User:HistoryofIran/Avicenna

Avicenna
*Ibn Sina*
Avicenna; Ibn Sina
ابن سینا
	Portrait of Avicenna on a Iranian postage stamp
Born	980; Afshana, Transoxiana, Samanid Empire (present-day Uzbekistan)
Died	1037 (aged 56 or 57); Hamadan, Jibal, Kakuyid amirate (present-day Iran)
Other names	Abu ʿAlī al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Sīnā
Era	Medieval, Islamic Golden Age
Region	Islamic philosophy
School	Aristotelianism, Avicennism
Main interests	Medicine; Aromatherapy; ; Philosophy and logic; Kalām (Islamic theology); Science; Poetry; ;

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Ibn Sina (Persian: ابن سینا), better known in the West by the Latinized form of Avicenna (/ˌævɪˈsɛnə, ˌɑːvɪ-/) was a Persian polymath who wrote about many subjects, mainly in philosophy and medicine, but also natural history, physics, chemistry, astronomy, mathematics, and music.

Avicenna served in the court of various Iranian dynasties, such as the Samanids, Ma'munids, Ziyarids, Buyids and Kakuyids.

He was born in a village named Afshana (near the capital of Bukhara) in c. 980 to a family with a bureaucratic background—his father was the governor of the village of the royal estate Harmaytan. At the of seventeen, he was appointed as a physician of the Samanid amir (ruler) Nuh II (r. 976–997). Between 997–1009 (possibly in 999), Avicenna went to Gurganj, the capital of Khwarazm.

Despite his Persian background, Avicenna wrote most of his work in Arabic, as it was the popular language in scholarship at the time. Regardless, he did write some of his works in Persian, such as the Danish-nama-yi Ala'i ("Book of Science for Ala"), which he had dedicated to his patron, Ala al-Dawla Muhammad (r. 1008–1041), the Kakuyid ruler of Isfahan.

Biography[edit]

Early life and education[edit]

Avicenna was born in c. 980 in the village of Afshana in Transoxiana to a family of Persian stock. The village was near the Samanid capital of Bukhara, which was his mothers hometown.^[1] His father Abd Allah was a native of the city of Balkh in Tukharistan.^[2] An official of the Samanid bureaucracy, he had served as the governor of a village of the royal estate of Harmaytan (near Bukhara) during the reign of Nuh II (r. 976–997).^[2] Avicenna also had a younger brother. A few years later, the family settled in Bukhara, a centre of learning, which attracted many scholars. It was there that Avicenna was educated, which early on was seemingly administered by his father.^[3]^[4]^[5] Although both Avicenna's father and brother had converted to Ismailism, he himself did not follow the faith.^[6]^[7] He was instead an adherent of the Hanafi school, which was also followed by the Samanids.^[8]

Avicenna was first schooled in the Quran and literature, and by the age of 10, he had memorised the entire Quran.^[4] He was later sent by his father to an Indian greengrocer, who taught him arithmetic.^[9] Afterwards, he was schooled in Jurisprudence by the Hanafi jurist Ismail al-Zahid. Some time later, Avicenna's father invited the physician and philosopher Abu Abdallah al-Natili to their house to educate Avicenna.^[4]^[5] Together, they studied the Isagoge of Porphyry (died 305) and possibly the Categories of Aristotle (died 322 BC) as well. After Avicenna had read the Almagest of Ptolemy (died 170) and Euclid's Elements, Natili told him to continue his research independently.^[5] By the time Avicenna was eighteen, he was well-educated in Greek sciences. Although Avicenna only mentions Natili as his teacher in his autobiography, he most likely had other teachers as well, such as the physicians Abu Mansur Qumri and Abu Sahl al-Masihi.^[3]^[9]

Career[edit]

In Bukhara and Gurganj[edit]

At the age of seventeen, Avicenna was made a physician of Nuh II. By the time Avicenna was at least 21 years old, his father died. He was subsequently given an administrative post, possibly succeeding his father as the governor of Harmaytan. Avicenna later moved to Gurganj, the capital of Khwarazm, which he reports that he did due to "necessity". The date he went to the place is uncertain, as he reports that he served the Khwarazmshah (ruler) of the region, the Ma'munid Abu al-Hasan Ali. The latter ruled from 997 to 1009, which indicates that Avicenna moved sometime during that period. He may have moved in 999, the year which the Samanid state fell after the Turkic Qarakhanids captured Bukhara and imprisoned the Samanid ruler Abd al-Malik II. Due to his high position and strong connection with the Samanids, Avicenna may have found himself in an unfavorable position after the fall of his suzerain.^[3] It was through the minister of Gurganj, Abu'l-Husayn as-Sahi, a patron of Greek sciences, that Avicenna entered into the service of Abu al-Hasan Ali.^[10] Under the Ma'munids, Gurganj became a centre of learning, attracting many prominent figures, such as Avicenna and his former teacher Abu Sahl al-Masihi, the mathematician Abu Nasr Mansur, the physician Ibn al-Khammar, and the philologist al-Tha'alibi.^[11]^[12]

In Gurgan[edit]

Avicenna later moved due to "necessity" once more (in 1012), this time to the west. There he travelled through the Khurasani cities of Nasa, Abivard, Tus, Samangan and Jajarm. He was planning to go to the city of Gurgan to visit its ruler, the Ziyarid Qabus (r. 977–981, 997–1012), a cultivated patron of writing, whose court attracted many distinguished poets and scholars. However, when Avicenna eventually arrived there, the ruler had been dead since the winter of 1013.^[3]^[13] Avicenna then went left for Dihistan, but returned to Gurgan after he became ill. There he met Abu 'Ubayd al-Juzjani (died 1070), who became his pupil and companion.^[14]^[3] Avicenna stayed briefly in Gurgan, reportedly serving Qabus' son and successor Manuchihr (r. 1012–1031) and resided in the house of a patron.^[3]

In Ray and Hamadan[edit]

In c. 1014, Avicenna went to the city of Ray, where he entered into the service of the Buyid amir (ruler) Majd al-Dawla (r. 997–1029) and his mother Sayyida Shirin, the de facto ruler of the realm. There he served as the physician at the court, treating Majd al-Dawla, who was suffering from Melancholia. Avicenna reportedly later served as the "business manager" of Sayyida in Qazvin and Hamadan, though details regarding this tenure are unclear.^[15]^[3] During his period, Avicenna finished his Canon of Medicine, and started writing his Book of Healing.^[15] In 1015, during Avicenna's stay in Hamadan, he participated in a public debate, as was custom for newly-arrived scholars in western Iran at that time. The purpose of the debate was to examining one's reputation against a prominent local resident.^[16] The person whom Avicenna debated against was Abu'l-Qasim al-Kirmani, a member of the school of philosophers of Baghdad.^[17]

The debate became heated, resulting in Avicenna accusing Abu'l-Qasim of lack of basic knowledge in logic, while Abu'l-Qasim accused Avicenna of impoliteness.^[16] After the debate, Avicenna sent a letter to the Baghdad Peripatetics, asking if Abu'l-Qasim's claim that he shared the same opinion as them was true. Abu'l-Qasim later retaliated by writing a letter to an unknown person, in which he made accusations so serious, that Avicenna wrote to a deputy of Majd al-Dawla, named Abu Sa'd, to investigate the matter. The accusation made towards Avicenna may have been the same as he had received earlier, in which he was accused by the people of Hamadan of copying the stylistic structures of the Quran in his Sermons on Divine Unity.^[18] The seriousness of this charge, in the words of the historian Peter Adamson, "cannot be underestimated in the larger Muslim culture."^[19]

Not long afterwards, Avicenna shifted his allegiance to the rising Buyid amir Shams al-Dawla (the younger brother of Majd al-Dawla), which Adamson suggests was due to Abu'l-Qasim also working under Sayyida Shirin.^[20]^[21] Avicenna had been called upon by Shams al-Dawla to treat him, but after the latters campaign in the same year against his former ally, the Annazid ruler Abu Shawk (r. 1010–1046), he forced Avicenna to become his vizier.^[22] Although Avicenna would sometimes clash with Shams al-Dawla's troops, he remained vizier until the latter died of colic in 1021. Avicenna was asked by Shams al-Dawla's son and successor Sama' al-Dawla (r. 1021–1023) stay as vizier, but instead went into hiding with his patron Abu Ghalib al-Attar, to wait for better opportunities to emerge. It was during this period that Avicenna was secretly in contact with Ala al-Dawla Muhammad (r. 1008–1041), the Kakuyid ruler of Isfahan and uncle of Sayyida Shirin.^[3]^[23]^[24]

During his stay at Attar's home that Avicenna completed his Book of Healing, writing fifty pages a day.^[25] The Buyid court in Hamadan, particularly the Kurdish vizier Taj al-Mulk, suspected Avicenna of correspondence with Ala al-Dawla, and as result had the house of Attar ransacked and Avicenna imprisoned in the fortress of Fardajan, outside Hamadan. Juzjani blames one of Avicenna's informers for his capture. Avicenna was imprisoned in four months, until Ala al-Dawla captured Hamadan, thus putting an end to Sama al-Dawla's reign.^[26]^[3]

In Isfahan[edit]

Coin of Ala al-Dawla Muhammad (r. 1008–1041), the Kakuyid ruler of Isfahan

Avicenna was subsequently released, and went to Isfahan, where he was well-received by Ala al-Dawla. In the words of Juzjani, the Kakuyid ruler gave Avicenna "the respect and esteem which someone like him deserved."^[3] Adamson also says that Avicenna's service under Ala al-Dawla "proved to be the most stable period of his life."^[27] Avicenna served as the advisor, if not vizier of Ala al-Dawla, accompanying him in many of his military expeditions and travels.^[27]^[3] Avicenna dedicated two Persian works to him, a philosophical treatise named Danish-nama-yi Ala'i ("Book of Science for Ala"), and a medical treatise about the pulse.^[28]

During the brief occupation of Isfahan by the Ghaznavids in January 1030, Avicenna and Ala al-Dawla relocated to the southwestern Iranian region of Khuzistan, where they stayed until the death of the Ghaznavid ruler Mahmud (r. 998–1030), which occurred two months later. It was seemingly when Avicenna returned to Isfahan that he started writing his Pointers and Reminders.^[29] In 1037, while Avicenna was accompanying Ala al-Dawla to a battle near Isfahan, he was hit by a severe colic, which he had been constantly suffering from throughout his life. He died shortly afterwards in Hamadan, where he was buried.^[30]

References[edit]

^ Goichon 1971, p. 941.
^ ^a ^b Gutas 2014, p. 11.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k Gutas 1987, pp. 67–70.
^ ^a ^b ^c Gutas 2014, p. 12.
^ ^a ^b ^c Adamson 2013, p. 8.
^ Daftary 2017, p. 191.
^ Daftary 2007, pp. 202–203.
^ Gutas 1988, pp. 330–331.
^ ^a ^b Gutas 2014, p. 13.
^ Gutas 2014, p. 19 (see also note 28).
^ Bosworth 1978, p. 1066.
^ Bosworth 1984a, pp. 762–764.
^ Madelung 1975, p. 215.
^ Gutas 2014, pp. 19, 29.
^ ^a ^b Adamson 2013, p. 14.
^ ^a ^b Adamson 2013, pp. 15–16.
^ Adamson 2013, p. 15.
^ Adamson 2013, pp. 16–18.
^ Adamson 2013, p. 17.
^ Adamson 2013, p. 18.
^ Madelung 1975, p. 293.
^ Adamson 2013, p. 18 (see also note 45).
^ Adamson 2013, p. 22.
^ Bosworth 1984b, pp. 773–774.
^ Adamson 2013, pp. 22–23.
^ Adamson 2013, p. 23.
^ ^a ^b Adamson 2013, p. 25.
^ Lazard 1975, p. 630.
^ Gutas 2014, p. 133.
^ Adamson 2013, p. 26.

Sources[edit]

Adamson, Peter (2013). Interpreting Avicenna: Critical Essays Search in this book. Brill. ISBN 978-0521190732.
Bosworth, Clifford Edmund (1978). "K̲h̲wārazm-S̲h̲āhs". In van Donzel, E.; Lewis, B.; Pellat, Ch. & Bosworth, C. E. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Volume IV: Iran–Kha. Leiden: E. J. Brill. OCLC 758278456.
Bosworth, Clifford Edmund (1984a). "Āl-e Maʾmūn". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. I, Fasc. 7. pp. 762–764.
Bosworth, Clifford Edmund (1984b). "ʿAlāʾ-al-dawla Moḥammad". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. I, Fasc. 7. pp. 773–774.
Daftary, Farhad (2007). Ismaili History and Intellectual Traditions. The Isma'ilis: Their History and Doctrines. ISBN 978-0521850841.
Daftary, Farhad (2017). Ismaili History and Intellectual Traditions. Routledge. ISBN 978-1138288102.
Goichon, A.M (1971). "Ibn Sīnā". In Lewis, B.; Ménage, V. L.; Pellat, Ch. & Schacht, J. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Volume III: H–Iram. Leiden: E. J. Brill. OCLC 495469525.
Gutas, D. (1987). "Avicenna". In Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica, Volume III/1: Ātaš–Awāʾel al-Maqālāt. London and New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul. pp. 67–70. ISBN 978-0-71009-113-0.
Gutas, Dimitri (1988). "Avicenna's Maḏhab with an appendix on the question of his date of Birth". Quaderni di Studi Arabi. 6: 323–336. JSTOR 25802612. (registration required)
Gutas, Dimitri (2014). Avicenna and the Aristotelian Tradition: Introduction to Reading Avicenna's Philosophical Works. Second, Revised and Enlarged Edition, Including an Inventory of Avicenna’s Authentic Works. Brill. ISBN 978-9004201729.
Lazard, G. (1975). "The Rise of the New Persian Language". In Frye, Richard N. (ed.). The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 4: From the Arab Invasion to the Saljuqs. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 198–249. ISBN 0-521-20093-8.
Madelung, W. (1975). "The Minor Dynasties of Northern Iran". In Frye, Richard N. (ed.). The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 4: From the Arab Invasion to the Saljuqs. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 595–633. ISBN 0-521-20093-8.