BIOGRAPHY Ibn Sina (Avicenna)

 

Ibn Sina is a brilliant Persian scientist, doctor, and philosopher who created more than four hundred scientific papers. The most famous scholar of the medieval period.

The Persian scholar Ibn Sina, known in Western countries as Avicenna, left a bright mark in almost thirty areas of science. A brilliant doctor, a wise philosopher, and a talented poet published a number of works that grateful descendants still use today.

 The personality of Ibn Sina is truly multifaceted, and his biography is of interest to both historians and ordinary people.

CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH

Abu Ali Hussein Ibn Abdallah Ibn Sina was born in 980 in the village of Afshana, a few miles from Bukhara. According to surviving information, his father was a very wealthy man

From early childhood, the boy showed curiosity about everything that surrounds him. Ibn Sina asked these questions that even adults were baffled. Having moved from the provinces to the capital, the parents sent their son to school, where he was finally able to meet his needs for knowledge.

At that time, Bukhara was not only the capital but also the center of education. Here was the largest library, visited by scholars from all over the world. Little Avicenna first studied at an ordinary Muslim school, and at the same time took classes in Arabic, style, and grammar. By the age of ten, the young child prodigy had completely memorized the Koran, which caused great respect amongst the surrounding Muslims.

Hussein never stopped to amaze with his successes. Deciding that the standard school curriculum was not sufficient for his son, his father took him home for individual training a teacher was visiting and invited the teenager, who studied physics, geography, philosophy, astronomy, and other subjects with him intensively.

Along with the sciences, the parents tried to give their children spiritual education. The father and teacher did not support orthodox Islam, and Ismaili sermons were frequently heard in the house. Ibn Sina, like his younger brother, listened to the content of these speeches.

Having reached the level of knowledge of his teacher, a talented student started to learn science on his own. At the age of fourteen, the guy delved into the study of medicine: he re-read all the literature available in Bukhara and even personally visited ill people seriously in order to study the postulates of science in practice. In obtaining medical knowledge, the young man was assisted by a family friend, a well-known doctor, and the author of numerous treatises Abu Sahl Masihi.

One day, alarming news came from the palace, the ruler fell ill, and not one of the court doctors could determine the cause of the ailment. Then the young Avicenna was brought to the head, who identified the illness and gave the right recommendations. The emir began to recover, and the young scientist was appointed to the post of personal physician of the sovereign.

In the palace, Ibn Sina got access to unique books, and he soon became a teacher himself. On reaching the age of 18, the young man became an equal member of the scientific community of Central Asia and the East

By the age of twenty, Avicenna had already published a number of books, including an extensive encyclopedia, a medical dictionary, and several treatises on ethics.

Soon, Turkish invaders invaded the peaceful life of the prosperous capital. fires raged in Bukhara, and pogroms were organized everywhere. The palace library was also damaged. By that time, the scientist's father had died and he had left his native land. The young philosopher went to Khoresm, joining a trade caravan.

THE MEDICINE

Quickly settling in Khorezm, the gifted doctor made many friends in addition, the first teachers arrived in the city-Biruni and Masihi, who now themselves could learn a lot from him. The city head was favored by the scientists and allowed them to hold scientific meetings in his palace. Thanks to this, Avicenna and his like-minded people were able to work calmly and develop different sciences.

At that time, opening the bodies of people and examining them was forbidden at the legislative level. It was punishable by death, but Ibn Sina and his supporters continued to study the human structure in secret. Soon the scientist and his comrades were called to Bukhara to meet with the king. In those days, everyone knew that a visit to the Sultan would be the most likely to result in death.

Avicenna and Masihi chose to escape. Overcoming the desert, the comrades-in-arms fell into a terrible hurricane, lost their direction, and were left without water and food. At that time, Masihi was already very old, so he couldn't stand the test and die. Ibn Sina miraculously survived and achieved the settlement, where he continued to work under assumed names. For several years he had been forced to hide from the wrath of the padishah

In 1016, destiny brought the young doctor to Hamadan, the former capital of Media. In those years the level of education in the city was extremely low, even the mayors were poorly educated This played into the hands of Avicenna: he rapidly became the personal physician of the local head and chief vizier.

In Hamadan, the scholar had the opportunity to complete work on the first volume of his most famous work - "The Canon of Medicine". In total, the work covers five areas: medical science, drugs of natural origin, complex preparations of Ibn Sina's own preparation, and two volumes on the treatment of various organs.

Few people know Avicenna was the first to discover that infectious diseases are caused by invisible viruses. This was a hypothesis recognized only one hundred eight years later when it was proven by the French scientist Pasteur.

The doctor paid much attention in his writings to the human pulse, describing all of its types in one of the books. Avicenna managed to give a clear definition of the plague, jaundice, and cholera, the epidemics of which now and then broke all over the world.

The scientist revealed to the people the structure of the eye, which until then was perceived as a flashlight with special rays. Even during the life of Ibn Sina, the Canon of Medicine became an encyclopedia for doctors from all over the world, including ancient Russian doctors.

PHILOSOPHY

Sadly, not all the works of Avicenna have survived to this day in their original form. Many of them are completely or partly lost, and some have suffered from poor translation. But some of the books still survived, and today you can recreate an approximate picture of his philosophical judgment.

According to Ibn Sina, science can be divided into three major areas: lower, middle, and higher. The scientist was not opposed to the theory of the divine principle, which was followed by his contemporaries. Recognizing the eternity of the world, the philosopher studied in detail the human soul, which appears on Earth in various bodies, and then returns to the Creator.

Avicenna's point of view was frequently challenged by Jewish thinkers and Islamic esotericists, but his philosophical position found a large number of followers.

OTHER SCIENCES

Frequently, Ibn Sina resorted to poetry to discuss important scientific topics. In verse, his works "Hay ibn Yakzan", "Treatise on Love", "Bird" and many others have been preserved.

The philosopher paid a lot of attention to psychology. He became the author of the doctrine of human temperament, which he was conditionally divided into several types: wet, dry, cold, and hot. The works of Avicenna on mechanics and music have survived today.

The exact number of jobs of the great scientist is unknown. Some researchers talk about more than 450 books in various fields of science.

PERSONAL LIFE

A person who dedicated himself entirely to science could hardly boast of a rich personal life. At least neither in the memoirs of his students nor in other sources of information about his family is there. The outstanding doctor and philosopher spent his entire life traveling and did not have a permanent home, so we can only guess about his wife and children. However, in the surviving literary works of the author, one can often find the chanting of love, feminine beauty, and harmonious relationships.

DEATH

The life of Ibn Sina was incredibly intense: he had a chance to experience both dizzying ups and times of disgrace. Persecuted by the authorities, he wandered all over the world but could not return to his native land. The brilliant scientist died in 1037 in a foreign land, was buried in Hamadan, and almost a year later, he was transferred to Isfahan. the philosopher has reburied in the tomb of the emir himself.

The figure of Avicenna is shrouded in many secrets and legends. According to one of them, he managed to create an elixir of eternal life. The scientist shared this secret with his best student who, after the death of the teacher, tried to resurrect him from the dead as the legend says, the young man almost succeeded: the body of the old man suddenly started to look younger and come to life. With enthusiasm, the young doctor dropped the flask with the magic liquid from his hands, and the ritual failed. The body of the great Ibn Sina became decrepit again.