Abu Ali Husain ibn Sina

Abu Ali Husain ibn Sina was born in 980 A.C. in Bukhara, in Central Asia. He is known to the western world as AVICENNA. He was perhaps the greatest of that great band of Muslim scholars who in the first few hundred years after the Holy Prophet, raised the reputation of Islamic learning very high.

Ibn Sina was a Persian, the son of a public servant. He spent his early life in Bukhara. A tutor was engaged to instruct him in the Qur’an and Arabic poetry. He learnt very fast and his thirst for knowledge grew more and more.

He studied many subjects such as mathematics, philosophy, astronomy, theology, law and logic. He excelled in any subject he took up.

Later, ibn Sina took up the study of medicine and he soon became famous as a clever doctor. Once the Sultan of Bukhara fell ill, and the royal physicians were not able to find a cure for the illness. The Sultan sent for ibn Sina to attend to him. Soon the ruler was well again. The Sultan was very pleased with the clever young doctor and wanted to reward him. Ibn Sina asked that as a reward he be given the use of the Sultan's library containing a superb collection of the work of the world's greatest scholars. He spent several hours each day in the library studying hundreds of books and adding to his knowledge.

He also spent much of his life travelling in the country studying, lecturing and healing the sick.

As a doctor his theories and methods had a profound effect on the history of medicine, for he wrote an important book called "The Canon of Medicine': which remained the standard text book until the middle of the 17th century. Therein he set out in five parts his knowledge of all branches of medicine. Two parts were devoted to physiology, pathology and hygiene; two to methods of treatment and the last to the preparation of remedies and the author's observations. The most remarkable thing about these parts was the clearness and method with which it was set out. Translations were made of the book into Latin and for centuries all doctors studied Arabic that they might read the works of ibn Sina in the original.

Ibn Sina was the first to discover that water is the carrier of dangerous germs and so responsible for the spread of many diseases. Ibn Sina wrote more than a hundred treatises covering a variety of subjects such as religion, philosophy, mathematics and astronomy.

Even greater contribution he made to the study of alchemy, from which was born the science of chemistry. This has had a tremendous effect on the history of world progress. Indeed, ibn Sina may, with justice be called the first chemist in the world.

Ibn Sina's chief work, "The Canon of Medicine" was translated into Latin in 1187 A.C. and soon became the text book for medical education in Europe. In the last thirty years of the fifteenth century this book passed through sixteen editions of which fifteen were in Latin and one in Hebrew. It has also been translated in English.

He died in 1037 A.C. at a comparatively early age of 58.

No one nation can claim the credit or blame for modern scientific advances. Human knowledge is a storehouse in which all nations of the world have contributed their share. And among such great contributors stand the immortal name of Ali Husain ibn Sina, a great medical doctor.