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An Image of a1950 “Avicenna” stamp of Iran. Photo by Iran Post.

Top 10 Interesting Facts About Avicenna

Avicenna is a Latinized name of his real name, Abu Ali al-Husayn Ibn Abd Allan Ibn Sina. He was mostly referred to as Ibn Sina.

Avicenna is the most important scientific figure in the Islamic Golden Age.

He was considered the Father of Early Modern Medicine, as the medical facts in his book, The Canon of Medicine, remain relevant until now.

 He was a Persian polymath who was also renowned for his expertise in astronomy, philosophy, chemistry, and other disciplines.

1.He was born to an Advocate Father A follower of the Ismaili Sect

He was born in around 980 A.D in the village of Afshana, near Bukhara, now in Uzbekistan.

He had a younger brother.

His father, Abdullah an advocate of the Ismaili sect, was from Balkh which is now a part of Afghanistan.

Ibn Sina received his early education in his home town.

2.He had Memorized the Entire Qur’an by the Age of Ten

At the age of ten he became a Quran Hafiz, he had memorized the whole  Quran.

He had exceptional intellectual skills and he was able to overtake his teachers at the age of fourteen.

At young age, he devoted himself to Muslim jurisprudence, philosophy and natural science.

He was highly baffled by the work of Aristotle on metaphysics so much so that he would pray to God to guide him.

 Finally after reading a manual by a famous philosopher al-Farabi, he found the solutions to his difficulties.

At age of 16, he had mastered medicine under several well-known scholars, and his reputation regarding his skills was well noticed.

3.He Became a Qualified Physician at the Age of Eighteen

During this time he cured Nuh II, Ruler of the Samanids, of an illness in which all the renowned physicians had given up hope.

On this great effort, the Amir wished to reward him, and the young physician requested consent to use his exclusively stocked royal library.

This enabled him to continue his research.

4.He Succeeded his Father as the Governor of Harmaytan

His father Abd Allah was a native of the city of Balkh in Tukharistan.

He was an official of the Samanid bureaucracy, he had served as the governor of a village of the royal estate of Harmaytan during the reign of Nuh II.

He was subsequently given an administrative post, possibly succeeding his father as the governor of Harmaytan.

5.He Moved to Jurjan Near the Caspian Sea After his Father鈥檚 Death

His father died when Ibn Sina was twenty-two years old, he moved to Jurjan near the Caspian Sea where he lectured on logic and astronomy.

At Jurjan he met his famous contemporary Abu Rayhan al-Biruni.

 Later he travelled to Rey and then to Hamadan, both in present day Iran, where he wrote and taught his works.

Here he also cured Shams al-Dawla, the Emir of Hamadan, from a severe illness.

6.His Most Famous Works are The Book of Healing and the Canon of Medicine

The Book of Healing, a vast philosophical and scientific encyclopedia, and The Canon of Medicine, which was a standard medical text at many medieval universities.

The Canon of Medicine was used as a text-book in the universities of Montpellier and Leuven as late as 1650.

The Canon of Medicine provides a complete system of medicine according to the principles of Galen and Hippocrates.

The Book of Healing, was intended to 鈥渉eal鈥� the soul.

Not to be confused as a medical book, it was composed of four parts 鈥� logic, natural sciences, mathematics, and metaphysics.

He also developed Avicennian logic, his system of philosophy, which he explained in this book.

In Astronomy, he suggested that Venus was closer to the sun than Earth. He also invented an instrument for coordinating stars.

He also invented a system of steam distillation to produce essential oils.

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

7.Avicennism was the leading school of Islamic philosophy in the 12th century

In the medieval Islamic world, due to Avicenna’s successful reconciliation between Aristotelianism and Neoplatonism along with Kalam, Avicennism eventually became the leading school of Islamic philosophy by the 12th century.

 Avicenna became a central authority on philosophy.

8.He is the Most Famous and Influential Polymath of the Islamic Golden Age

He created an extensive corpus of works during the Islamic Golden Age, in which the translations of Byzantine Greco-Roman, Persian and Indian texts were studied extensively.

Greco-Roman were translated, commented, redacted and developed substantially by kid school who were Islamic intellectuals.

They were also built upon Persian and Indian mathematical Systems, astronomy, algebra, trigonometry and medicine

Avicenna had access to the great libraries of Balkh, Khwarezm, Gorgan, Rey, Isfahan and Hamadan.

Avicenna and his opponents further developed the study of Quran and the hadith which thrived Islamic philosophy.

9.He was a Private Physician and Confidant of Emir Shams al-Dawlah

He ventured south of Hamadan, where he was summoned by Prince Emir Shams al-Dawlah of the Buyid dynasty after the prince learned of Avicenna鈥檚 presence in the city.

He became the prince鈥檚 private physician and confidant and was appointed as a Grand Vizier or Prime Minister.

When the prince died in 1021, Avicenna wrote to the ruler of Isfahan offering his service as a physician. He was sent to prison by the new prince when his correspondence was discovered. After a few years, he escaped from Hamadan to Isfahan.

10.He Served in Military as a Physician and General Literary till his Death

After finishing epic writing at Isfahan, he continued to travel and too much mental exertion and political chaos affected his health.

The last decade or so of his life, he spent in the service of a military commander Ala al-Dawla Muhammad.

He served him as a physician and general literary and scientific consultant, including during his campaigns.

 He died on June 1037 A.D, aged 58 and was buried in Hamedan, Iran. Before he died, he bestowed his goods to the poor and freed his slaves.