Ibn Sina, better known in the West as Avicenna, was a great Persian polymath and one of the most important thinkers of the Islamic Golden Age. Born in 980 in a village near Bukhara, in what is now present day Uzbekistan, at the time the capital of the Samanid Empire, a Persian dynasty located in Central Asia and Greater Khorassan.

Most of Avicenna’s family followed the Sunni strand of the Islamic religion. His father, Abudallah, who came from the city of Balkh (Afghanistan) was a respected scholar at the time, but who probably converted to Ishmaelism, a branch of Shia Islam. Balkh was an important city in the Samanid Empire, and Avicenna’s father worked for the government in the village of Kharmasain, which was a predominantly Sunni region, but it is speculated that in order to advance in the state administration, he became a Shia muslim.

Avicenna began to study early in his life, proving to be a great prodigy in the areas he was dedicated to. So he studied the Qur’an and also literature, and according to his autobiography he had memorized the entire Qur’an when he was 10 years old1. He would also learn Indian arithmetic with an Indian man named Mahmou Massahi, as well as would learn from a wanderer scholar of the time. Going further, Ibn Sina would study Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) with a Sunni sage from the Hanafi madhhab (school of jurisprudence), called Ismail al-Zahid. He would study some philosophical works, such as Porphyry, also studying the works of Euclid and Ptolemy with an unpopular philosopher at the time, Abu Abdullah Nateli.

When he was still a teenager and with a great philosophical interest, Avicenna could not understand Aristotle’s Metaphysics, which led him to frequently drop his books and go to the nearest mosque to perform the necessary ablutions and pray to clear his mind. During the night he would continue his studies in the work of the philosopher, having no peace in his head even while sleeping, since in his dreams the work of the Greek sage still accompanied him. His understanding would only be possible after reading al-Farabi’s commentary on Aristotelian metaphysics, but until that time, Avicenna had already read Aristotle’s work about 40 times, to the point that the words were marked in his mind, but without any meaning. The encounter of the Persian sage with the work of al-Farabi was by accident, finding it in a book tent for 3 silver dirhams, something relatively cheap for the time. So great was his happiness after understanding Aristotle’s work that he praised Allah and gave alms to the poor as a way of thankfulness for the clarification he had received from something he had been studying and dedicating his time for so long.

However, in addition to the great interest in philosophy, Avicenna was also interested in medicine. At the age of 16, his interest in medical science aroused, but he did not focus only on learning medical theories, he also treated the poor and the needy for free and voluntarily, learning new methods of treating illnesses in the process. At 18, Avicenna was already a well estabilshed physician, saying that:

Medicine is no hard and thorny science like mathematics and metaphysics, so I soon made great progress; I became excellent physician and began to treat patients using approved remedies.

His fame as a great physician would spread quickly, treating the many pacients that would come to him, and not even asking for a payment.

His Career

In the year 997, when Avicenna was around 17 years old, it was when he got his first job, being hired as a physician for the Samanid emir Nuh II, who in turn owed Avicenna his recovery from a serious illness. A curious fact is that one of the rewards for Avicenna’s medicinal performance was having access to the royal library of the Samanids, who at the time were known as patrons of scholarship and scholars. Unfortunately, a tragedy would occur with the aforementioned library, which would catch on fire not long after, and Ibn Sina would be accused by his enemies of burning the collection so that others could not have access to the knowledge he had obtained.

Despite these disagreements, Avicenna would help his father with his work, also finding time for some of his early writings. However, unfortunately, Avicenna’s father would die when he was 22 years old, and shortly after it would also be the end of the Samanid Dynasty.

The Samanid dynasty came to its end in 999 and, after that, Ibn Sina would have refused the offerings of Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni to act in his court. Instead, he would have continued westwards towards Urgench, where today is Turkmenistan, where the vizier, seen as a friend of scholars, decided to pay Avicenna a small salary. However, this salary was not enough, which led Avicenna to wander from place to place, traveling through the districts of Nishapur and Merv to the borders of Khorasan, looking for an opportunity for his talents.

Thus, Ibn Sina expected to be welcomed by the governor of Tabaristan, Qabus ibn Wushmagir, who was also a poet and a scholar. However, at this time (1012) Ibn Wushmagir would die of famine due to the revolts carried out by his troops. Ibn Sina himself ended up getting seriously ill.

Finally, in Gorgan, near the Caspian Sea, Avicenna met a friend who had bought a dwelling near his own home, giving it to the Persian scholar, who would go there to teach logic and astronomy. As a way of thanking him for his help, Avicenna would dedicate his work to his patron. During this period, many of his works would be written or have their beginnings there, such as his famous Canon of Medicine.

After this stage of his life, Avicenna would settle in Rey, in the vicinity of modern Tehran, the hometown of al-Razi, where Majd ad-Dawla, son of the last buyid emir, was the nominal governor under his mother rule, Seyyedeh Khatun. Approximately thirty of Avicenna’s shortest writings were written in Rey. However, the constant disputes between the regent and her second son Shams al-Daula, forced the doctor to leave the place.

After a brief stay in Qazvin, he went south to Hamadan, where Shams al-Daula, another buyid emir reigned. There, at first, he served a lady of the high society. However, the Emir, hearing about his arrival, insisted on setting him in the position of medical assistant and sent him back with gifts home. He was even raised to the rank of vizier. However, after a disagreement, the emir decreed that he should be banned from the country. Avicenna, however, remained hidden for 40 days at the home of Sheykh Ahmed Fadhel, until a new attack of illness induced the emir to restore him to his charge.

Even during this troubled period, he persevered with his studies and teachings. Every night he extracted writings from his works and taught to his students. With the death of the emir, Ibn Sina ceased to be a vizier and hid in the home of an apothecary, where, with intense assiduity, he continued to build his legacy. In the meantime, he wrote to Abu Ya’far, the mayor of the dynamic city of Isfahan, offering his services. The new Emir of Hamadan, hearing this correspondence and discovering where Avicenna was hiding, imprisoned him in a fortress. Meanwhile, the war continued between the rulers of Isfahan and Hamadan.

In 1024, Abu Ya’far captured Hamadan and its cities, expelling the Tajik mercenaries. When the storm passed, Ibn Sina returned with the emir to Hamadan and continued his literary work. Later, however, accompanied by his brother, a favorite student and two slaves, he escaped the city in the clothes of a Sufi ascetic. After a dangerous journey, they reached Isfahan, receiving an honorable greeting from the prince.

His Works

Avicenna was a prolific writer, and was also a great polymath. His writings total about 450 works, which in addition to philosophy and medicine included astronomy, alchemy, geography and geology, psychology, Islamic theology, logic, mathematics, physics and even poetry.

However, despite so many writings, he would be known mainly for his works of medicine and philosophy. In the Christian West, for example, his Canon of Medicine would be used for centuries in medical schools, being a true manual for European physicians, considered as the most important work of medicine written by a Muslim physician.

The Canon was to be translated in the 12th century by Gerard of Cremona, becoming a textbook from the time of its translation until the 17th century, that is, for five centuries Avicenna’s work was used as a basis for medical studies at the most renowned european universities, such as that of Montpellier and Leuven. The Canon even received a version in Hebrew, not being limited to Latin.

Avicenna’s magnum opus in medicine consisted of five books, which included medical therapies, even listing about 760 drugs. The books were:

Book I:

  • Part 1: The Institutes of Medicine: Definition of medicine, its task, its relation to philosophy. The elements, juices, and temperaments. The organs and their functions.
  • Part 2: Causes and symptoms of diseases.
  • Part 3: General dietetics and prophylaxis.
  • Part 4: General Therapeutics.

Book II: On the simple medications and their actions.

Book III: The diseases of the brain, the eye, the ear, the throat and oral cavity, the respiratory organs, the heart, the breast, the stomach, the liver, the spleen, the intestine, the kidneys and the genital organs.

Book VI:

  • Part 1: On fevers.
  • Part 2: Symptoms and prognosis.
  • Part 3: On sediments.
  • Part 4: On wounds.
  • Part 5: On dislocations.
  • Part 6: On poisons and cosmetics.

Book V: On compounding of medications.

In his book, Ibn Sina correctly documented the anatomy of the eye, along with a description of ophthalmic conditions, such as cataracts. He said that tuberculosis was contagious. He described the symptoms of diabetes and gave descriptions of the types of facial paralysis. Not only, but he brought other descriptions for his work, even dealing with an obsessive disorder similar to depression. Due to his writings on medicine, Avicenna is considered today as the father of modern medicine, being one of the greatest physicians in history due to his innovations, discoveries and influence.

In philosophy, the great Persian polymath would be known mainly for the originality of his thought, his comments on classical Greek works and his enormous influence on Scholastic thought, mainly due to his metaphysics, more specifically with regard to the works of Saint Thomas Aquinas, considered a Doctor of the Church and one of the most influential thinkers in the West, a true landmark of Christian-Catholic philosophy that would be influenced by the Muslim philosopher.

One of his contributions to theology was his theory for the existence of God, known as “Proof of the Truthful” (from Arabic: al-burhan al-siddiqin). Avicenna argued that there must be a “necessary existence” (wajib al-wujud), a pre-eternal entity outside of existence.

From a series of arguments, he identified that this would be the concept of God for Islam. Peter Adamson, a historian of philosophy, considered that this formulation would be one of the most influential in the Middle Ages to prove the divine existence, in addition to being Avicenna’s greatest contribution to the history of philosophy.

Not only, but the “emanations” scheme of a thought towards Avicenna’s Neoplatonism would also be of great influence for the 12th century Islamic theological school, known as Kalam, and sometimes called “Islamic Scholasticism”.

His contributions are not limited to what has been said above, but it is certainly possible to get a sense of the genius of Ibn Sina, or Avicenna as it has been popularly known in the West since the Middle Ages to the present day.

Thus, his influence reached the writings of Saint Thomas Aquinas, European universities and beyond, even having a reserved place in as a Virtuous pagan in Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy, appearing alongside other “virtuous non-Christians”, such as Virgil, Averroes, Homer, Horace, Ovid, Lucan, Socrates, Plato and Saladin.

Avicenna was recognized by East and West as one of the greatest figures in intellectual history, dying in 1037 at the age of 58 in the holy month of Ramadan.

Notes

[1] Someone who memorizes the entire Quran is called hafiz, which literaly means “guardian”.

[1] Alguém que memoriza completamente o Alcorão é chamado de hafiz, o que significa literalmente “guardião”.

Bibliography

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KHAN, Aisha.  Avicenna (Ibn Sina): Muslim Physician And Philosopher of the Eleventh Century. The Rosen Publishing Group. p. 85. 2006.

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