Avicenna

Maria Angeles Gallego
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Avicenna, in Arabic Abu `Ali al-Husayn ibn `Abd Allah ibn Sina, was the most eminent Muslim philosopher and physician of his time and became known in the West as Avicenna. His compendium of medical, scientific and philosophical knowledge, the

Kitāb al-shifā

[The Book of Healing], became widely known throughout the intellectual world from the eleventh century and may be considered the most important single medical book ever published.

Life

Life

The life of Ibn Sina is known to us from two main sources: his autobiography, in which he recounts his first thirty years of life, and from the biography of his friend and secretary al-Juzajani. Ibn Sina was born an ethnic Persian in Afshana (in modern Iran), the capital of the Samanid rulers for whom Ibn Sina’s father worked as official in

1644 words

Citation: Gallego, Maria Angeles. "Avicenna". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 15 July 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=194, accessed 28 March 2024.]

194 Avicenna 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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