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Avicenna

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For the lunar crater, see Avicenna (crater). For the mountain peak, see Ibn SinaPeak.

This article may misquote or misrepresent many of its sources. Please see thecleanup page for more information. Editors: please remove this warning onlyafter the diffs listed here have been checked for accuracy. (October 2011)Ibn Sn ()Pr Sn ()AvicennaFull name Ab 'Al al-usayn ibn 'Abd Allh ibn SnOther names Sharaf al-Mulk, Hujjat al-Haq, Sheikh al-RayeesBorn c. 980Afshana near Bukhara (capital of the Samanid Empire), in present-day UzbekistanDied June 1037 (aged 5657)Hamadan, PersiaEra Medieval era (Islamic Golden Age)Region Greater Khorsn under the Samanid Empire (19 years in Bukhara);

Khwrazm under the Samanids (13 years in Gorgnj);Jorjn under the Ziyarids: 101214 AD;Persia under the Buyids (Ray: for 1 year; Hamadn: for 9 years; Isfahn: for 13years; died in 1037 AD in Hamadn.)[1]Main interests Medicine, philosophy, logic, Islamic theology (kalam), physics,poetry, scienceNotable ideas Father of modern medicine; pioneer of aromatherapyMajor works The Book of Healing, The Canon of MedicineInfluenced by[show]Influenced[show]AvicennaAvicennismThe Canon of Medicine

The Book of HealingHayy ibn YaqdhanCriticism of Avicennian philosophyUnani medicine

Ab Al al-usayn ibn Abd Allh ibn Sn[2] (Arabic );(Persian Pur-e Sina [pur sin] "son of Sina";[full citation needc. 980 June 1037), commonly known as Ibn Sn or by his Latinized nameAvicenna, was a Persian[3][4][5][6] polymath, who wrote almost 450 treatises ona wide range of subjects, of which around 240 have survived. In particular, 150of his surviving treatises concentrate on philosophy and 40 of them concentrateon medicine.[7][8]

His most famous works are The Book of Healing, a vast philosophical andscientific encyclopaedia, and The Canon of Medicine,[9] which was a standardmedical text at many medieval universities.[10] The Canon of Medicine was usedas a text-book in the universities of Montpellier and Leuven as late as 1650.[11]Ibn Sn's Canon of Medicine provides a complete system of medicine according tothe principles of Galen (and Hippocrates).[12][13]

His corpus also includes writing on philosophy, astronomy, alchemy, geology,psychology, Islamic theology, logic, mathematics, physics, as well as poetry.[14


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]He is regarded as the most famous and influential polymath of the Islamic GoldenAge.[15]Contents [hide]

1 Circumstances

2 Biography

2.1 Early life

2.2 Adulthood

2.3 Later life and death

3 Avicennian philosophy

3.1 Metaphysical doctrine

3.2 Natural philosophy

3.3 Theology

3.4 Thought experiments4 The Canon of Medicine

4.1 Medicine and pharmacology

4.2 Physical Exercise: the Key to Health

4.3 Psychology

4.4 Unani medicine

5 The Book of Healing

5.1 Earth sciences

5.2 Philosophy of science

5.3 Logic

5.4 Physics

5.5 Psychology

6 Other contributions

6.1 Astronomy and astrology

6.2 Chemistry

6.3 Poetry

7 Legacy

8 Arabic Works


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8.1 List of works

9 Persian works

9.1 Danishnama-i 'Alai

9.2 Andar Danesh-e-Rag

9.3 Persian poetry

10 In popular culture

10.1 The Walking Drum

10.2 The Physician

11 See also

12 References

13 Further reading

13.1 Encyclopedic articles

13.2 Primary literature13.3 Secondary literature

13.4 Medicine

13.5 Philosophy

14 External links

Circumstances

Avicenna created an extensive corpus of works during what is commonly known as

Islam's Golden Age, in which the translations of Greco-Roman, Persian, andIndian texts were studied extensively. Greco-Roman (Mid- and Neo-Platonic, andAristotelian) texts by the Kindi school were commented, redacted and developedsubstantially by Islamic intellectuals, who also built upon Persian and Indianmathematical systems, astronomy, algebra, trigonometry and medicine.[16] TheSamanid dynasty in the eastern part of Persia, Greater Khorasan and Central Asiaas well as the Buyid dynasty in the western part of Persia and Iraq provided athriving atmosphere for scholarly and cultural development. Under the Samanids,Bukhara rivaled Baghdad as a cultural capital of the Islamic world.[17]

The study of the Quran and the Hadith thrived in such a scholarly atmosphere.Philosophy, Fiqh and theology (kalaam) were further developed, most noticeably

by Avicenna and his opponents. Al-Razi and Al-Farabi had provided methodologyand knowledge in medicine and philosophy. Avicenna had access to the greatlibraries of Balkh, Khwarezm, Gorgan, Rey, Isfahan and Hamadan. Various texts (suchas the 'Ahd with Bahmanyar) show that he debated philosophical points with thegreatest scholars of the time. Aruzi Samarqandi describes how before Avicennaleft Khwarezm he had met Rayhan Biruni (a famous scientist and astronomer), AbuNasr Iraqi (a renowned mathematician), Abu Sahl Masihi (a respected philosopher)and Abu al-Khayr Khammar (a great physician).


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Biography

Early life

The only source of information for the first part of Avicenna's life is hisautobiography, as written down by his student Jzjn. In the absence of anyother sources it is impossible to be certain how much of the autobiography isaccurate. It has been noted that he uses his autobiography to advance his theoryof knowledge (that it was possible for an individual to acquire knowledge andunderstand the Aristotelian philosophical sciences without a teacher), and ithas been questioned whether the order of events described was adjusted to fitmore closely with the Aristotelian model; in other words, whether Avicennadescribed himself as studying things in the 'correct' order. However given theabsence of any other evidence, Avicenna's account essentially has to be taken atface value.[18]

Avicenna was born c. 980 in Qishlak Afshona, a village near Bukhara (in present-dayUzbekistan), the capital of the Samanids, a Persian dynasty in Central Asia andGreater Khorasan. His mother, named Setareh, was from Bukhara;[19] his father,Abdullah, was a respected Ismaili[20] scholar from Balkh, an important town of

the Samanid Empire, in what is today Balkh Province, Afghanistan. His father wasat the time of his son's birth the governor in one of the Samanid Nuh ibn Mansur'sestates. He had his son very carefully educated at Bukhara. Ibn Sina'sindependent thought was served by an extraordinary intelligence and memory,which allowed him to overtake his teachers at the age of fourteen. As he said inhis autobiography, there was nothing that he had not learned when he reachedeighteen.

A number of different theories have been proposed regarding Avicenna's madhab.Medieval historian ahr al-dn al-Bayhaq (d. 1169) considered Avicenna to be a

follower of the Brethren of Purity.[21] On the other hand, Dimitri Gutas alongwith Aisha Khan and Jules J. Janssens demonstrated that Avicenna was a SunniHanafi.[21][21][22] However, Shia faqih Nurullah Shushtari and Seyyed HosseinNasr, in addition to Henry Corbin, have maintained that he was most likely aTwelver Shia.[20][21][23] Similar disagreements exist on the background ofAvicenna's family, whereas some writers considered them Sunni, more recentwriters thought they were Shia.[22]

According to his autobiography, Avicenna had memorised the entire Qur'an by theage of 10.[9] He learned Indian arithmetic from an Indian greengrocer, and hebegan to learn more from a wandering scholar who gained a livelihood by curingthe sick and teaching the young. He also studied Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence)under the Hanafi scholar Ismail al-Zahid.[24]

As a teenager, he was greatly troubled by the Metaphysics of Aristotle, which hecould not understand until he read al-Farabi's commentary on the work.[20] Forthe next year and a half, he studied philosophy, in which he encountered greaterobstacles. In such moments of baffled inquiry, he would leave his books, performthe requisite ablutions (wudu), then go to the mosque, and continue in prayer (salah)


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Khatun). About thirty of Ibn Sina's shorter works are said to have been composedin Rai. Constant feuds which raged between the regent and her second son, Shamsal-Daula, however, compelled the scholar to quit the place. After a briefsojourn at Qazvin he passed southwards to Hamadn where Shams al-Daula, anotherBuwayhid emir, had established himself. At first, Ibn Sina entered into theservice of a high-born lady; but the emir, hearing of his arrival, called him inas medical attendant, and sent him back with presents to his dwelling. Ibn Sinawas even raised to the office of vizier. The emir decreed that he should bebanished from the country. Ibn Sina, however, remained hidden for forty days insheikh Ahmed Fadhel's house, until a fresh attack of illness induced the emir torestore him to his post. Even during this perturbed time, Ibn Sina perseveredwith his studies and teaching. Every evening, extracts from his great works, theCanon and the Sanatio, were dictated and explained to his pupils. On the deathof the emir, Ibn Sina ceased to be vizier and hid himself in the house of anapothecary, where, with intense assiduity, he continued the composition of hisworks.

Meanwhile, he had written to Abu Ya'far, the prefect of the dynamic city ofIsfahan, offering his services. The new emir of Hamadan, hearing of thiscorrespondence and discovering where Ibn Sina was hiding, incarcerated him in a

fortress. War meanwhile continued between the rulers of Isfahan and Hamadn; in1024 the former captured Hamadan and its towns, expelling the Tajik mercenaries.When the storm had passed, Ibn Sina returned with the emir to Hamadan, andcarried on his literary labors. Later, however, accompanied by his brother, afavorite pupil, and two slaves, Ibn Sina escaped from the city in the dress of aSufi ascetic. After a perilous journey, they reached Isfahan, receiving anhonorable welcome from the prince.

Later life and death

Avicenna's tomb in Hamadan, Iran.

The inside view of Avicenna's tomb in Hamadan, Iran.

The first page of a manuscript, authored by Ibn Sina.

The remaining ten or twelve years of Ibn Sn's life were spent in the serviceof Abu Ja'far 'Ala Addaula, whom he accompanied as physician and generalliterary and scientific adviser, even in his numerous campaigns.

During these years he began to study literary matters and philology, instigated,it is asserted, by criticisms on his style. A severe colic, which seized him onthe march of the army against Hamadan, was checked by remedies so violent that

Ibn Sina could scarcely stand. On a similar occasion the disease returned; withdifficulty he reached Hamadan, where, finding the disease gaining ground, herefused to keep up the regimen imposed, and resigned himself to his fate.

His friends advised him to slow down and take life moderately. He refused,however, stating that: "I prefer a short life with width to a narrow one withlength".[citation needed] On his deathbed remorse seized him; he bestowed hisgoods on the poor, restored unjust gains, freed his slaves, and read through theQur'an every three days until his death. He died in June 1037, in his fifty-eigh


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terms of his ontological analysis of the modalities of being; namelyimpossibility, contingency, and necessity. Avicenna argued that the impossiblebeing is that which cannot exist, while the contingent in itself (mumkin bi-dhatihi)has the potentiality to be or not to be without entailing a contradiction. Whenactualized, the contingent becomes a 'necessary existent due to what is otherthan itself' (wajib al-wujud bi-ghayrihi). Thus, contingency-in-itself ispotential beingness that could eventually be actualized by an external causeother than itself. The metaphysical structures of necessity and contingency aredifferent. Necessary being due to itself (wajib al-wujud bi-dhatihi) is true initself, while the contingent being is 'false in itself' and 'true due tosomething else other than itself'. The necessary is the source of its own beingwithout borrowed existence. It is what always exists.[29][30] The Necessaryexists 'due-to-Its-Self', and has no quiddity/essence (mahiyya) other thanexistence (wujud). Furthermore, It is 'One' (wahid ahad)[31] since there cannotbe more than one 'Necessary-Existent-due-to-Itself' without differentia (fasl)to distinguish them from each other. Yet, to require differentia entails thatthey exist 'due-to-themselves' as well as 'due to what is other than themselves';and this is contradictory. However, if no differentia distinguishes them fromeach other, then there is no sense in which these 'Existents' are not one andthe same.[32] Avicenna adds that the 'Necessary-Existent-due-to-Itself' has nogenus (jins), nor a definition (hadd), nor a counterpart (nadd), nor an opposite

(did), and is detached (bari) from matter (madda), quality (kayf), quantity (kam),place (ayn), situation (wad), and time (waqt).[33][34][35]

Natural philosophy

Ibn Sina and Ab Rayhn al-Brn engaged in a written debate, with Abu RayhanBiruni mostly criticizing Aristotelian natural philosophy and the Peripateticschool, while Avicenna and his student Ahmad ibn 'Ali al-Ma'sumi respond toBiruni's criticisms in writing. Abu Rayhan began by asking Avicenna eighteenquestions, ten of which were criticisms of Aristotle's On the Heavens.[36]

Theology

Ibn Sn was a devout Muslim and sought to reconcile rational philosophy withIslamic theology. His aim was to prove the existence of God and His creation ofthe world scientifically and through reason and logic.[37] Avicenna wrote anumber of treatises dealing with Islamic theology. These included treatises onthe Islamic prophets, whom he viewed as "inspired philosophers", and on variousscientific and philosophical interpretations of the Qur'an, such as how Quraniccosmology corresponds to his own philosophical system.[38]

Ibn Sn memorized the Qur'an by the age of ten, and as an adult, he wrote fivetreatises commenting on suras from the Qur'an. One of these texts included theProof of Prophecies, in which he comments on several Quranic verses and holdsthe Qur'an in high esteem. Avicenna argued that the Islamic prophets should be

considered higher than philosophers.[39]

Thought experiments

While he was imprisoned in the castle of Fardajan near Hamadhan, Avicenna wrotehis famous "Floating Man" thought experiment to demonstrate human self-awarenessand the substantiality and immateriality of the soul. Avicenna believed his "FloatingMan" thought experiment demonstrated that the soul is a substance, and claimed


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humans cannot doubt their own consciousness, even in a situation that preventsall sensory data input. The thought experiment told its readers to imaginethemselves created all at once while suspended in the air, isolated from allsensations, which includes no sensory contact with even their own bodies. Heargued that, in this scenario, one would still have self-consciousness. Becauseit is conceivable that a person, suspended in air while cut off from senseexperience, would still be capable of determining his own existence, the thoughtexperiment points to the conclusions that the soul is a perfection, independentof the body, and an immaterial substance. The conceivability of this "FloatingMan" indicates that the soul is perceived intellectually, which entails the soul'sseparateness from the body. Avicenna referred to the living human intelligence,particularly the active intellect, which he believed to be the hypostasis bywhich God communicates truth to the human mind and imparts order andintelligibility to nature. However, Avicenna posited the brain as the placewhere reason interacts with sensation. Sensation prepares the soul to receiverational concepts from the universal Agent Intellect. The first knowledge of theflying person would be "I am," affirming his or her essence. That essence couldnot be the body, obviously, as the flying person has no sensation. Thus, theknowledge that "I am" is the core of a human being: the soul exists and is self-aware.[40]Avicenna thus concluded that the idea of the self is not logically dependent on

any physical thing, and that the soul should not be seen in relative terms, butas a primary given, a substance. The body is unnecessary; in relation to it, thesoul is its perfection.[41][42][43] In itself, the soul is an immaterialsubstance.[44]

The Canon of Medicine

Main article: The Canon of Medicine

A Latin copy of The Canon of Medicine, dated 1484, located at the P.I. NixonMedical Historical Library of The University of Texas Health Science Center atSan Antonio, USA.

An Arabic copy of The Canon of Medicine, dated 1593

Medical staff training college dedicated to Avicenna at his birthplace, Afshona

About 100 treatises were ascribed to Ibn Sina. Some of them are tracts of a fewpages. Others are works extending through several volumes. His 14-volume TheCanon of Medicine (Al-Qanoon fi al-Tibb, The Laws of Medicine) was a standardmedical text in Europe and the Islamic world until the 18th century.[45]

Medicine and pharmacology

The book is known for its description of contagious diseases and sexually

transmitted diseases,[46] quarantine to limit the spread of infectious diseases,and testing of medicines. Ibn Sn adopted, from the Greeks, the theory thatepidemics are caused by pollution in the air (miasma).[47] It classifies anddescribes diseases, and outlines their assumed causes. Hygiene, simple andcomplex medicines, and functions of parts of the body are also covered. TheCanon agrees with Aristotle (and disagrees with Hippocrates) that tuberculosiswas contagious, a fact which was not universally accepted in Europe untilcenturies later. It also describes the symptoms and complications of diabetes.Both forms of facial paralysis were described in-depth.


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The Canon of Medicine discussed how to effectively test new medicines:

The drug must be free from any extraneous accidental quality.

It must be used on a simple, not a composite, disease.

The drug must be tested with two contrary types of diseases, because sometimes adrug cures one disease by Its essential qualities and another by its accidentalones.

The quality of the drug must correspond to the strength of the disease. Forexample, there are some drugs whose heat is less than the coldness of certaindiseases, so that they would have no effect on them.

The time of action must be observed, so that essence and accident are notconfused.

The effect of the drug must be seen to occur constantly or in many cases, for ifthis did not happen, it was an accidental effect.

The experimentation must be done with the human body, for testing a drug on a

lion or a horse might not prove anything about its effect on man.An Arabic edition of the Canon appeared at Rome in 1593, and a Hebrew version atNaples in 1491. Of the Latin version there were about thirty editions, foundedon the original translation by Gerard de Sabloneta. In the 15th century acommentary on the text of the Canon was composed. Other medical works translatedinto Latin are the Medicamenta Cordialia, Canticum de Medicina, and theTractatus de Syrupo Acetoso.

It was mainly accident which determined that from the 12th to the 18th century,Ibn Sn should be the guide of medical study in European universities, and

eclipse the names of Rhazes, Ali ibn al-Abbas and Averroes. His work is notessentially different from that of his predecessor Rhazes, because he presentedthe doctrine of Galen, and through Galen the doctrine of Hippocrates, modifiedby the system of Aristotle. But the Canon of Ibn Sn is distinguished from theAl-Hawi (Continence) or Summary of Rhazes by its greater method, due perhaps tothe logical studies of the former.

The work has been variously appreciated in subsequent ages, some regarding it asa treasury of wisdom, and others, like Averroes, holding it useful only as wastepaper. In modern times it has been mainly of historic interest as most of itstenets have been disproved or expanded upon by scientific medicine. The vice of

the book is excessive classification of bodily faculties, and over-subtlety inthe discrimination of diseases. It includes five books; of which the first andsecond discuss physiology, pathology and hygiene, the third and fourth deal withthe methods of treating disease, and the fifth describes the composition andpreparation of remedies. This last part contains some personal observations.

He is ample in the enumeration of symptoms, and is said to be inferior inpractical medicine and surgery. He introduced into medical theory the fourcauses of the Peripatetic system. Of natural history and botany he pretended to


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no special knowledge. Up to the year 1650, or thereabouts, the Canon was stillused as a textbook in the universities of Leuven and Montpellier.

In the museum at Bukhara, there are displays showing many of his writings,surgical instruments from the period and paintings of patients undergoingtreatment. Ibn Sn was interested in the effect of the mind on the body, andwrote a great deal on psychology, likely influencing Ibn Tufayl and Ibn Bajjah.He also introduced medical herbs.

Avicenna extended the theory of temperaments in The Canon of Medicine toencompass "emotional aspects, mental capacity, moral attitudes, self-awareness,movements and dreams." He summarized his version of the four humours andtemperaments in a table as follows:[48]Avicenna's four humours and temperaments Evidence Hot Cold Moist DryMorbid states inflammations become febrile fevers related to serious humour,rheumatism lassitude loss of vigourFunctional power deficient energy deficient digestive power difficult digestion

Subjective sensations bitter taste, excessive thirst, burning at cardia Lack ofdesire for fluids mucoid salivation, sleepiness insomnia, wakefulnessPhysical signs high pulse rate, lassitude flaccid joints diarrhea, swolleneyelids, rough skin, acquired habit rough skin, acquired habitFoods & medicines calefacients harmful, infrigidants beneficial infrigidantsharmful, calefacients beneficial moist articles harmful dry regimen harmful,

humectants beneficialRelation to weather worse in summer worse in winter bad in autumn

Avicenna was the first to use a cannula inserted into the throat to aid achoking patient. Cutting the windpipe was suggested only as a last resort.[49]

Physical Exercise: the Key to HealthThis section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improvethis article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may bechallenged and removed. (June 2010)

The Canon of Medicine: Volume 1 of 5; Part 4 of 5: The Preservation of Health

Of Ibn Sina's Canon of Medicine which is written in 5 volumes, only the firstvolume has appeared in the English Language. In the first volume, Ibn Sinadivides medicine into two parts as he explains it throughout the first book: thetheoretical and the practical. The theoretical part consists of, but is notlimited to, such things as: the causes of health and disease, the temperaments,the humours, anatomy, general physiology, the breath, psychology, discussion ofcauses of diseases and symptoms, the causes of illness, the classification ofdiseases, the pulse, the urine etc.

As he himself says in the book on pg 353 "In the first part of this book it wasstated that medicine comprises two parts, one theoretical, and one practical,though both are really speculative science." (Avicenna 1999, p. 353)

Theoretical and Practical Medicine

Ibn Sina goes on to say that you do not get any benefit from just knowing howyour body works, but rather the true benefit of medicine itself is in itspractical aspect, since medicine is for the preservation of health.

"That which is speculative named theory relates to the formation of opinions andthe showing of the evidence upon which they are based, without reference to the


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mode of acting upon them. Thus this part deals with the temperaments, the humors,the drives, and with the forms, the symptoms, and the causes of disease. Thatwhich is specially named practical relates to the mode of acting upon thisknowledge, and the prescription of a regimen." (Avicenna 1999, p. 353)

The Benefits of Exercise

Once the purpose of medicine has been set forth, then from pages 377455, IbnSina divides the way of achieving health as:

"Since the regimen of maintaining health consists essentially in the regulationof: (1) exercise (2) food and (3) sleep, we may begin our discourse with thesubject of exercise". (Avicenna 1999, p. 377)

Exercise itself is divided into three main parts: The Massage (which isequivalent to massaging your muscles before you start to exercise); The Exerciseitself; and lastly the Cold Bath.

Giving one of the greatest benefits of the regimen of exercise, and thenexplaining the extremely important and necessary need for physical exercise; IbnSina states:

"Once we direct the attention towards regulating exercise as to amount and time,we shall find there is no need for such medicines as are ordinarily required forremedying diseases dependent on [abnormal] matters, or diseases of temperamentconsequent upon such. This is true provided the rest of the regimen isappropriate and proper." (Avicenna 1999, p. 377)

The value of exercise includes the following (1) it hardens the organs andrenders them fit for their functions (2) it results in a better absorption offood, aids assimilation, and, by increasing the innate heat, improves nutrition(3) it clears the pores of the skin (4) it removes effete substances through the

lungs (5) it strengthens the physique. Vigorous exercise invigorates themuscular and nervous system." (Avicenna 1999, p. 379)

In what manner does Ibn Sina uses the word temperament? In saying that exercisecures diseases of temperamant

Ibn Sina divides temperament into that which is harmonious and that which is non-uniform.Ibn Sina says on pg 276277

"In addition to the signs of the normal temperament already given, there are:Mental faculties including: vigor of imagination, intellectual power, and memory

."(Avicenna 1999, p. 276)

"In brief, there is non-uniformity of temperament among the members; or,perchance, the principal members depart from equability and come to be ofcontrary temperament, one deviating towards one, another to its contrary. If thecomponents of the body are out of proportion, it is unfortunate both for talentand reasoning power." (Avicenna 1999, p. 277)


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The Purpose of Exercise and the Dangers of its negligence

Continuing on the proof to why exercise should be so beneficial Ibn Sina says "Weknow that this must be so when we reflect how in regard to nutriment, our healthdepends on the nutriment being appropriate for us and regulated in quantity andquality. For not one of the aliments which are capable of nourishing the body isconverted into actual nutriment in its entirety. In every case digestion leavessomething untouched, and nature takes care to have that evacuated. Nevertheless,the evacuation which nature accomplishes is not a complete one. Hence at the endof each digestion there is some superfluity left over. Should this be a frequentoccurrence, repetition would lead to further aggregation until somethingmeasurable has accumulated. As a result, harmful effete substances would formand injure various parts of the body. When they undergo decomposition,putrefactive diseases arise [bacterial infections]. Should they be strong inquality, they will give rise to intemperament; and if they should increase inquantity, they would set up the symptoms of plethora which have already beendescribed. Flowing to some member, they will result in an inflammatory mass, and

their vapors will destroy the temperament of the substantial basis of the breath.That is the reason why we must be careful to evacuate these substances. Theirevacuation is usually not completely accomplished without the aid of toxicmedicines, for these break up the nature of the effate substances. This can beachieved only by toxic agents, although the drinking of them is to a certainextent deleterious to our nature. As Hippocrates says: "Medicine purges and ages."More than this the discharge of superfluous humor entails the loss of a largepart of the natural humidities and of the breath, which is the substance of life.All this is at the expense of the strength of the principal and the auxiliarymembers, and therefore they are weakened thereby. These and other things account

for the difficulties incident to plethora, whether they remain behind in thebody or are evacuated by it." (Avicenna 1999, pp. 3778)

Just before this Ibn Sina explained how accumulation of food in our body, cancause diseases, and one way to rid us of this is strong medicines. However, ashe explains; this is not the ideal way, and certainly not the long-term. Thus,to make his point very clear, and show the extreme necessity of daily exercisefor health, Ibn Sina states:

"Now exercise is that agent which most surely prevents the accumulation of thesematters, and prevents plethora. The other forms of regiment assist it. It is

this exercise which renews and revives the innate heat, and imparts thenecessary lightness to the body, for it causes the subtle heat to be increasedand daily disperses whatever effete substances have accumulated; the movementsof the body help them to expel them conveying them to those parts of the bodywhence they can readily leave it. Hence the effete matters are not allowed tocollect day after day and besides this, as we have just said, exercise causesthe innate heat to flourish and keeps the joints and ligaments firm, so as to bealways ready for service, and also free from injury. It renders the members able


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to receive nutriment, in being free from accumulated effate matters. Hence itrenders the members light and the humidities attenuated, and it dilates thepores of the skin. To forsake exercise would often incur the risk of "hectic",because the instinctive drives of the members are impaired, inasmuch as thedeprivation of movement prevents the access to them of the innate breath. Andthis last is the real instrument of life for every one of the members." (Avicenna1999, pp. 3789)

Massage

Before you begin to exercise it is important that you massage your muscles; asIbn Sina says on page 385:

"Massage as a preparatory to athletics. The massage begins gently, and thenbecomes more vigorous as the time approaches for the exercise." (Avicenna 1999,p. 385)

Exercises

The exercises themselves are divided into 'strenuous, mild, vigorous and brisk'.On pages 379381; Ibn Sina states the types of exercises under each type:

"Strenuous exercises include: wrestling contests, boxing, quick marching,running, jumping over an object higher than one foot, throwing the javelin,fencing, horsemanship, swimming. Mild exercises include: fishing, sailing, beingcarried on camels, swinging to and fro. Vigorous exercises include: thoseperformed by soldiers in camp, in military sports; field running, long jumping,high jumping, polo, stone throwing, lifting heavy stones or weights, variousforms of wrestling. Brisk exercises include: involves interchanging places witha partner as swiftly as possible, each jumping to and fro, either in time [tomusic] or irregularly." (Avicenna 1999, pp. 37981)

There are certain important things to note once you start exercising, one is the

amount, the other consistency; Ibn Sina states about the amount:"(1) the color - as long as the skin goes on becoming florid, the exercise maybe continued. After it ceases to do so, the exercise must be discontinued." (Avicenna1999, p. 384)

On being consistent with exercise Ibn Sina states (on the importance of having aregimen):

"At the conclusion of the first day's exercise, you will know the degree ofexercise allowable and when you know the amount of nourishment the person can

bear, do not make any change in either on the second day. Arrange that themeasure of aliment, and the amount of exercise shall not exceed that limitascertained on the first day." (Avicenna 1999, p. 385)

On the side note those who think themselves to be elderly, and thus think ofshunning exercise, Ibn Sina write a complete chapter titled "Concerning theElderly" in the Qanun, and states the same regimen for them, as he does forothers. He states on page 433

"For if, towards the end of life, the body is still equable, it will be right to


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allow attempered exercises. If one part of the body should not be in a first-ratecondition, then that part should not be exercised until the others have beenexercised. ... On the other hand, if the ailment were in the feet, then theexercise should employ the upper limbs: for instance, rowing, throwing weights,lifting weights." (Avicenna 1999, p. 433)

Bathing in Cold Water

Once you have finished exercising; it is often that the person will feel tiredand fatigued; to combat this problem Ibn Sina says on page 388:

"The beneficial Effects of Baths: The benefits are (1) induction of sleep (2)dilation of pores (3) cleansing of skin (4) dispersal of the undesirable wastematters (5) maturation of abscesses (6) drawing of nutriment towards the surfaceof the body (7) assistance to the physiological dispersion and excretion ofpoisonous matters (8) prevention of diarrhea and (9) removal of fatigue effects."(Avicenna 1999, p. 388)

Most importantly you should remember:

"A person should not go into the bath immediately after exercise. He should restproperly first." (Avicenna 1999, p. 387)

There are two more things that are important to mention on this subject:

"Injurious effects include the fact that the heart is weakened if the personstays too long in the bath" (Avicenna 1999, p. 388)

"Cold Bathing should not be done after exercise except in the case of the veryrobust. Even then the rules which we have given should be followed. To use coldbaths in the ways we have named drives the natural heat suddenly into theinterior parts, and then invigorates the strength so that the person should

leave the bath twice as strong as when he entered." (Avicenna 1999, p. 390)Diet

Once Ibn Sina has laid the foundation of exercise being central to health, henames many exercises as running, swimming, weight lifting, polo, fencing, boxing,wrestling, long jumping, high jumping, etc. He also gives a diet to go alongwith the exercise:

"The meal should include: (1) meat especially kid of goats; veal, and year-oldlambs [this means white meat in today's terms][citation needed] (2) wheat, which

is cleaned of extraneous matter and gathered during a healthy harvest withoutever being exposed to injurious influences (3) sweets (fruits) of appropriatetemperament." (Avicenna 1999, p. 390)

Lastly, the third thing mentioned is sleep; to make sure that you do not sleepduring the days, and do not stay awake during the nights. From the above reading,it is clear that Ibn Sina gave advice in his book which is still the same advicemedical doctors give to their patients.[citation needed] Daily Physical Exercise


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;and to defeat diseases such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, theprescription of a diet which contains high amounts of Whole Grains and little tono amounts of Refined Carbohydrates.[citation needed]

Psychology

In The Canon of Medicine, Avicenna described a number of conditions, includingmelancholia.[50] He described melancholia as a depressive type of mood disorderin which the person may become suspicious and develop certain types of phobias.[51]

Unani medicine

Main article: Unani medicine

Though the threads which comprise Unani healing can be traced all the way backto Galen of Pergamon, who lived in the 2nd century AD, the basic knowledge ofUnani medicine as a healing system was developed by Hakim Ibn Sina in hismedical encyclopedia The Canon of Medicine. The time of origin is thus dated atcirca 1025 AD, when Avicenna wrote The Canon of Medicine in Persia, whichremains a text book in the syllabus of Unani medicine in the colleges of India[52]

and Pakistan.The Book of Healing

Main article: The Book of Healing

The oldest copies of Ibn Sina's second volume of "Canon Of Medicine" from theyear 1030.

Earth sciences

Ibn Sn wrote on Earth sciences such as geology in The Book of Healing.[53]While discussing the formation of mountains, he explained:

Either they are the effects of upheavals of the crust of the earth, such asmight occur during a violent earthquake, or they are the effect of water, which,cutting itself a new route, has denuded the valleys, the strata being ofdifferent kinds, some soft, some hard ... It would require a long period of timefor all such changes to be accomplished, during which the mountains themselvesmight be somewhat diminished in size.

[53]

Philosophy of science

In the Al-Burhan (On Demonstration) section of The Book of Healing, Avicennadiscussed the philosophy of science and described an early scientific method ofinquiry. He discusses Aristotle's Posterior Analytics and significantly divergedfrom it on several points. Avicenna discussed the issue of a proper methodologyfor scientific inquiry and the question of "How does one acquire the firstprinciples of a science?" He asked how a scientist would arrive at "the initialaxioms or hypotheses of a deductive science without inferring them from somemore basic premises?" He explains that the ideal situation is when one grasps


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that a "relation holds between the terms, which would allow for absolute,universal certainty." Avicenna then adds two further methods for arriving at thefirst principles: the ancient Aristotelian method of induction (istiqra), andthe method of examination and experimentation (tajriba). Avicenna criticizedAristotelian induction, arguing that "it does not lead to the absolute,universal, and certain premises that it purports to provide." In its place, hedevelops a "method of experimentation as a means for scientific inquiry."[54]

Logic

An early formal system of temporal logic was studied by Avicenna.[9] Although hedid not develop a real theory of temporal propositions, he did study therelationship between temporalis and the implication.[55] Avicenna's work wasfurther developed by Najm al-Dn al-Qazwn al-Ktib and became the dominantsystem of Islamic logic until modern times.[56][57] Avicennian logic alsoinfluenced several early European logicians such as Albertus Magnus[58] andWilliam of Ockham.[59][60]

Physics

In mechanics, Ibn Sn, in The Book of Healing, developed an elaborate theory ofmotion, in which he made a distinction between the inclination (tendency to

motion) and force of a projectile, and concluded that motion was a result of aninclination (mayl) transferred to the projectile by the thrower, and thatprojectile motion in a vacuum would not cease.[61] He viewed inclination as apermanent force whose effect is dissipated by external forces such as airresistance.[62]

The theory of motion developed by Avicenna may have influenced Jean Buridan'stheory of impetus (the ancestor of the inertia and momentum concepts).[63]

In optics, Ibn Sina was among those who argued that light had a speed, observingthat "if the perception of light is due to the emission of some sort ofparticles by a luminous source, the speed of light must be finite.".[64] He also

provided a wrong explanation of the rainbow phenomenon. Carl Benjamin Boyerdescribed Avicenna's ("Ibn Sn") theory on the rainbow as follows:

Independent observation had demonstrated to him that the bow is not formed inthe dark cloud but rather in the very thin mist lying between the cloud and thesun or observer. The cloud, he thought, serves simply as the background of thisthin substance, much as a quicksilver lining is placed upon the rear surface ofthe glass in a mirror. Ibn Sn would change the place not only of the bow, butalso of the color formation, holding the iridescence to be merely a subjectivesensation in the eye.

[65]

In 1253, a Latin text entitled Speculum Tripartitum stated the followingregarding Avicenna's theory on heat:

Avicenna says in his book of heaven and earth, that heat is generated frommotion in external things.

[66]

Psychology


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Avicenna's legacy in classical psychology is primarily embodied in the Kitab al-nafsparts of his Kitab al-shifa' (The Book of Healing) and Kitab al-najat (The Bookof Deliverance). These were known in Latin under the title De Anima (treatises "onthe soul").[dubious discuss] The main thesis of these tracts is represented inhis so-called "flying man" argument, which resonates with what was centurieslater entailed by Descartes's cogito argument (or what phenomenology designatesas a form of an "epoche").[41][42]

Avicenna's psychology requires that connection between the body and soul bestrong enough to ensure the soul's individuation, but weak enough to allow forits immortality. Avicenna grounds his psychology on physiology, which means hisaccount of the soul is one that deals almost entirely with the natural scienceof the body and its abilities of perception. Thus, the philosopher's connectionbetween the soul and body is explained almost entirely by his understanding ofperception; in this way, bodily perception interrelates with the immaterialhuman intellect. In sense perception, the perceiver senses the form of theobject; first, by perceiving features of the object by our external senses. Thissensory information is supplied to the internal senses, which merge all thepieces into a whole, unified conscious experience. This process of perceptionand abstraction is the nexus of the soul and body, for the material body may

only perceive material objects, while the immaterial soul may only receive theimmaterial, universal forms. The way the soul and body interact in the finalabstraction of the universal from the concrete particular is the key to theirrelationship and interaction, which takes place in the physical body.[67]

The soul completes the action of intellection by accepting forms that have beenabstracted from matter. This process requires a concrete particular (material)to be abstracted into the universal intelligible (immaterial). The material andimmaterial interact through the Active Intellect, which is a "divine light"containing the intelligible forms.[68] The Active Intellect reveals theuniversals concealed in material objects much like the sun makes color availableto our eyes.

Other contributions

Astronomy and astrology

The practice of judicial astrology was refuted by Avicenna. His reasons were dueto the methods used by astrologers in judicial astrology being conjecturalrather than empirical and also due to the principles of this type of astrologyconflicting with orthodox Islam. He also cited passages from the Qur'an in orderto justify his refutation of astrology on both scientific and religious grounds.[69]

However, Avicenna's refutation of astrology (in the treatise titled Resla febl akm al-nojm) concerned only the judicial application of astrologyrather than the philosophical principles of the subject and its naturalinfluence. He stated that it was true that each planet had some influence on theearth, but his argument was the difficulty of astrologers being able todetermine the exact effect of it. In essence, Avicenna did not refute astrology,but denied man's limited capacity to be able to know the precise effects of thestars on the sublunar matter. With that, he did not refute the essential dogma


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of astrology, but only refuted our ability to fully understand it.[70]

In astronomy, he criticized Aristotle's view of the stars receiving their lightfrom the Sun. Ibn Sn stated that the stars are self-luminous, and believedthat the planets are also self-luminous.[71] He claimed to have observed thetransit of Venus across the Sun on May 24, 1032.[72] However, modern scholarshave questioned whether he could have observed the transit from his location atthat time.[73] He used his transit observation to demonstrate that Venus was, atleast sometimes, below the Sun in the Ptolemaic cosmology.[74]

Soon after, he wrote the Compendium of the Almagest, a commentary on Ptolemy'sAlmagest. Avicenna concluded that Venus is closer to the Earth than the Sun.[72]In 1070, Abu Ubayd al-Juzjani, a pupil of Ibn Sn, claimed that his teacher IbnSn had solved the equant problem in the Ptolemaic model.[75]

Chemistry

Ibn Sn used distillation to produce essential oils such as rose essence,forming the foundation of what later became aromatherapy.[76] Four of his workson alchemy were translated into Latin as:[77]

Liber Aboali Abincine de Anima in arte Alchemiae

Declaratio Lapis physici Avicennae filio sui Aboali

Avicennae de congelatione et conglutinatione lapidum

Avicennae ad Hasan Regem epistola de Re recta

In one of these works, Ibn Sn discredited the theory of the transmutation ofsubstances commonly believed by alchemists:

Those of the chemical craft know well that no change can be effected in thedifferent species of substances, though they can produce the appearance of suchchange.

[78]

Among his works on alchemy, Liber Aboali Abincine de Anima in arte Alchemiae wasthe most influential, having influenced later medieval chemists and alchemistssuch as Vincent of Beauvais.[77]

In another work, translated into Latin as De congelatione et conglutinationelapidum, Ibn Sina proposed a four-part classification of inorganic bodies, whichwas a significant improvement over the two-part classification of Aristotle (into

orycta and metals) and three-part classification of Galen (into terrae, lapidesand metals). The four parts of Ibn Sina's classification were: lapides, sulfur,salts and metals.[79][verification needed]

Poetry

Almost half of Ibn Sn's works are versified.[80] His poems appear in bothArabic and Persian. As an example, Edward Granville Browne claims that thefollowing Persian verses are incorrectly attributed to Omar Khayym, and wereoriginally written by Ibn Sn:[81]


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Up from Earth's Centre through the Seventh Gate,I rose, and on the Throne of Saturn sate,And many Knots unravel'd by the Road,But not the Master-Knot of Human Fate.

Legacy

Image of Avicenna on the Tajikistan somoni

As early as the 14th century when Dante Alighieri depicted him in Limboalongside the virtuous non-Christian thinkers in his Divine Comedy such asVirgil, Averroes, Homer, Horace, Ovid, Lucan, Socrates, Plato, and Saladin,Avicenna has been recognized by both East and West, as one of the great figuresin intellectual history.

George Sarton, the author of The History of Science, described Ibn Sn as "oneof the greatest thinkers and medical scholars in history"[46] and called him "the

most famous scientist of Islam and one of the most famous of all races, places,and times." He was one of the Islamic world's leading writers in the field ofmedicine, and similarly to earlier Islamic writers he followed the approach ofGalen (and Hippocrates as transmitted through Galen).[82] Along with Rhazes,Abulcasis, Ibn al-Nafis, and al-Ibadi, Ibn Sn is considered an importantcompiler of early Muslim medicine. He is remembered in the Western history ofmedicine as a major historical figure who made important contributions tomedicine and the European Renaissance. His medical texts were unusual in thatwhere controversy existed between Galen and Aristotle's views on medical matters(such as anatomy), he preferred to side with Aristotle, where necessary updatingAristotle's position to take into account post-Aristotilian advances in

anatomical knowledge.[83] Aristotle's dominant intellectual influence amongmedieval European scholars meant that Avicenna's linking of Galen's medicalwritings with Aristotle's philosophical writings in the Canon of Medicine (alongwith its comprehensive and logical organisation of knowledge) significantlyincreased Avicenna's importance in medieval Europe in comparison to otherIslamic writers on medicine. His influence following translation of the Canonwas such that from the early fourteenth to the mid-sixteenth centuries he wasranked with Hippocrates and Galen as one of the acknowledged authorities,princeps medicorum (prince of physicians).[84]

In Iran, he is considered a national icon, and is often regarded as one of thegreatest Persians to have ever lived. Many portraits and statues remain in Iran

today. An impressive monument to the life and works of the man who is known asthe "doctor of doctors" still stands outside the Bukhara museum and his portraithangs in the Hall of the Avicenna Faculty of Medicine in the University of Paris.There is also a crater on the Moon named Avicenna and a plant genus Avicennia.Bu-Ali Sina University in Hamadan (Iran), the ibn Sn Tajik State MedicalUniversity in Dushanbe (The capital of the Republic of Tajikistan), Ibn SinaAcademy of Medieval Medicine and Sciences at Aligarh, India, Avicenna School inKarachi and Avicenna Medical College in Lahore[85] Pakistan, Ibne Sina Balkh


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Medical School in his native province of Balkh in Afghanistan, Ibni Sina FacultyOf Medicine of Ankara University Ankara, Turkey and Ibn Sina Integrated Schoolin Marawi City (Philippines) are all named in his honour. In 1980, the formerSoviet Union, which then ruled his birthplace Bukhara, celebrated the thousandthanniversary of Avicenna's birth by circulating various commemorative stamps withartistic illustrations, and by erecting a bust of Avicenna based onanthropological research by Soviet scholars. Near his birthplace in QishlakAfshona, some 25 km (16 mi) north of Bukhara, a training college for medicalstaff has been named for him. On the grounds is a museum dedicated to his life,times and work. GoogleEarth: SEE.

In March 2008, it was announced that Avicenna's name would be used for newDirectories of education institutions for health care professionals, worldwide.The Avicenna Directories will list universities and schools where doctors,public health practitioners, pharmacists and others, are educated. The projectteam stated "Why Avicenna? Avicenna ... was ... noted for his synthesis ofknowledge from both east and west. He has had a lasting influence on thedevelopment of medicine and health sciences. The use of Avicenna's namesymbolises the worldwide partnership that is needed for the promotion of healthservices of high quality."[86]

Arabic WorksThe treatises of Ibn Sn influenced later Muslim thinkers in many areasincluding theology, philology, mathematics, astronomy, physics, and music. IbnSn's works numbered almost 450 volumes on a wide range of subjects, of whicharound 240 have survived. In particular, 150 volumes of his surviving worksconcentrate on philosophy and 40 of them concentrate on medicine.[8] His mostfamous works are The Book of Healing, a vast philosophical and scientificencyclopaedia, and The Canon of Medicine,[9]

Ibn Sn wrote at least one treatise on alchemy, but several others have beenfalsely attributed to him. His book on animals was translated by Michael Scot.His Logic, Metaphysics, Physics, and De Caelo, are treatises giving a synoptic

view of Aristotelian doctrine, though the Metaphysics demonstrates a significantdeparture from the brand of Neoplatonism known as Aristotelianism in Ibn Sn'sworld; Arabic philosophers have hinted at the idea that Ibn Sn was attemptingto "re-Aristotelianise" Muslim philosophy in its entirety, unlike hispredecessors, who accepted the conflation of Platonic, Aristotelian, Neo- andMiddle-Platonic works transmitted into the Muslim world.

The Logic and Metaphysics have been extensively reprinted, the latter, e.g., atVenice in 1493, 1495, and 1546. Some of his shorter essays on medicine, logic,etc., take a poetical form (the poem on logic was published by Schmoelders in1836).[citation needed] Two encyclopaedic treatises, dealing with philosophy,are often mentioned. The larger, Al-Shifa' (Sanatio), exists nearly complete in

manuscript in the Bodleian Library and elsewhere; part of it on the De Animaappeared at Pavia (1490) as the Liber Sextus Naturalium, and the long account ofIbn Sina's philosophy given by Muhammad al-Shahrastani seems to be mainly ananalysis, and in many places a reproduction, of the Al-Shifa'. A shorter form ofthe work is known as the An-najat (Liberatio). The Latin editions of part ofthese works have been modified by the corrections which the monastic editorsconfess that they applied. There is also a (hikmat-al-mashriqqiyya,in Latin Philosophia Orientalis), mentioned by Roger Bacon, the majority of


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which is lost in antiquity, which according to Averroes was pantheistic in tone.

List of works

This is the list of some of Avicenna's well-known works:[87][88]

Sirat al-shaykh al-ra'is (The Life of Ibn Sina), ed. and trans. WE. Gohlman,Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1974. (The only critical editionof Ibn Sina's autobiography, supplemented with material from a biography by hisstudent Abu 'Ubayd al-Juzjani. A more recent translation of the Autobiographyappears in D. Gutas, Avicenna and the Aristotelian Tradition: Introduction toReading Avicenna's Philosophical Works, Leiden: Brill, 1988.)[87]

Al-Isharat wa-'l-tanbihat (Remarks and Admonitions), ed. S. Dunya, Cairo, 1960;parts translated by S.C. Inati, Remarks and Admonitions, Part One: Logic,Toronto, Ont.: Pontifical Institute for Mediaeval Studies, 1984, and Ibn Sinaand Mysticism, Remarks and Admonitions: Part 4, London: Kegan Paul International,1996.[87]

Al-Qanun fi'l-tibb (The Canon of Medicine), ed. I. a-Qashsh, Cairo, 1987. (Encyclopedia

of medicine.)[87]Risalah fi sirr al-qadar (Essay on the Secret of Destiny), trans. G. Hourani inReason and Tradition in Islamic Ethics, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,1985.[87]

Danishnama-i 'ala'i (The Book of Scientific Knowledge), ed. and trans. PMorewedge, The Metaphysics of Avicenna, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1973.[87]

Kitab al-Shifa' (The Book of Healing). (Ibn Sina's major work on philosophy. Heprobably began to compose al-Shifa' in 1014, and completed it in 1020.) Critical

editions of the Arabic text have been published in Cairo, 195283, originallyunder the supervision of I. Madkour[87]

Kitab al-Najat (The Book of Salvation), trans. F. Rahman, Avicenna's Psychology:An English Translation of Kitab al-Najat, Book II, Chapter VI with Historical-philosophicalNotes and Textual Improvements on the Cairo Edition, Oxford: Oxford UniversityPress, 1952. (The psychology of al-Shifa'.)

Hayy ibn Yaqdhan a Persian myth. A novel called Hayy ibn Yaqdhan, based onAvicenna's story, was later written by Ibn Tufail (Abubacer) in the 12th century

and translated into Latin and English as Philosophus Autodidactus in the 17thand 18th centuries respectively. In the 13th century, Ibn al-Nafis wrote his ownnovel Fadil ibn Natiq, known as Theologus Autodidactus in the West, as acritical response to Hayy ibn Yaqdhan.[89]

Persian works

New Persian, the native language of Avicenna,[90] was not a scientific languagetill the 10th century, however Avicenna became one of the pioneers in writing


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new Persian scientific language.

Danishnama-i 'Alai

Danishnama-i 'Alai is called "the Book of Knowledge for [Prince] 'Ala ad-Daulah".One of Avicenna's important Persian work is the Daaneshnaame (literally: thebook of knowledge) for Prince 'Ala ad-Daulah (the local Buyid ruler). Thelinguist aspects of the Dne-nma and the originality of their Persianvocabulary are of great interest to Iranian philologists. Avicenna created newscientific vocabulary that had not existed before in the modern Persian language.The Dne-nma covers such topics as logic, metaphysics, music theory and othersciences of his time. This book has been translated into English by ParwizMowewedge.[91] The book is also important in respect to Persian scientific works.

Andar Danesh-e-Rag

Andar Danesh-e-Rag is called "On the science of the pulse". This book containsnine chapters on the science of the pulse and is a condensed synonpsis.

Persian poetry

Persian poetry from Ibn Sina is recorded in various manuscripts and lateranthologies such as Nozhat al-Majales.

In popular culture

The Walking Drum

In Louis L'Amour's 1985 historical novel The Walking Drum, Kerbouchard studiesand discusses Avicenna's The Canon of Medicine.

The Physician

In his book The Physician (1988) Noah Gordon tells the story of a young English

medical apprentice who disguises himself as a Jew to learn from Avicenna, thegreat master of his time.

See also

Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi

Al-Qumri

Avicennia, a genus of mangrove named after Ibn Sn

Avicenna Research Institute, a biotechnology research institute named after IbnSn

Avicenna Prize

Ibn Sina Peak - named after the Scientist

Islamic scholars

Mumijo

Philosophy


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85.^ www.amch.edu.pk

86.^ "Educating health professionals: the Avicenna project" The Lancet, March2008. Volume 371 pp 966967.

87.^ a b c d e f g "Ibn Sina Abu 'Ali Al-Husayn". Muslimphilosophy.com.Archived from the original on 2 January 2010. Retrieved 2010-01-19.

88.^ Tasaneef lbn Sina by Hakim Syed Zillur Rahman, Tabeeb Haziq, Gujarat,Pakistan, 1986, p. 176198

89.^ Nahyan A. G. Fancy (2006), "Pulmonary Transit and Bodily Resurrection:The Interaction of Medicine, Philosophy and Religion in the Works of Ibn al-Nafs(d. 1288)", pp. 95102, Electronic Theses and Dissertations, University of NotreDame.[7]

90.^ Ibn Sina ("Avicenna") Encyclopedia of Islam. 2nd edition. Edited by P.Berman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel and W.P. Henrichs. Brill 2009

.Accessed through Brill online: www.encislam.brill.nl (2009) Quote: "He was bornin 370/980 in Afshana, his mother's home, near Bukhara. His native language wasPersian."

91.^ Avicenna, Danish Nama-i 'Alai. trans. Parviz Morewedge as The Metaphysicsof Avicenna (New York: Columbia University Pres), 1977.

Attribution


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Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Avicenna". Encyclopdia Britannica (11th ed.).Cambridge University Press.

Further reading

Encyclopedic articles

Flannery, Michael. "Avicenna". Encyclopdia Britannica.

Goichon, A.-M. (1999). "IBN SINA, Abu 'Ali al-Husayn b. 'Abd Allah b. Sina,known in the West as Avicenna". Encyclopedia of Islam. Brill Publishers.

Mahdi, M.; D. Gutas, Sh. B. Abed, M. E. Marmura, F. Rahman, G. Saliba, O. Wright,B. Musallam, M. Achena, S. Van Riet, U. Weisser (1987). "Avicenna". EncyclopdiaIranica.

"Avicenna". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913.

O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "Abu Ali al-Husain ibn Abdallah ibnSina (Avicenna)", MacTutor History of Mathematics archive, University of StAndrews.

Ragep, Sally P. (2007). "Ibn Sn: Ab Al alusayn ibn Abdallh ibn Sn".

In Thomas Hockey et al. The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers. New York:Springer. pp. 5702. ISBN 978-0-387-31022-0. (PDF version)

Avicenna entry by Sajjad H. Rizvi in the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Primary literature

Avicenna (2005). The Metaphysics of The Healing. A parallel English-Arabic texttranslation. Michael E. Marmura (trans.) (1 ed.). Brigham Young University. ISBN0-934893-77-2.

Avicenna (1999). The Canon of Medicine (al-Qnn f'l-ibb), vol. 1. Laleh

Bakhtiar (ed.), Oskar Cameron Gruner (trans.), Mazhar H. Shah (trans.). GreatBooks of the Islamic World. ISBN 978-1-871031-67-6.

Avicenne: Rfutation de l'astrologie. Edition et traduction du texte arabe,introduction, notes et lexique par Yahya Michot. Prface d'Elizabeth Teissier (Beirut-Paris:Albouraq, 2006) ISBN 2-84161-304-6.

For a list of other extant works, C. Brockelmann's Geschichte der arabischenLitteratur (Weimar, 1898), vol. i. pp. 452458. (XV. W.; G. W. T.)

For Ibn Sina's life, see Ibn Khallikan's Biographical Dictionary, translated byde Slane (1842); F. Wstenfeld's Geschichte der arabischen Aerzte und

Naturforscher (Gttingen, 1840).

Madelung, Wilferd and Toby Mayer (ed. and tr.), Struggling with the Philosopher:A Refutation of Avicenna's Metaphysics. A New Arabic Edition and EnglishTranslation of Shahrastani's Kitab al-Musara'a.

Secondary literature

Afnan, Soheil M. (1958). Avicenna: His Life and Works. London: G. Allen & Unwin.


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OCLC 31478971.

This is, on the whole, an informed and good account of the life andaccomplishments of one of the greatest influences on the development of thoughtboth Eastern and Western. ... It is not as philosophically thorough as the worksof D. Saliba, A. M. Goichon, or L. Gardet, but it is probably the best essay inEnglish on this important thinker of the Middle Ages. (Julius R. Weinberg, ThePhilosophical Review, Vol. 69, No. 2, Apr. 1960, pp. 255259)

Goodman, Lenn E. (2006). Avicenna (Updated ed.). Cornell University Press. ISBN0-415-01929-X.

This is a distinguished work which stands out from, and above, many of the booksand articles which have ben written in this century on Avicenna (Ibn Sn) (A.D.9801037). It has two main features on which its distinction as a majorcontribution to Avicennan studies may be said to rest: the first is its clarityand readability; the second is the comparative approach adopted by the author. ...(Ian Richard Netton, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Third Series, Vol. 4,No. 2, July 1994, pp. 263264)

Gutas, Dimitri (1987). "Avicenna's mahab, with an Appendix on the question ofhis date of birth". Quaderni di Studi Arabi 56: pp. 32336.

Y. T. Langermann (ed.), Avicenna and his Legacy. A Golden Age of Science andPhilosophy, Brepols Publishers, 2010, ISBN 978-2-503-52753-6

For a new understanding of his early career, based on a newly discovered text,see also: Michot, Yahya, Ibn Sn: Lettre au vizir Ab Sa'd. Editio princeps d'aprsle manuscrit de Bursa, traduction de l'arabe, introduction, notes et lexique (Beirut-Paris:Albouraq, 2000) ISBN 2-84161-150-7.

Strohmaier, Gotthard (2006). Avicenna (in German). Beck C. H. ISBN 3-406-54134-8.

This German publication is both one of the most comprehensive generalintroductions to the life and works of the philosopher and physician Avicenna (IbnSn, d. 1037) and an extensive and careful survey of his contribution to thehistory of science. Its author is a renowned expert in Greek and Arabic medicinewho has paid considerable attention to Avicenna in his recent studies. ... (AmosBertolacci, Isis, Vol. 96, No. 4, December 2005, p. 649)

Hakim Syed Zillur Rahman. Resalah Judiya of Ibn Sina (First edition 1971),Literary Research Unit, CCRIH, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh; (Secondedition 1981) Central Council for Research in Unani Medicine, Govt. of India,New Delhi; (Fourth edition 1999), Central Council for Research in Unani Medicine,Govt. of India, New Delhi.

Hakim Syed Zillur Rahman (1996). AI-Advia al-Qalbia of Ibn Sina. PublicationDivision, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh.


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Hakim Syed Zillur Rahman. Ilmul Amraz of Ibn Sina (First edition 1969), TibbiAcademy, Delhi (Second edition 1990), (Third edition 1994), Tibbi Academy,Aligarh.

Hakim Syed Zillur Rahman (1986). "Qanoon lbn Sina Aur Uskey Shareheen waMutarjemeen". Publication Division, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh.

Hakim Syed Zillur Rahman (1986), Qnn-i ibn-i Sn aur us ke shrn vamutarajimn, Algah: Pablkeshan Dvzan, Muslim Ynvarsi

Hakim Syed Zillur Rahman (2004). "Qanun Ibn Sina and its Translation andCommentators (Persian Translation; 203pp)". Society for the Appreciation ofCultural Works and Dignitaries, Tehran, Iran.

Shaikh al Rais Ibn Sina (Special number) 195859, Ed. Hakim Syed Zillur Rahman,Tibbia College Magazine, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India.

Medicine

Edward G. Browne, Islamic Medicine, 2002, Goodword Pub., ISBN 81-87570-19-9

Sprengel, Histoire de la Medicine (1815)[page needed]

Philosophy

Amos Bertolacci, The Reception of Aristotle's Metaphysics in Avicenna's Kitab al-Sifa'.A Milestone of Western Metaphysical Thought (Leiden: Brill 2006)

Dimitri Gutas, Avicenna and the Aristotelian Tradition: Introduction to ReadingAvicenna's Philosophical Works (Leiden: Brill 1988)

Michot, Jean R., La destine de l'homme selon Avicenne (Louvain: Aedibus Peeters,1986) ISBN 978-90-6831-071-9. (French)

Nader El-Bizri, The Phenomenological Quest between Avicenna and Heidegger (Binghamton,

N.Y.: Global Publications SUNY, 2000)Nader El-Bizri, "Avicenna and Essentialism," Review of Metaphysics, Vol. 54 (June2001), pp. 753778

Nader El-Bizri, "Avicenna's De Anima between Aristotle and Husserl," in ThePassions of the Soul in the Metamorphosis of Becoming, ed. Anna-TeresaTymieniecka (Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2003), pp. 6789

Nader El-Bizri, "Being and Necessity: A Phenomenological Investigation ofAvicenna's Metaphysics and Cosmology," in Islamic Philosophy and OccidentalPhenomenology on the Perennial Issue of Microcosm and Macrocosm, ed. Anna-Teresa

Tymieniecka (Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2006), pp. 243261

Reisman, David C. (ed.), "Before and After Avicenna: Proceedings of the FirstConference of the Avicenna Study Group" (Leiden: Brill 2003)

External links

Avicenna (Ibn-Sina) on the Subject and the Object of Metaphysics with a list oftranslations of the logical and philosophical works and an annotated


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Avicenna on In Our Time at the BBC. (listen now)

Online Galleries, History of Science Collections, University of OklahomaLibraries High resolution images of works by Avicenna in .jpg and .tiff format.[show] v t e

Islamic philosophy[show] v t e Medicine in the medieval Islamic world[show] v t e Scholars of Khorasan[show] v t e Persian literature[show] v t e Logic[show] v t e Ancient anaesthesia[show] v t e Alchemy and chemistry in medieval IslamAuthority control WorldCat VIAF: 89770781 LCCN: n80002386

Categories: 980 births1037 deaths11th-century philosophersAlchemists of medievalIslamAristotelian philosophersClassical humanistsCommentators on AristotlePhysiciansof medieval IslamPersian philosophersUnani medicineEthicistsShia MuslimsMuslim

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