Ibn Sina

Avicenna, or in Persian and Arabic, Abu Ali al-Husain ibn Abdallah ibn Sina or simply Ibn Sina (as he is usually called) (980 - 1037), was a Persian physician, philosopher, and scientist. He was the author of 450 books on many subjects, many on philosophy and medicine. His most famous works are The Book of Healing and The Canon of Medicine, also known as the Qanun.

He was born in Kharmaithen in Persia, (today a part of Uzbekistan), and died in Hamadan, Iran). He is considered "The Father of modern medicine" and is one of the greatest physicians of all time. (Some sources actually state that Avicenna was born in Hamadan, and a good brief biography, linked below, claims him as a Persian from Balkh).

As a child he displayed an exceptional intellectual behaviour. He was a child prodigy who had memorized the Koran by the age of 10. From a greengrocer he learnt arithmetic; and higher branches were begun under one of those wandering scholars who gained a livelihood by cures for the sick and lessons for the young. He turned to medicine at 17. The teenager achieved full status as a physician at age 18 and found that: "Medicine is no hard and thorny science, like mathematics and metaphysics, so I soon made great progress; I became an excellent doctor and began to treat patients, using approved remedies." The youthful physician's fame spread quickly and he treated many patients without regards for payment. However he was greatly troubled by metaphysical problems and in particular the works of Aristotle. Later in his life he moved to Ray, located near modern Tehran (capital of Iran), the home town of Rhazes. In Ray he pursued his job in medicine more than ever before. When Ray was besieged, Ibn Sina fled to Hamadan where he cured Amir Shamsud-Dawala of colic and was made Prime Minister. Following the death of the Amir, Ibn Sina fled to dynamic Isfahan (the ancient capital of Iran), after having troubles with the law. His friends advised him to slow down and take life moderately, however he refused stating that: "I prefer a short life with width to a narrow one with length". He died only 58 years old, but is regarded as one of history's greatest physicians.

Sina is comparable to such physician greats as Abu Bakr Mohammad Ibn Zakariya al-Razi himself. However, despite such glorious tributes to his work, Ibn Sina is rarely remembered in the West today and his fundamental contributions to Medicine and the European reawakening go largely unrecognised.

Sina also wrote extensively on the subjects of philosophy, logic, ethics, metaphysics and other disciplines. All his works were written in Arabic (the de facto scientific language of that time) and in Persian (Sina's own mother tongue). Of linguistic significance even to this day, are a few of his books that he wrote in nearly pure Persian language.

In the museum at Bukhara, there are displays showing many of his writings, surgical instruments from the period and paintings of patients undergoing treatment. In Iran he is considered a Persian hero and many find glory in his name. He is often regarded as one of the greatest Persians that have ever existed (he was a great Muslim just as well). Many of his portraits and statues remain in Iran today. An impressive monument to the life and works of the man who is known as the 'doctor of doctors' still stands outside Bukhara museum and his portrait hangs in the Hall of the Faculty of Medicine in the University of Paris. However many have forgotten his great contributions to medicine and even more so, modern living.

Ibn Sina was interested in the effect of the mind on the body, and wrote a great deal on psychology, likely influencing Ibn Tufayl and Ibn Bajjah.

Along with Rhazes, Ibn Nafis, Al-Zahra and Al-Ibadi, he is considered an important compiler of Early Muslim medicine.

He is considered one of the four great Mutazilite scholars, the others being Al-Kindi, Al-Farabi and Ibn Rushd (not contemporaries).

See also: History of medicine, Early Muslim medicine, Muslim psychology, Muslim philosophy