WHO WAS AVICENNA?

AVICENNA WAS THE MOST INFLUENTIAL AND RENOWNED

PHILOSOPHER AND SCIENTIST OF THE ISLAMIC
WORLD.
 POPULARLY KNOWN AS THE FATHER OF
MODERN MEDICINE, HE RESEARCHED AND
CAME OUT WITH PIONEERING WORKS IN
AROMATHERAPY
HE IS KNOWN TILL DATE FOR HIS
ARISTOTELIAN PHILOSOPHY AND
MEDICINE
 HE WORKED ON VARIOUS SUBJECTS
INCLUDING PHILOSOPHY, ASTRONOMY,
ALCHEMY, GEOLOGY, PSYCHOLOGY,
ISLAMIC THEOLOGY, LOGIC,
MATHEMATICS, PHYSICS, AS WELL AS
POETRY. 
HE WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR
SYSTEMATIZING EASTERN ISLAMIC
PHILOSOPHY.
AVICENNA (IBN SINA) WAS BORN IN
BUKHARA (TURKESTAN) IN THE YEAR
370 OF THE HEGIRA ( OR 980 A.D.).
AS A CHILD, HE WAS HE WAS KNOWN FOR BEING
PRECOCIOUS. HE STUDIED THE HUMANITIES, THE
KORAN, MATHEMATICS, AND PHILOSOPHY; HE
WAS WELL KNOWN FOR HIS SKILLS IN MEDICINE.
IRONICALLY, HE NEGLECTED HIS OWN HEALTH,
DELICATE AS IT WAS, AND HE DIED AT AGE OF
FIFTY- SEVEN DUE TO CHRONIC DYSENTERY.
HE TRAVELLED WIDELY, AND AT THE SAME
TIME WAS A TIRELESS WORKER. THIS IS SEEN
BY THE NUMBER OF WORKS ATTRIBUTEDTO
HIM: AROUND TWO UNDRED OF THEM. IN THE
MIDDLE AGES, HIS MOST FAMOUS WORK WAS
THE COMPENDIUM OF METAPHYSICS, WHOSE
TITLE IN ARABIC WAS SALVATION, WHICH WAS
SUMMARY OF HIS MOST IMPORTANT WORK
AL-SHIFA (HEALING), AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF
ALL KNOWLEDGE DURING HIS TIME.
RECENTLY, THE CRITICAL EDITION
OF THE AVICENNA LATINUS, THE
TEXT USED BY THE MEDIEVAL
WRITERS, WAS BEGUN. SUZANNE
VAN RIET PUBLISHED THE LIBER DE
ANIMA (1968-1972, 2 VOLS.) AND THE
LIBER DE PHILOSOPHIA PRIMA SIVE
SCIENTIA DIVINA(1980-1983, 5 VOLS.)
HIS PHILOSOPHICAL VOCATION WAS
CONFIRMED BY HIS CONTACT WITH
ARISTOTLE’S METAPHYSICS, WHICH
HE READ FORTY TIMES IN ORDER TO
UNDERSTAND IT, SO MUCH SO THAT
HE WAS ABLE TO MEMORIZE IT. AL-
FARABI GAVE HIM THE KEY TO
UNDERSTAND ARISTOTLE’S THOUGHT.
HIS SUBSEQUENT INFLUENCE IN ISLAM
WAS EXTRAORDINARY. NO LESS
IMPORTANT WAS HIS CONTRIBUTION TO
CHRISTIAN SCHOLASTICISM. TO
ILLUSTRATE: ST. THOMAS AQUINAS
WOULD QUOTE HIM ALMOST THREE
HUNDRED TIMES, AND DUNS SCOTUS SET
THE THE FRAMEWORK OF HIS SYSTEM IN
VIEW OF AVICENNA’S INTUITIONS.
GILSON POINTED OUT HE EXISTENCE OF A
TREND, WHICH HE CALLED AUGUSTINISM
WITH AVICENNA’S INFLUENCE, DURING THE
THIRTEENTH CENTURY. THE THREE MAIN
SOURCES OF AVICENNA’S PHILOSOPHY WERE
ARISTOTLE, PLOTINUS, AND AL-FARABI; BUT
HIS SYNTHESIS WAS ORIGINAL AND AND
WAS ALWAYS IN AGREEMENT WITH MANY
ISLAMIC RELIGIOUS PRACTICES.