By Humaira Ahad
By 18, he was already a master of every science known to his time: Islamic law, astronomy, medicine, mathematics, and philosophy.
When the Samanid Sultan Nuh ibn Mansur fell gravely ill, the court physicians were unable to diagnose the ailment. It was Ibn Sina, a young scholar, who identified the cause and successfully treated the Sultan.
That moment marked the start of a lifetime spent writing, travelling, and bridging worlds with his vast and unparalleled knowledge.
Remembered as “al-Shaykh al-Ra’is” (the prince among scholars), his life was as dramatic as his intellect. He served as vizier (prime minister), endured imprisonment, and travelled extensively across the Persian world.
When the library of Bukhara burned, contemporaries consoled themselves, saying, “The sanctuary of wisdom has not perished; it has been transferred into the mind of Ibn Sina.”
Ibn Sina’s works were translated into Latin and became foundational texts for Western scholars. His influence extended to medieval philosophy, logic, medicine, astronomy, geology, and zoology.
Figures such as Dino del Garbo, Peter of Abano, Roger Bacon, Vincent de Beauvais, and Albertus Magnus cited his work directly in their writings.
The Iranian polymath’s methods in empirical observation, systematic classification, and logical reasoning informed developments in Western science, philosophy, and medicine during the Middle Ages and Renaissance.
Even today, Ibn Sina’s work resonates in medicine, influencing fields from perinatal care to cardiology. UNESCO established the Avicenna Prize for Ethics in Science in 2002, awarded biennially to honour his enduring contribution to scientific thought and ethical practice.
The canon of medicine
During his life, Ibn Sina produced a vast corpus of 450 works, covering philosophy, medicine, astronomy, and natural sciences. Among them, the Canon of Medicine (Al-Qanun fi al-Tibb) would become the most widely cited medical reference for six centuries, influencing scholars from Florence to Padua.
Ibn Sina’s Canon of Medicine (Al-Qanun fi al-Tibb) is his most widely known work. Comprising five volumes and thousands of pages, it served as a reference text and textbook for physicians for approximately six centuries. Originally written in Arabic, the Canon was later translated into Persian, Latin, Hebrew, Turkish, and Irish Gaelic.
The work codified and organised the theories and practices of Greek medicine while incorporating material from Indian and Chinese medical traditions available to Islamic scholars. It documented the use of medicinal herbs, spices, and chemical compounds for treating illnesses.
Sections of the Canon addressed applied medicine, including cataract surgery, the use of forceps in childbirth, and methods for testing drug efficacy and dosage, which provided a framework similar to modern clinical trials.
The quarantine measures observed during COVID-19 pandemic were originally introduced by Ibn Sina.
The Persian physician identified tuberculosis as a contagious disease and recommended quarantine measures. He also suggested that certain diseases could be transmitted through “microorganisms” in air and water, a hypothesis later confirmed through microscopy by Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, a Dutch microbiologist.
Ibn Sina analysed the human pulse in sixty simple and thirty complex variations and described the heart’s ventricles and valves in detail. His observations were referenced by Western physicians for centuries and informed the development of clinical practice in cardiology.
His medical works included detailed anatomical studies. He described the muscles of the human eye and the mechanism of vision. He also documented illnesses such as smallpox and measles, and analysed diabetes in ways that were used by European specialists eight centuries later.
Chapters of the Canon addressed functional neuroanatomy, psychology and his approach to systematic observation and drug testing provided the foundation for later clinical methodologies.
His emphasis on considering both physical and psychological factors in treatment anticipated holistic approaches to medicine.
As Ibn Sina’s medical teachings resonated across Europe, his works were cited by Florentine physician Dino del Garbo and Peter de Abano of Padua, while centuries later, the French physiologist Claude Bernard drew on his methods in experiments on drug efficacy using animal studies.
Spark of Latin Avicennism
Ibn Sina’s luminous works contributed to the intellectual movement later termed “Latin Avicennism” in medieval Europe. His ideas were translated and disseminated through Spain and Italy, influencing philosophical thought in Europe.
Medieval philosophers such as Henry of Ghent were inspired by his ontological proofs for the existence of God, and his treatises on logic and syllogisms influenced thinkers for centuries.
Roger Bacon, one of the earliest proponents of experimental science, emphasised Ibn Sina’s integration of logic with observation, a combination of thinker and experimenter that set the stage for modern science in the West.
In formal logic, the Persian philosopher modified Aristotelian syllogisms, addressing both categorical and hypothetical forms.
Ibn Sina’s philosophy also contributed to Western subjectivism, affecting thinkers such as René Descartes and Immanuel Kant.
His integration of empirical observation with logical analysis provided a model for subsequent developments in European philosophical thought.
Contributions to science and literature
Ibn Sina produced extensive works in a range of scientific fields, including astronomy, geology, zoology, mineralogy, and herbalism. His astronomical observations, along with those of Ibn Rushd (Averroës), were taught at European universities in Bologna, Padua, and Ferrara.
In geology, European encyclopaedists such as Vincent de Beauvais and Albertus Magnus referenced Ibn Sina’s works, including Kitab al-Shifa, for explanations of mountain formation, soil erosion, and the motion of the seas.
In zoology, his summaries were considered the main source for Western medieval understanding of the subject, influencing studies for centuries.
In physics and natural philosophy, the Iranian scientist addressed motion, force, vacuums, light, heat, and the specific gravity of bodies.
Western scholars later cited his work on inertia and the density of liquids and solids, which influenced Galileo Galilei and others.
His methods of calculating star positions and Earth’s longitudinal differences were reinvented five centuries later in the West
Ibn Sina also contributed to literature and the philosophical exploration of human nature. His works, Hayy ibn Yaqzan (The Living, Son of the Dead), Salaman wa Absal, and At-Tayr (The Bird), explored ethical, social, and philosophical issues, including human aspiration, love, and social harmony.
These texts influenced European writers, including Dante Alighieri, who said that the Persian philosopher was among the figures that shaped The Divine Comedy.
Ibn Sina’s life combined scholarship, administration, and practical application. His observations and writings in medicine, anatomy, and natural philosophy shaped the broader intellectual framework of the medieval and Renaissance West.
The Iranian philosopher sowed a new intellectual culture in the West and helped nurture freedom of thought in medieval Europe.
Ibn Sina served as a bridge, who transmitted the intellectual treasures of the Islamic world to the West, and in so doing helped lay the foundations of a shared human civilization.
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