THE RESURRECTION OF AVICENNA

By: Juman
Avicenna is Latinized articulation of Arabic name Ibn Sina. He was born in
980 AD in Afshana village in Uzbekistan, died 1037 at the age of 58 in
Isfahan, Iran. His mother Setareh was from the very same village, while his
father Abdulla was a respected Ismaili scholar from Afghanistan. Avicennas
real name was Abu Ali al-Husain Ibn Abdullah Ibn Sina but he is commonly
referred to under his Latinized name Avicenna. In the Muslim world, he is
known as Ibn Sina. Avicenna was one of the most learned men of his time in
a wide variety of subjects including mathematics, geometry,
physics, metaphysics, philology, and astronomy. He is often considered one
of the greatest thinkers and scholars in history. In particular, he is regarded
by many as the father of early modern medicine
One of his monumental work completed in 1025 "The Canon of Medicine" (In
Arabic Al-Qanun fi'l-Tibb), an immense medical encyclopedia, is one of the
most famous and influential books in the history of medicine, forming the
basis of our modern understanding of human health and disease. It presents
an overview of the contemporary medical knowledge. This work was very
popular not only in the Muslim world, but was also studied in European
universities for centuries. The Canon of Medicine remained a medical
authority for centuries. It set the standards for medicine in Medieval Europe
and the Muslim world, and was used as a medical textbook through the 18th
century in Europe. Canon of Medicine is written in Arabic, the language of the
science in the Middle East instead of Persian. It was translated into Latin (by
Gerard of Cremona in the 12thcentury and was printed 15 times before 1500),
Hebrew, Persian and Urdu. Yet many of the inaccuracies from those first
translations remain in current English translations. Until 2013 when three

prominent authors translated Canon of Medicine into English directly from

the Arabic Avicennas texts, titled: AVICENNA'S MEDICINE: A New
Translation of the 11th-Century Canon with Practical Applications
for Integrative Health Care By Mones Abu-Asab Ph.D., Hakima Amri
Ph.D., Marc S. Micozzi M.D. Ph.D.

Mones Abu-Asab is a senior scientist at the National Institutes of Health in

Bethesda, Maryland. Hakima is associate professor of biochemistry at
Georgetown University and Marc S. Micozzi is professor of pharmacology at
Georgetown University. This new translation presents the actual words of
Avicenna translated directly from the original Arabic, getting rid of the
inaccuracies and errors of most translators, explains current medical
interpretations and ways to apply Avicennas concepts today and reveals
how Avicennas understanding of what known today as proteins, lipids, and
organic acids. With this new translation, Avicenna's work becomes just as
relevant today as it was 1,000 years ago. This is really a resurrection of
Avicenna. Praises come from many medical experts and institutions for this
book, published in 2013. To me the most touching one came from Larry
Dossey, M.D., author of Healing Words and One Mind. He said: The next
time you visit your physician, whisper a prayer of thanks to Avicenna,
because many of the foundations of modern medicine--empirical
observation, objectivity, and rationalism--surfaced through his towering
genius a millennium ago. Avicennas Medicine is a valuable link in medicines
rich history. As the authors make clear in this marvelous translation,
Avicennas relevance to our era has not been exhausted. The other praises

you can read them here. A millennium after his life, Avicenna remains one of
the most highly regarded physicians of all time. Thanks to the authors!