Iran marks the national day of Avicenna, the prominent Persian philosopher and physician on August 22.
Ibn
Sīnā known as Avicenna (980-1037) was a Persian physician and is considered the
most famous and influential philosopher and scientist of the medieval Islamic
world.
Iranians
also mark the National Doctors' Day on August 22 to pay tribute to all the
efforts made by Avicenna in his time. He was particularly renowned for his
contributions to the fields of philosophy and medicine.
He
wrote the Kitāb al-shifāʾ (Book of the Cure), a comprehensive philosophical and
scientific encyclopedia, and Al-Qānūn fī al-ṭibb (The Canon of Medicine), which
is among the most famous books in the history of medicine.
He
was taught the whole Qur'an and much of Arabic literature when he was 10 years
old. He mastered logic, natural sciences, and mathematics when he was 18. He
then turned to theology and studied Aristotle's Metaphysics.
Ibn
Sina's philosophical system has left the deepest and the most persistent effect
on the Islamic philosophical thought as well as European Medieval philosophy.
He has innovations within the Peripatetic philosophy, demystifying points in
Aristotle's thoughts, and sometimes adding to them.
He
sought to establish a new philosophical system drawing on Platonic and
neo-Platonic thoughts, but adventures in his life, and his premature death,
left his enterprise unfinished.
By
age 16 Avicenna turned to medicine, a discipline over which he claimed “easy”
mastery. When the sultan of Bukhara became ill and none of the court physicians
could diagnose the disease, Avicenna was called and cured him.
He
began his large writing career at age 21. Some 240 extant titles are attributed
to him. He worked on numerous fields, including mathematics, geometry,
astronomy, physics, metaphysics, philology, music, and poetry.
Influence
in Philosophy and Medicine
Avicenna’s
most important work of philosophy and science is Kitāb al-shifāʾ, which is a
four-part encyclopedia covering logic, physics, mathematics, and metaphysics.
Since science was equated with wisdom, Avicenna attempted a broad unified
classification of knowledge.
Ibn
Sina's Al-Qānūn fī al-ṭibb (The Canon of Medicine) has, for centuries, been the
most prominent and influential book in medicine, in both Islamic countries and
Medieval Europe.
The
Mausoleum of Avicenna is a complex located at Ibn Sina Square, Hamadan, Iran.
It has been registered as one of the national monuments of the country on
Iran’s National Heritage List.
Avicenna
is deemed a national icon in Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan and is often
regarded as one of the greatest Persians. Several monuments and buildings have
been named after him in his honor including, The Avicenna Mausoleum and Museum
in Hamadan (built in 1952), Bu-Ali Sina University in Hamadan (Iran), the
biotechnology Avicenna Research Institute in Tehran (Iran), the ibn Sīnā Tajik
State Medical University in Dushanbe, Ibn Sina Academy of Medieval Medicine and
Sciences at Aligarh, India, Avicenna School in Karachi and Avicenna Medical
College in Lahore, Pakistan, Ibne Sina Balkh Medical School in Balkh,
Afghanistan, Ibni Sina Faculty Of Medicine of Ankara University Ankara, Turkey,
the main classroom building (the Avicenna Building) of the Sharif University of
Technology, and Ibn Sina Integrated School in Marawi City (Philippines).
The
Avicenna Prize, granted by UNESCO since 2003, is awarded every two years to
individuals and groups for their efforts to integrate ethics in science. The
reward aims at emphasizing the significance of ethics in scientific
achievements.
Reported
by Farhad Aryanpour
Source:
MEHR News Agency