Ibn Sina

Ibn Sina (370–428 AH / 980–1037 CE), known in the West as Avicenna and titled al-Shaykh al-Ra'is ("the Chief Master"), was a Persian philosopher, physician, and polymath Majallat al-Risala+1. He is best known for his philosophical compendium Kitab al-Shifa' and his medical encyclopedia al-Qanun fi al-Tibb Tarikh al-Adab al-Arabi l…+1.

Lineage and Early Life

His full name was Abu Ali al-Husayn ibn Abd Allah ibn al-Hasan ibn Ali ibn Sina (also recorded as Abu Ali al-Husayn ibn Abd Allah ibn Ali ibn Sina) Uyun al-Anba fi Tabaqat a…+1. He also held the honorific title Sharaf al-Mulk Mujam al-Mufassirin "min …+1. His father was an official from Balkh who relocated to Bukhara during the reign of the Samanid ruler Nuh ibn Mansur and took charge of administration in the village of Kharmaythan Uyun al-Anba fi Tabaqat a…+1. There he married a woman named Sitara from the neighboring village of Afshana, where Ibn Sina was born in Safar 370 AH (980 CE), though 371 AH is also cited Majallat al-Risala+1Majallat al-Risala.

The family settled in Bukhara, where Ibn Sina memorized the Quran and studied literature (adab) by the age of ten Uyun al-Anba fi Tabaqat a…+1. His father, who had answered the Isma'ili summons, exposed him to their teachings on the soul and intellect, though Ibn Sina did not embrace their doctrine Uyun al-Anba fi Tabaqat a…+1. He learned practical arithmetic with Mahmud al-Massah and studied jurisprudence according to the Hanafi school under Ismail al-Zahid Tatimmat Siwan al-Hikma+1. He then studied logic, Euclid's Elements, and Ptolemy's Almagest under the philosopher Abu Abd Allah al-Natili, soon outstripping his teacher Wafayat al-Ayan+1. Ibn Sina subsequently pursued natural philosophy and medicine independently, practicing clinical treatment to gain practical skill; by age sixteen, established physicians studied under him Wafayat al-Ayan+1. He initially struggled with Aristotle's Metaphysics, having read it forty times without comprehension until he purchased a treatise by Abu Nasr al-Farabi on its aims, which unlocked the subject for him Majallat al-Buhuth al-Isl…+1.

Career and Political Life

At around age seventeen, Ibn Sina successfully treated Nuh ibn Mansur for an illness that had baffled the royal physicians, earning entry into the ruler's court and access to the extensive Samanid palace library in Bukhara Majallat al-Risala+1Majallat al-Risala. When the library subsequently burned down, detractors accused him of intentionally setting the fire to monopolize its learning, an accusation rejected by biographers as malice Majallat al-Risala+1.

Following the decline of the Samanids, Ibn Sina departed Bukhara and traveled through Gurganj (Jurjaniya), Nisa, Abiward, Tus, and Jajarm, eventually reaching Gorgan (Jurjan), where he met his principal disciple and biographer, Abu Ubayd al-Juzjani al-Mukhtasar fi Akhbar al…+1Mujam al-Udaba = Irshad a…. He served Majd al-Dawla in Rayy, then moved to Hamadhan, where the Buyid ruler Shams al-Dawla appointed him vizier Mujam al-Mufassirin "min …+1. During his tenure, the troops of Hamadhan mutinied against him and ransacked his house, forcing him into hiding, and he was later imprisoned for a period following Shams al-Dawla's death Mujam al-Mufassirin "min …+1. After gaining his freedom, he relocated to Isfahan in the service of the Kakuyid ruler Ala al-Dawla Ibn Kakawayh, under whose patronage he completed the majority of his writings Mujam al-Mufassirin "min …+1.

Scholarly Standing and Reception

Ibn Sina systematized Peripatetic philosophy and integrated it with Hellenistic and Islamic thought, achieving widespread influence across the Islamic East and medieval Europe Majallat al-Risala+1. His medical encyclopedia al-Qanun fi al-Tibb remained a central textbook in Eastern and European medical schools for centuries Tarikh al-Adab al-Arabi l…+1. In philosophy, his comprehensive work Kitab al-Shifa' provided a thorough synthesis of logic, natural sciences, mathematics, and metaphysics Tarikh al-Adab al-Arabi l…+1.

His theological and metaphysical stances provoked rigorous rebuttal from Muslim scholars. In al-Munqidh min al-Dalal, Abu Hamid al-Ghazali classified twenty errors in his and al-Farabi's metaphysical positions, deeming seventeen to be unlawful innovations (bid'a) and three to constitute apostasy (kufr): the eternity of the world, the proposition that God knows particulars only through universal knowledge, and the denial of bodily resurrection Jala al-Aynayn fi Muhakam…+1. Later scholars such as Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn al-Qayyim also critiqued his metaphysics and esoteric associations, while observing that his treatments of prophethood, divine signs, and the afterlife drew upon Islamic concepts beyond what earlier Greek philosophers had developed Mujam al-Shuara al-Arab+1.

Death

While accompanying Ala al-Dawla on a military campaign toward Hamadhan, Ibn Sina fell ill with severe colic (qawlanj) Tawdih al-Maqasid Sharh N…+1. Despairing of recovery, he abandoned further medical treatment, performed ritual purification, gave his possessions in charity to the poor, manumitted his slaves, and recited the complete Quran every three days Tawdih al-Maqasid Sharh N…. He died in Hamadhan on a Friday during Ramadan 428 AH (1037 CE) at the age of fifty-eight, though reports also cite Sha'ban, an age of fifty-one, or death in Isfahan Tawdih al-Maqasid Sharh N…+1Mujam al-Muallifin+1. He was buried in Hamadhan, where his grave remains Mujam al-Mufassirin "min …+1.