. He died in June 1037 at the age of 56–57. His grave is in Hamadan.

Philosophy

Ibn Sina wrote extensively on early Islamic philosophy, especially on the subjects of logic, ethics, and metaphysics. Among these works are treatises titled Logic and Metaphysics. Most of his works were written in Arabic, the language of science in the Middle East, and some in Persian. Some of the books he wrote in Persian in particular (especially the Dānishnāma-yi ʿAlāʾī, Philosophy for ʿAlāʾ al-Dawla) retain their importance to this day from a linguistic standpoint. Ibn Sina's commentaries on Aristotle often contain remarks critical of that philosopher, and this encouraged lively debate in the spirit of ijtihad.

Sources

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