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Ibn Sina (Avicenna)

ابن سينا

c. 980 CE · c. 370 AH – June 1037 CE · Ramadan 428 AH

Afshana → Bukhara → Isfahan → Hamadan

Persian polymath (c. 980–1037) whose Canon of Medicine and Book of Healing shaped medicine and philosophy across the Islamic world and Europe for centuries.

Depth

At a glance

Roles
Physician · Philosopher · Astronomer · Vizier · Poet
Counted among
Sunni (Hanafi)
Era
The Buyid, Fatimid and Seljuk Era
Region
Persia & Central Asia
Identifiers
WikidataVIAF
Review
Draft Completeness 3/5 · Help complete it

Life in time

92595097510001025105010751100 c. c. c.
Abbasid Fragmentation · The Buyid, Fatimid and Seljuk Era · The Crusades, Ayyubids and Mamluks Contemporaries: Abu l-Ala al-Maarri · Abu Nu'aym al-Asbahani, Ahmad ibn Abd Allah · Abu Talib ibn Ghaylan al-Bazzaz · Abu'l Tayyeb Tabari · Al-Biruni, Muhammad ibn Ahmad

In space

BukharaIsfahanHamadan

Map: Natural Earth, public domain · places and route from the graph

MedicinePhilosophy and logicThe golden age, decline, and the debates about both

Reading levelRead it in the Kids' Wing

A wise physician and scholar who wrote a medical encyclopedia that helped doctors care for patients and protect their health.

Ibn Sina was a physician and polymath born near Bukhara. He authored The Canon of Medicine, which served as the primary medical textbook in universities across the world for centuries, describing illnesses and treatments, as well as The Book of Healing covering natural sciences, astronomy, and philosophy.

Storytellers (10–12) read the Explorers text, then cross to the Scholars text.

Abu Ali al-Husayn ibn Abd Allah ibn Sina (c. 370–428 AH / 980–1037 CE), the polymath philosopher and physician known to the West as Avicenna. Author of an immense corpus across diverse disciplines, his medical masterwork 'The Canon of Medicine' synthesized classical medicine with systematic clinical observation, anatomy, and pharmacology, remaining a standard university textbook in both East and West for centuries. In philosophy, his encyclopedic 'Kitab al-Shifa' (The Book of Healing) articulated a comprehensive framework uniting logic, natural philosophy, and metaphysics.

Brief

Ibn Sina, known in Europe as "Avicenna," was a Persian physician and philosopher who lived around 980–1037 CE. His two books, The Canon of Medicine and The Healing, were studied for centuries from Central Asia to Western Europe.

Life

Ibn Sina was born in the village of Afshana near Bukhara around 980 CE, and he grew up in a city ruled by the Samanid dynasty. In his autobiography, which his student al-Juzjani completed, he describes a boy who mastered the Qur'an and the first sciences at an early age, and then turned to logic, mathematics and medicine 1.

He left Bukhara after about 1002 CE and worked as a physician, and at times as a vizier, at several courts in Iran. In his last years he served Ala al-Dawla in Isfahan. He died in Hamadan in June 1037 CE (Ramadan 428 AH) 2.

Works

Among his best-known books are The Canon of Medicine, an encyclopaedia of medicine, and The Healing, a broad philosophical compendium. He wrote mostly in Arabic and also wrote in Persian 2.

Legacy

Later Muslim thinkers engaged with him in two directions. Al-Ghazali criticised some of his views, while many others built on his system. Latin translations carried his medicine and philosophy into medieval Europe.

For young visitors

Imagine a doctor and thinker so respected that his book of medicine was taught in classrooms for hundreds of years.

Notes for researchers

The birth year is usually given as 980 CE, although some accounts point to 973 CE. The dates are kept here as the sources give them, and any Hijri conversion is marked as derived.

In the 'Al-Mubdi'un' programme

Tareq al-Suwaidan presents Ibn Sina — 'al-Shaykh al-Ra'is' — as the model of concentration on one field, philosophy his means and medicine his end 3 4 5. Of his upbringing: born Safar 370 AH to a Persian family, Qur'an and grammar by ten; raised among an Isma'ili father and brother, he rejected the doctrine — 'I hear them and know what they say and my soul does not accept it' (correcting the charge of Isma'ilism) 6 7 4. He began medicine at sixteen saying 'medicine is not among the hard sciences, so no wonder I excelled in the shortest time'; he read philosophy under al-Natili then left his shallowness to read alone — Aristotle's Metaphysics defeated him through forty readings until al-Farabi's book on its aims unlocked it 8 9 10 11 12 5. Of his discipline: 'I never slept a whole night nor spent a day but in learning'; when perplexed he would repair to the mosque praying 'until the closed opened to me and the hard eased'; and when sleep overcame him he turned to a drink and back to reading 11 13 14 15. Of the princes' patronage: he cured Mansur ibn Nuh al-Samani where every physician had failed, who opened his library of treasures to him, and Nuh ibn Mansur continued the care — 'inner and material stability turn into output' (the speaker's lesson) 16 17 18. Imprisoned in the political turmoil, he emerged into hiding at Ibn Ghalib the perfumer's, where in that enforced retreat he composed most of his works in the natural and divine sciences 19 20. His contest with Abu Mansur al-Jubba'i: worsted in language, he bent three years over it until he composed odes in the rarest words, presented them to the caliph aged and weathered, and al-Jubba'i could not explain them 21 22 23 24. Of his medical firsts: first describer of meningitis, anthrax and stroke, discoverer of the roundworm eight hundred years before the Italian physician, cardiac stimulants and pre-surgical anaesthetics, psychotherapy and the diseases of passionate love 25 26 27 28. Of his physics: light outruns sound, hearing relates to air's undulation, and an instrument measuring minute lengths precisely 28 29. Of his educational theory in Kitab al-Siyasa: upbringing from birth to marriage, the first seven years building character, individual differences, moral reward and punishment without vengeance 30 31 32 33 34 35. Of his works: over a hundred books; the Qanun a base reference of European universities to the seventeenth century; al-Shifa' in eighteen volumes with a complete original at Oxford; al-Insaf in astronomical observations; and al-Mukhtasar al-Awsat in logic 18 19 25 36 37 38. Of his death: illness recurring weekly until he said 'the manager who has failed to manage my body profits nothing from treatment — I who taught you medicine'; he abandoned treatment and died in 428 AH 39 40 41.

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Opinions on the question

The question: What did scholars judge of Ibn Sina, and what was his intellectual and confessional identity?

First opinion · Sunni tradition (the museum's frame)Main reference

Sunni scholars judged him differently: al-Ghazali held that three of his teachings (the eternity of the world, God's knowledge of universals only, and the denial of bodily resurrection) amounted to unbelief, while his medical works were widely used.
More opinions (1)

Academic viewSecondary opinion

His father served the Samanids and is reported to have been Ismaili; Ibn Sina's own confessional identity is debated, and his philosophy was attacked by al-Ghazali and defended by later thinkers.

Connections

Explore the connections

Born in
Afshana
Died in
Hamadan
Participated in
Ibn Sina travels west to Gorgan· Ibn Sina enters Buyid service at Rayy· Ibn Sina becomes vizier to Shams al-Dawla at Hamadan· Ibn Sina withdraws to Khuzistan· Al-Biruni at Qābūs's court, Gurgān
Buried in
Mausoleum of Ibn Sina, Hamadan
Lived in
Bukhara· Isfahan
Studied under
Abu Abdallah al-Natili
Authored
The Canon of Medicine· The Book of Healing· al-Isharat wal-Tanbihat
Patronized by
Ala al-Dawla Muhammad
Influenced by
al-Farabi· Aristotle
Influenced
al-Ghazali· ابن رشد الحفيد· Thomas Aquinas

People and things also explored

Jurjan· Ibn Sina becomes vizier to Shams al-Dawla at Hamadan· Hamadan· Abu Abdallah al-Natili· The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam· Jameh Mosque of Isfahan· Abu al-Hayja sent against Hamadan· Al-Biruni takes refuge at Bukhara

Explore the timeline

Sources

  1. Gohlman, The Life of Ibn Sina (1974)
  2. Gutas, Avicenna and the Aristotelian Tradition (2nd ed., 2014)
  3. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 27, at 00:01:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  4. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 27, at 00:03:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  5. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 27, at 00:06:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  6. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 27, at 00:02:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  7. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 27, at 00:02:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  8. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 27, at 00:03:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  9. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 27, at 00:04:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  10. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 27, at 00:04:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  11. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 27, at 00:05:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  12. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 27, at 00:06:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  13. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 27, at 00:07:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  14. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 27, at 00:08:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  15. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 27, at 00:08:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  16. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 27, at 00:09:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  17. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 27, at 00:10:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  18. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 27, at 00:10:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  19. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 27, at 00:11:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  20. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 27, at 00:11:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  21. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 27, at 00:13:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  22. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 27, at 00:13:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  23. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 27, at 00:14:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  24. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 27, at 00:14:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  25. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 27, at 00:15:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  26. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 27, at 00:15:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  27. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 27, at 00:16:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  28. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 27, at 00:16:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  29. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 27, at 00:16:45 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  30. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 27, at 00:18:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  31. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 27, at 00:19:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  32. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 27, at 00:20:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  33. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 27, at 00:20:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  34. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 27, at 00:21:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  35. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 27, at 00:21:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  36. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 27, at 00:17:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  37. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 27, at 00:17:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  38. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 27, at 00:23:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  39. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 27, at 00:23:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  40. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 27, at 00:24:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  41. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 27, at 00:24:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  • Shadharat al-Dhahab — Ibn al-Imad al-Hanbali
  • From Greek Philosophy to Modern Philosophy — Sulayman Sulayman Khamis
  • al-Farghani, Elementa astronomica (Golius, Amsterdam 1669)
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Ibn Sina (Avicenna)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/person/ibn-sina/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-29.

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