If you ask any person who has at least a little contact with medicine, with whom the development of this field of knowledge began, as an independent science, then everyone will name one name - Avicenna. The quotes of this philosopher amaze us with their depth and are still relevant. His lines of fate could last for several full lives. The directions of his research concerned a wide variety of areas: from bacteria invisible to the eye, which Louis Pasteur would only announce 800 years later - to space. Today we will try to comprehend the true wisdom that has survived centuries.
Inquiring mind
The boy was named Abu Ali Husayn ibn Abdullah ibn al-Hasan ibn Ali ibn Sin. "Ibn Sina Avicenna" he will be called later, and by this name he will be known in the West. And on the year 980 and on the day of August 16, a son was born in the family of a tax collector and his wife with the beautiful name of Sitar, meaning "Star". His parents could not even imagine that this baby would become a world famous doctor and even a vizier at the court of one of the emirs. But it will be in almost 25 years ...
From the moment Abu Ali spoke, he asked so many questions that his parents understood: his son must be sent to study, so that the teachers puzzled over the answers. And after the boy memorized the Holy Book of the Quran, his path was predetermined: he became a student at the school where Muslim laws were studied. The youngest in age, Avicenna quickly achieved impressive success, and high school students turned to a 12-year-old for advice.
Life in Bukhara
Ibn Sina was born in the small village of Afshan. There he began to attend a regular school. Then the family moved to Bukhara, and this significantly influenced the development of the boy, since in this city there were many times more opportunities to learn something new than elsewhere.
The richest library in the world was in the emir’s palace and many people known for their scholarship came to touch the ancient knowledge, such as, for example, Abu Abdallah Natili. He possessed great knowledge in philosophy and logic, geometry and astronomy, and it was under his leadership that Avicenna comprehended these sciences. Quotes on the importance of knowledge, he has a great many:
They say about wisdom: it is priceless, but the world does not pay a penny for it.
The fact that Ibn Sina went his own way from a young age and on this way he had to deal with confrontation more than once is also confirmed by this conclusion:
If you have chosen a path to the coveted truth from a young age, do not argue with the ignorant, forget their advice.
Self-seeking truth
By the age of 14, the young man realized that Abu Abdallah Natili transferred all the knowledge that he possessed to him. From this age, Ibn Sina began to comprehend science on his own: he was well versed in geometry and astronomy, and humanitarian areas (music, poetry) were easy for him. So he came to the "Metaphysics" of the Greek philosopher Aristotle. Repeated re-reading did not help the understanding of the ideas presented in this fundamental work. Only after studying the interpretations of Al-Farabi did a “breakthrough” take place and an awareness of the laws governing the development of the world.
Studying the well-known facts of the biography of Ibn Sina, we can say that his mind strove to comprehend all the areas of knowledge accessible to him, so that, starting from them, he would create a science of the future. And Avicenna’s quotes about the search for truth speak for themselves:
The soul of the universe is truth.
And the scientist understood the danger of stupidity not only for its "owner", but also for those around him:
Just as a clear light is hidden from the blinds of the sun, for fools there is no way to the truth.
20 years by modern standards - this is still youth. But at this age, Ibn Sina was a famous scientist. His authority is evidenced by the fact that, as a sixteen-year-old youth, he was invited to the emir of Bukhara to determine the diagnosis and prescribe treatment.
And before that, there was painstaking work to collect information about diseases and its analytical study. In addition, as a doctor, Avicenna not only prescribed treatment based on already established methods, but also conducted detailed observations of all manifestations of the disease, as well as the slightest deviations in the patient’s behavior and mood, to make the description of the disease voluminous and multidimensional. He was convinced that he could cope with any disease with the necessary knowledge:
There are no hopeless patients. There are only hopeless doctors.
Sunny period of life
Avicenna was a truly integral person. His life was consciously devoted to science from the age of 18. Gradually, his works on medicine, philosophy, and astronomy began to be published.
The enlightened ruler of the Khorezm Shah Mamun II invited him to his service. This was a great success, since progressive rulers did not meet often in those days. Mamun II sought to gather in his palace the best representatives of the scientific world, poets, musicians and philosophers. In addition, he was generous and considered the free development of science and art to be the paramount task of a statesman.
The beginning of wanderings
The fame of the enlightened court of Mamun II spread far beyond Khorezm and reached the ears of Sultan Mahmud Ghaznevi. And he wanted the whole color of the scientific world to come to him from Bukhara, about which Khorezm Shah was notified. Mamun II understood the consequences of such an invitation and suggested that anyone who wants to avoid the "honor" to serve at the court of Sultan Mahmud, take camels and everything necessary for travel and leave Bukhara.
Avicenna's quotes about friendship and rulers give an idea of the difficult period of his life:
If my friend is friends with my enemy, then I should not hang out with this friend. Beware of sugar, which is mixed with poison, beware of a fly that sat on a dead snake.
Truly miraculous deeds: brainless bodies are exalted, nature has endowed them with dullness, and tribal nobility has exalted.
In the name of science, in the name of humanity
Abu Ali Husayn ibn Abdullah ibn al-Hassan ibn Ali ibn Sina dedicated his life to the service of science and people. This was not an easy way — it was rather like a roller coaster: a steep descent, then a sharp take-off, etc. It is difficult to say how the scientist was able to create so many works in completely different directions: 450 treatises of which 176 were lost as a result of the fire. Some of these developments only after centuries have received their further development.
The famous five-volume "Canon of Medicine" has survived 30 editions in Latin.
The grave of a scientist who lived only 57 years old is in Hamadan. Avicenna's health quotes contain both tips and cautions. They are relevant today:
- The fact that you have a stomach ache, tell a sick person - a healthy person will not understand.
- Whoever does not value happiness is approaching misfortune.
- The less often a hand raises a drinking cup of wine, the stronger it is in battle and braver, and it is more skillful in business.
- Be moderate in food - this is one commandment, the second commandment: drink less wine.
- The worst food is the one that burdens the stomach, and the bad drink is when it passes moderation and fills the stomach to the top ...
- If too much has been eaten, then the next day you need to stay hungry ...
- The worst thing is to interfere with a variety of foods and eat too long ...
- The harm caused by a very tasty dish is that you can eat too much ...
- Better to have a drink than to overeat ...
The last of all Avicenna’s quotes and aphorisms was the phrase uttered in the last moments of life:
We die in full consciousness and take with us only one thing: the consciousness that we did not know anything.
Many countries are arguing today about which of them has the honor of being considered the birthplace of a great scientist. Perhaps if Ibn Sina could speak for himself today, he would say that he belongs to the whole world.