Ibn Sina - Philosopher and Scientist
Ibn Sina (980-1037 CE), the Foundation’s namesake is known to
the world, and to the world of medicine as Avicenna. Born near Bukhara
in present day south Russia to an Ismaili Muslim father, he became proficient
in medical science at a very early age of 17 years. He found medicine,
in his own words, “not difficult”. He displayed remarkable
intellectual abilities as a child and was well versed in Quran and Arabic
literature. He committed himself to the study of several subjects: Muslim
Jurisprudence, Philosophy and Natural Sciences.
His reputation as a physician grew, and at the age of 18, his prowess impressed the Samani ruler Nuh ibn Mansur who reigned between 976-997 C.E. In gratitude for Ibn Sina's services, he allowed him access and use of the royal library – a veritable treasure trove of many rare and unique books.
Ibn Sina’s intellectual abilities and the prevalent political turbulence of his time led him to work for several influential kingdoms: From Bukhara in Central Asia to Khiva, and Ray near modern day Teheran, and finally Hamadan where he rose to the position of the Amir Shams-ud-Daula’s Prime minister. He spent an extremely busy life with his royal responsibilities, medical practice, and the work on his treatises. He would work in the night lecturing and dictating notes for his books. Not willing to slow down, he used to reply to his friends who urged moderation, “I prefer a short life with width to a narrow one with length”. He died at a relatively young age of 58, and is buried in Hamadan.
He was one of the most influential of the philosopher-scientists of Islam. His Qanun fi’l-tibb (‘The Canon of Medicine’) is the most famous single book in the history of medicine in both East and West. It is a systematic encyclopedia encompassing the breadth of traditional Greek and Arabic medicine. Together its five books amount to close to a million words in length. The first section deals with general principles; the second with simple drugs arranged alphabetically; the third with diseases of particular organs and members of the body from the head to the foot; the fourth with diseases which though local in their inception spread to other parts of the body, such as fevers and the fifth with compound medicines.
The Qanun distinguishes mediastinitis from pleurisy and recognizes the contagious nature of phthisis (tuberculosis of the lung) and the spread of disease by water and soil. It gives a scientific diagnosis of ankylostomiasis and attributes the condition to an intestinal worm. The Qanun points out the importance of dietetics, the influence of climate and environment on health and the surgical use of oral anesthetics. Ibn Sina advised surgeons to treat cancer in its earliest stages, ensuring the removal of all the diseased tissue. The Qanun's materia medica considers some 760 drugs, with comments on their application and effectiveness. He recommended the testing of a new drug on animals and humans prior to general use. Qanun was published in Rome in 1593 and served as the chief guide to Medical Science in the West and is said to have influenced Leonardo da Vinci. In the words of Dr. William Osler, the Qanun has remained "a medical bible for a longer time than any other work". By some accounts Ibn Sina is attributed with 99 books comprising 16 on medicine, 68 on theology and metaphysics 11 on astronomy and four on verse. Among his scientific works, the leading two are the Kitab al-Shifa (Book of Healing), a philosophical encyclopedia based upon Aristotelian traditions and the al-Qanun al-Tibb which represents the final categorisation of Greco-Arabian thoughts on Medicine.
Despite his remarkable contributions to medicine and science, Ibn Sina is rarely remembered in the West today. However, in the museum at Bukhara, there are displays showing many of his writings, surgical instruments from the period and paintings of patients undergoing treatment. An impressive monument to the life and works of the man who became known as the 'doctor of doctors' still stands outside Bukhara museum and his portrait hangs in the Hall of the Faculty of Medicine in the University of Paris.