The life of Ibn Sina: a critical edition and annotated translation

The Life

of Ibn

Sina

STUDIES IN ISLAMIC PHILOSOPHY AND SCIENCE

Published under the auspices of the Society for the Study of Islamic Philosophy and Science EDITORIAL BOARD

George F. Hourani, State University of New YOl'k at Buffalo Muhsin Mahdi, Hal'Vard University Parviz Morewedge, Baruch College of City University of New York Nicholas Rescher, University of Pittsburgh Ehsan Yar-Shater, Columbia University

THE LIFE OF IBN SINA A Critical Edition and Annotated Translation

by William E. Gohlman

Albany, New York

STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK PRESS 1974

l'he Life of Ibn Sina First Edition Published by State University of New York Press 99 Washington Avenue, Albany, New York 12210 © 1974 State University of New Yo.rk All rights ~'cserved Printed in the United States of America Li brary of Congress

Catalog~ng

in Publication Data

A vicenna, 980-1037.

The life of Ibn Sina, Arabic text and English translation of the author's autobiography, Sirat al.,. Shaykh al-Ra'is, which was completed by al-J uzajani. Originally presented as the editor's thesis, University of Michigan. Includes bibliographies. J. Avicenna, 980-1037. 1. al..j flzajani, 'Abd al-Wai:lid ibn Mu1}ammad, 11 th cent. II. Gohlman, WillIam E., ed. III. Title. B751.A5SS 1974 189'.5 73-6793 ISBN 0-87395-226-X ISBN 0-87395.. 227-8 (microfiche)

To Susan

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS MANY PEOPLE have aided me in the research for and preparation of this work, which was originally ~ubmitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy in the Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies at The University of Michigan. I would like to acknowledge the following: The administration of Baldwin-Wallace College, which has provided me with released time from teaching duties and with financial help in the preparation of this work. Professors Sencer Tongul$ and Cengiz Orhonlu of the Faculty of Arts, Istanbul University, as well as the directors of the Suleymaniye and Istanbul University Libraries, who helped me obtain microfilms of the manuscripts I needed. My thanks also to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Turkey for giving me permission to do research in the libraries of Istanbul. And especially Professor George F. Hourani, who provided me with the photographs of one of the manuscripts and gave me a great deal of help and advice in all stages of the preparation of this work.

INTRODUCTION

....................•...............

INTRODUCTION TO THE EDITION ..................................... INTRODUCTION TO THE TRANSLATION

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INTRODUCTION TO THE BIBLIOGRAPHIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

EDITION AND TRANSLATION

1 11 13

16

THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY / BIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

16

THE LONGER BIBLIOGRAPHy........................

90

.........•.•......................•...........

115

NOTES TO THE INTRODUCTION.......................

115

NOTES

NOTES TO THE TRANSLATION OF THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY / BIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NOTES TO THE TRANSLATION OF THE BIBLIOGRAPHY...

119 139,

APPENDIXES

143

I. II. III.

143 147 153

SHORTER .BIBLIOGRAPHY OF IBN SINA'S WORKS... LONGER BIBLIOGRAPHY OF IBN SINA'S WORKS.... CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER OF IBN SINA'S WORKS...

BIBLIOGRAPHY

155

INDEX........................................

159

INTRODUCTION TO THE EDITION

of the autobiography of Ibn Sina and its continuation by one of his pupils, Abu CUbayd al-Ju:zJani, has been in print since 1884, when August Muller's edition of the cUJun aL-anbii) fi tabaqat aL-atibbii) of Ibn Abi U~aybiCa (d, A.H. 668/ A.D, 1270) was published.! The section on Ibn Sina is found in Vol. II, pp. '2-20, and consists of a bricr introduction (p. 2), the autobiography of Ibn Sina (pp. 2--4), the continuation of the biography by al-juzjani (pp. 4'-9), including a short bibliography (p. 5), anecdotes and poems about Ibn Sina (pp. 9-10), a number of poems attributcd to Ibn Sina (pp. 10-18), and a longer bibliography (pp. 18-20) . Anothcr vcrsion of Ibn Sina's autobiography/biography was published a few ycars later (1903) in julius Lippert's edition of the Ta)rikh aL-{lUkama) of Ibn al-Qifti (d. 646/1248).2 The material on Ibn Sina is found on pp. 413-26, and, like the version in Ibn Abi U~aybiCa, contains a bricf introduction (p. 413), the autobiography (pp'. 413-17), and al-juzjani's continuation (pp. 417-26), with the shortcr bibliography (p. 418). It docs not contain the last three parts of Ibn Abi U~aybiCa's section on Ibn Sinai i. c., the anecdotes and poems about Ibn Sina, the poems written by him, and the longer bibliography. In the major sections which the two works have in common, the autobiography/biography, they are almost identical, and so one must suppose that Ibn Abi U~aybiCa copied this section from al-Qifti, or that they both copied from the same unknown source, perhaps a manuscript of al-juzjani's work. The other major early source for the life of Ibn Sina, Ibn Funduq al-Bayhaqi (d. 565/1170), has a section on him in the Tatimmat ~iwan aL-~ikma3 which contains a great deal of new material and probably not known to either al-Qifti or Ibn Abi U~aybiCa, since neither mentions this material. Ibn Khallikan (d. 681/1282) -i J J~ jyJ:\ ..1.>-1-,11 ..I..f- ¥ J~i 0 J J,J. \ ~)I-,jJ 4~ .luI ~) t~ ~ ~\ ...If- ~ ~\ Jv l$~i « : J~ J':- J~i v~)I t~1 Ji" J.>. )) .J.:z~ -,~i Jt; .~..l.( -.r!

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Q: Abu 'Ali Ibn Sina, The Shaykh al-RaJis (Master and Leader), whom I have mentioned here [rather than earlier in this work, under his ism, al-I:Iusayn] because his kunya [Abu 'Ali] is better known than his ism. One of his pupils asked him about his past, and so he dictated what has been recorded from him to him [the pupil], which was that he said: (p. 413) lAD: The Shaykh al-RaJis Ibn Sina, who was Abu 'Ali al-I:Iusayn

TO THE EDITION

9

ibn cAbel Allah ibn al-I:Iasan ibn CAli ibn Sina, and who was too famous to need mentioning and whose merits were too obvious to need to be recorded. He related his experiences and described his life so that everyone else can dispense with his own account. And therefore we have confined ourselves for that reason to what he related about himself and also to those of his experiences described by Abu CDbayd al-]iizjani, the companion of the Shaykh. This is the sum of what the Shaykh al-Ra)is related about himself: from whom Abii CUbayd al-Juzjani has passed it on. The Shaykh al-Ra)is said: (Vol. II, p. 2) A: In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate, [We ask] your aid, 0 Everlasting God, in [presenting] this biography, the bibliography of his writings, and the compositions of his which must be set forth. The Shaykh Abii CUbayd cAbd al-Wal).id al-]uzjani has covered well everything concerning the experiences of the Shaykh al-Ra)is, Proof of the Truth, Abu CAli al-IJusayn ibn cAbd AlHih ibn Sin a (may God be pleased with him) and his history, known as ('sar-gudhasht" [a Persian term meaning "recollections"]. Abu CUbayd said, "The Shaykh al-Ra)is, Abii CAli said to me" : (fol. I b) B: The Biography ~f the Shaykh al-Ra)is (may God be merciful to him), the Bibliography of his Writings, and the relation of his experiences and history, known as "sar-gudhasht." Abu CUbayd cAbd al-Wal,1id aljuzjani (may God have mercy on him) said, "The Shaykh al-Ra)is Abu CAli (may God have mercy on him) said to me": (fol. 308a)

]: The Attainments ~f the Shaykh al-Ra)is Aba CAli Ibn Sinii (may God be merciful to him). In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate; Abu CUbayd said, "The Shaykh al-Ra)is Abii CAli said to me": (fol. 20b) N: Stories Concerning the Experiences of the Shaykh al-Ra)is Aba CAli Ibn Sinii. In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate; the Shaykh Abii CUbayd cAbd al-Wal).id al-]u~jani has covered well everything concerning the experiences of the Shaykh al-Ra)is, Proof of the Truth, Abu CAli ibn cAbd Allah ibn Sina (may God be pleased with him) and his history, known as "sar-gudhasht." Abu CUbayd (p. 9) said, "The Shaykh al-Ra)is Abu CAli said to me":

INTRODUCTION TO THE TRANSLATION

IN ADDITION to the earlier Arabic printed versions of the autobiography/biography of Ibn Sina, an English translation of this work by the late Arthur J. Arberry has been available since 1951. 21 Professor Arberry's translation was made from the versions of al-Qifti and/or Ibn Abi U~aybica-'probably from the former, since he follows alQifti in the only major discrepancy between the two works 2! i -so he was unable to take advantage of the new versions published by alAhwani and Nafisi. Arberry's translation also contains a number of minor errors, such as "four dirhams" (p. 12) for "three dirhams" (al-Qifti, p. 416, line 1), "of a generous format" (p. 22) for "Fircawni quarto" (al-Qifti, p.4-24" line 12), and various misspellings of proper names, such as "'al-Barqi" (p. 13) for "al-Baraqi", "'Anaz" (p. 16) for aCAnnaz", and "al-1- : LJ (. '-:" I ~~ ~

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and lived. I was born there, * as was my brother,+ and then we moved to Bukhara. A tcacher of the QurJan and a teacher of literature 1 0 were provided for me, and when I reached the age of tcn I had finished the QurJan and many works of literature, so that people were greatly amazed at me. My father was one of those who responded to the propagandist of the Egyptians and was reckoned among the IsmaCiliyya. l l I From them, he, as well as my brother, heard the account of the soul and the intellect in the special manner in which they speak about it and know it. Sometimes they used to discuss this among themselves while I was listening to them and understanding what they were saying, but my soul would not accept it, and so they began appealing to me to do it [to accept the 1sma cm doctrines.] And there was

* in ~afar, 370 [August-September 980]. The ascendant was Cancer, the degree of exaltation ofJupiter; the moon was in its degree of exaltation; the sun was in its degree of exaltation; V cnus was in its degree of exaltation; the Lot of Fortune was in the twenty.ninth degree of Cancer; and the Lot of the Unseen was in the first [degree] of Cancer with Canopus and Sirius. B + lVlal;rnud,

five years later.·

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also talk of philosophy, geometry, and Indian calculation. * Then he [my father] sent me to a vegetable seller who used Indian calculation+ and so I studied with him. At that time Abu cAbd Allah al-Natili,14 who claimed to know philosophy, arrived in Bukhara; so my father had him stay in our house and he devoted himself to educating me. Before his arrival I had devoted myself to jurisprudence, 15 1 with frequent visits to Ismacil the Ascetic l6 about it. I was a skillful questioner, having become acquainted with the methods of prosecution and the procedures of rebuttal in the manner which the practitiollers of it [jurisprudence] follow. Then I began to read the Isagoge l7 under al-Natili,

... My father used to study and ponder over the RasiFillkhwan al-Safa" (Tile Treatises oftlte Sincere Bretheren) and I also pondered over it from time to time. a

+ and algebra, ~ man called al-Mal,unud [sic] al-Massal,li (the Surveyor, or the Mathematician).13

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and when he mentioned to me the definition of genus,18 as being that which is predicated 19 of a number of things of different species in answer to the question "What is it?", I evoked his admiration by verifying this definition in a manner unlike any he had heard of. He was extremely amazed at me; whatever problem he posed I conceptualized better than he, so he advised my father against my taking up any occupation other than learning. I I continued until I had read the simple parts of logic under him; but as for its deeper intricacies, he had no knowledge of them. So I began to read the texts and study the commentaries by myself until I had mastered logic. As for Euclid,20 I read the first five or six figures under him; then I undertook the solution of the rest of the book iH its entirety by myself. Then I moved on

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to the Almagest,21 and when I had finished its introductory sections and got to the geometrical figures, al-Natili said to mc, "Take over reading and solving them by yourself, then show them to me, so that I can explain to you what is right with it and what is wrong." But the man did not attempt to deal with the text, so I deciphered it myself. And many a figure he did not grasp until I put it before him and made him understand it. Then al-Natili left me, I going on to Gurganj.* I devoted myself to studying the texts-the original and commentaries--in the natural sciences and metaphysics,23 and the gates of knowledge began opening for me. Next I sought to know medicine, and so I read the books written on it. Medicine is not one of the difficult sciences,

* opposite Khwarazm, seeking the court of the Khwarazm-sh5h Ma'mun ibn MuQammad. 22

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or I became conscious of weakening, I would turn aside to drink a cup of wine, so that my strength would return to ITle. 26 Then I would return to reading. And whenever sleep seized me I would see those very problems in my dream; and many questions became clear to me in my sleep. I continued in this until all of the sciences were deeply rooted within me and I understood them as far as is I humanly possible. Everything which I knew at that time is just as I know it now; I have not added anything to it to this day. Thus I mastered the logical, natural, and mathematical sciences,27 and I had now reached the science

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of metaphysics. I read the Metaphysics [of Aristotle] ,28 but I could not comprehend its contents, and its author's object remained obscure to me, even when I had gone back and read it forty times and had got to the point where I had memorized it. In spite of this I could not understand it nor its object, and I despaired of myself and said, "This is a book which there is no way of understanding." But one day in the afternoon when I was at the booksellers' quarter I a salesman 20 approached with a book in his hand which he was calling out for sale. I--:Ie offered it to me, but I refused it with disgust, believing that there was no merit in this science. But he said to me, "Buy it, because its owner needs the money and so it is cheap. I will sell it to you for three dirhams." So I bought it and, 10 and behold, it was

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their library, to get to know it and to read its books. He gave me permission and I was admitted to a building which had many rooms; in each room there were chests of books piled one on top of the other. In one of the rooms were books on the Arabic language and poetry, in another, on jurisprudence, and likewise in each room [were books onJ a single science. So I looked through the catalogue of books by the ancients 33 and asked for whichever one I needed. I I saw books whose names had not reached very many people and which I had not seen before that time, nor have I seen since. I read these books and mastered what was useful in them and discovered the status of each man in his science. 34 So when I had reached the age of eighteen I was finished with all of these sciences;

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at that time I had a better memory for learning, but today my knowledge is more mature; otherwise it is the same; nothing new has come to me since. In my neighborhood there was a man named Abu al-I::Iasan the Prosodist,35 who asked me to compose for him a comprehensive work on this learning [which I had attained.] So I wrote The Compilation for him, and gave I his name to it, including in it all of the sciences except mathematical science. At that time I was twenty-one years old. Also in my neighborhood there was a man named Abu Bakr al-Baraqi,36 a Khwarazmian by birth, and a lawyer by inclination; he was distinguished in jurisprudence, Qur)an commentary, and asceticism, having a liking for these sciences. He asked me to comment on the books [in these sciences], and so I wrote The Sum and Substance for him in about twenty volumes.37 I also wrote for him a book on

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ethics which I called Good Works and Evil. 3s These two works exist only in his possession, and he has not loaned out either one of them to be copied. Then my father died 39 and I was free to govern my own affairs and so I took over one of the administrative posts of the Sultan. Necessity then led me to forsake Bukhara and move to Gurganj,40 I where Abu al-I;Iusayn al-Suhayli,41 an amateur of the sciences, was a minister. I was presented to the Amir there, cAli ibn Ma)mun ;42 at that time I was in lawyer's dress, with a fold of the mantle under my chin. They gave me a monthly salary which provided enough for someone like me. Then necessity led me 43 to move to Nasa, 44 and from there to Baward,45

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and then to Tiis,16 then to Samanqan,47 then to Jajarm,48 at the extreme limit of Khurasan, and then to Jurjan. 19 My destination was the AmII' Qabiis, *50 but at that time there occurred the seizure of Qabiis,!Sl his imprisonment in one of his castles, and his death there. Then I departed for Dihistan,52 where I became very ill, and from where I returned I to J urjan. Abu CDbayd al-JuzjanI53 joined me there and recited to me an ode on my state of affairs which contains the poet's verse: When I became gTcat, no country could hold me; When my price went up, I lacked a buyer.

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And herc is a catalogue ofall his books :&6 [1] The Compilation, one volume; [2] The Sum and Substance, twenty volumes; [3] Good Works and Evil, two volumes; [4] The Shifa J (Healinl!,), eighteen volumes;[5] The Qaniln, fourteen volumes; [6] Comprehensive I Observations, one volume; [7] The Judgment, twenty volumes; [8] The NaJat (Deliverance), three volumes; [9] Guidance, one volume; [10] Instructions, one volume; [11] The Middle Summary, one volume; [12] The cAlaJi, one volume; [13] The Colic, one volume; [14] The Arabic Language, ten volumes; [15] Cardiac Remedies, onc volume; [16] The Epitome, one volume; [17] I a portion of The Eastern Philosophy, one volume; [18] Explanation of Modals,57 one volume; [19] The Return, one volume; [20] The Origin and the Return; [21] Conversations, one volume. And among his treatises are [22] Foreordination and Destiny; [23] Astronomical Instruments; [24] The O~ject of the "Categories" J' [25] Logic, in poetic form; [26] Poems on Majesty and Philosophy J' [27] On the Consonants J' [28] I Consideration of Dialectical Topics J' [29] Summary of Euclid J' [30] Summa~y on the Pulse,

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in Persian; [31] Definitions,. [32] Celestial Bodies,. [33] Instruction in the Science of Logic,. [34] The Branches ~l Philosophy,. [35] Limit and Infinity; [36] A Testament, which he made for himself; [37] J:Iayy ibn Yaq?-iin,o [38] That the Dimensions of a Body are not Part of its Essence,. [39] On Endive; and his discourse [40] On the I Impossibility of the Same Thing Being a Substance and an Accident,. [4·1] That the Knowledge of Zayd is not the Knowledge of Amr)' [42] Letters to friends and officials; [43] Letters C

about questions which passed between him and other learned m,cn; [44-] Comments on the "Qiiniln»)' [45] Essential Philosophy;

[4·6] The Net and the Bird. 10

Then he moved to a1-Rayy,58 wh~re he joined the scrvice of al-Sayyida 59 and her son, * Majd al-Dawla. 6 °IThey learned of him through letters brought with him containing an appraisal of his worth. At that time Majd

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al-Dawla had the illness of melancholia. * He wrote The Return there, and he remained there until Shams al-Dawla 62 attacked it, after the killing of Hilal ibn Badr ibn J:Iasanuyah 63 and the rout of the troops of Baghdad. Then events occurred 64 which compelled him to depart for Qazwin,65 and from there to Hamadhan 66 where he joined the service of Kadhab~iniiyah 67 and managed I her business affairs. Then he made the acquaintance of Shams al-Dawla, who summoned him to his court because of a colic which had afflicted him. He treated him until God cured him, and he obtained numerous robes of honor from that court. He returned to his house after staying there for forty days and nights, having become one of the companions of the Amir.

* and so he set himself to treating it.

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Then the Amir went up to Q,irmisin 68 to make war on cAnnaz,69 with the Master riding out in his service. He fell back in flight toward Hamadhan, and they [the court] asked him to take over the vizierate, which he did, but the troops mutinied against him, being apprehensive about their positions on account of him. So they surrounded his house, took him off to prison, ransacked I his goods, took everything he owned, and even demanded his execution by the Amir. He refused to execute him, but compromised by banishing him from the state, since he desired to satisfy them. And so the Master concealed himself in the house of Shaykh Abu Sacd ibn DakhduPo for forty days; but the colic seized Amir Shams al-Dawla again, and he sent for the Master, who came to his court. The Amir apologized to him profusely, and he devoted himself to treating him. And so he remained with him, honored and revered, I and the vizierate was given back to him a second time.

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on account of his service to the Amir. After we had spent some time at this, Shams al-Dawla set out for al-Tarum 72 to make war on its Amir. 73 He was attacked again by the colic in the vicinity of that place and his illness became more severe, adding to which were other ailments which his not taking care of himself and seldom accepting I the Master's orders caused. The troops feared his death, so they returned, setting out for Hamadhan with him in a litter, but he died on the way. The son* of Shams alDawla 74 was then acknowledged as sovereign and they [the court] asked that the Master be appointed vizier. But he turned them down and corresponded with CAla) al-Dawla 75 in secret, desiring to serve him, cast his lot with him, and to join his court. He remained in hiding in the house of Abu Ghalib the Druggist,76 where I asked him to finish

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and 'took him to a castle which is called Fardajan. 79 There he recited an ode in which is [found the following verse]: As you can see, my going in's a certainty, And all the doubt is on the point of getting out. He remained there four months, until CAla) al-Dawla attacked Hamadhan and seized it. 80 Taj al-Mulk was routed and moved into this very same castle. When -J

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right after his arrival in Hamadhan. He had spent some time on this, and all this while Taj al~Mulk was tempting him with handsome promises, when the Master then decided to set out for I~fahan, 83 and so he left, I with him, along with his brother and two slaves, disguised in the dress of~iifism, travelling until we rcached I Tihran,84 at the gate of I~fahan, after we had suffered hardships on the way. Friends of the Master and the companions and courtiers of Amir cAHP al-Dawla met us, and clothing and special mounts were brought to him. He was lodged in a quarter called Kuy Kunbadh 85 in the house of cAbd Allah ibn Bibi,86 which contained all the utensils and furnishings which

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is mentioned in such-and-such a place in one of the books on philology," mentioning to him well-known books in philology, from which the Master had memorized those passages. Abu Man~i1r had been prattling in the philology he had put forward, without authority to back it up; so then he realized that these letters were written by the Master, and that his insulting him I that day was what brought it upon him. So he cleared himself by apologizing to him. The Master then wrote a book on philology which he called The Arabic Language, which has not been equaled in philology, but he did not transcribe it into clean copy. The writing was still in its rough state when he died, and no one could discover how to put it in order. He carried out many experiments in his medical practice which he decided

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to record in the Qjiniln. He had jotted them down in some quires, but they were lost before the completion of the Qaniln. For example, one day when he had a headache,he imagined that a substance was trying to descend to the membrane of his skull and he felt uneasy about a swelling which might occur there, so he ordered a large supply of ice to be brought; he crushed it and wrapped it in a cloth, with which he covered his head. I He continued doing this until he overcame the area [of swelling], and prevented the reception of this substance, and so was cured. Another example is that of a tubercular woman in Khwarazm whom he ordered to take no medicine other than rose preserve made with sugar,98 until, in the course of time, she had taken one hundred manns, 99 and was cured. The Master had written The Shorter Summary on Logic in J urjan, and it was

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that which he included in the first part of the NaJat afterwards. A copy of it arrived in Shidiz 100 and a group of the learned men there examined it. They had doubts about some problems in it, so they wrote them down in a quire. The QjiQ.i of Shiraz was one of this group of people, so he sent the quire to Abu al-Qasim al-Kirmani,101 a friend of Ibrahim ibn I Babft al-Daylami,lo2 a devotee of the science of esoteric interpretation,103 and he added to it a letter to Shaykh Abu alQasim. He sent them both with an express courier and asked that he present the quire to the Master and request a reply from him concerning it. So one warm day as the sun was paling, Shaykh Abu al-Qasim came to the Master's house and presented the letter and the quire to him. He read

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the letter and returned it to him, placed the quire before him, and examined it while the people alOund were chatting. As soon as Abu al-Qasim left, the Master ordered me to bring blank paper, so I sewed five quires for him, each one of ten sheets of Fir c awnpo4 quarto. After we prayed the evening prayer, he set out candles and ordered wine to be brought. He asked his brother and me to sit down I and asked us to have some wine while he began replying to these problems. He wrote and drank until the middle of the night, at which time sleep overcame his brother and me, and he asked us to leave. In the morning his messenger appeared, summoning me, so I presented myself while he was at prayer. Before him were the five quires. He said, "Take these and deliver them to Abu al-Qasim al-Kirmani and tell him I was in a hurry to answer

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for this was their stealing a great deal of money from his coffers: they desired his death in order to be frce from the consequences of their actions. The Master \'\Ias carried in that state to I~fahfU1, where he wa~ occupied with taking care of himself: He was so weak that he was unable to stand, so he continued to treat himself until I he was able to walk. He attended the court of CAHi) al~Dawla, and in addition to that he did not take care and frequently had sexual intercourse. He had not completely recovered from the illness, and so he had intermittent re~ lapses· and recoveries. When cAlii') al-Dawla set out for Hamadhan, the Master went with him but the illness seized him again on the way, so that by the time he reached Hamadhan he knew that

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BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE WORKS OF IBN SINA

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As for the bibliography which Abu 'Dbayd al-Juzjani mentioned in his biography, it contained about forty works. However I have endeavored to collect what was written and have set down in this bibliography what I have found, added to what Shaykh Abu CDbayd mentioned, coming to about ninety works. l I (l) The Supplements, mentioned in his writings as a commentary on the Shifii). (2) The Shifii) (Healing), which summarizes the whole of the four sciences. He wrote the "Physics"

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Kakuyah in I~fahan. (14) The Najiit, which he wrote on the road to Sabur Khwast while he was in the service of CAHi) al-Dawla. (15) Instructions and Remarks, which i~ the last and best work he wrote on philosophy, to which he held steadfastly. (16) Guidance, on philosophy, which he wrote while a prisoner in the castle of I Fardajan for hi,; brother cAII,4 and which contains a summary of all the branches of philosophy. (17) The Colic, which he wrote in that same castle and which is entirely lost. (18) The treatise /jay) ibn Yaq?:,an (Alive, the son of Awake), also written in that castle, an allegory about the active intellect. (19) Cardiac Drugs, which he wrote in Hamadhan. (20) An essay on the Pulse.

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in Persian. (21) An essay on Phonetics, which he wrote in I~fahan for al-]abban. (22) A letter to Abu Sahl al-MasiJ:1i on the Angle, which he wrote in Jurjan.:; (23) An essay on Natural Facullies 6 for Abu Sacid al-Yamami. 7 (24-) The treatise, the Bird, an allcgol y in which he describes his attainment of the knowledge of the truth. (25) I DefinitiorL'i. (26) An essay refuting the treatise of Ibn al-Tayyib on Natural Faculties. 8 (27) Essential Philosophy, which contains the three sciences [logic, phyc;ics, and metaphysics]. (28) An essay on the Conversions of Modals. (29) The Large Epitome on logic; as for the Small Epitome, it is the logic of the Najat. (30) The Ode,

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called Rarities. (75) Questions which he explained in Notes. (76) Answers to Simple Qyestions. (77) His letter to the culamo/ of Baghdad which asked them to judge between him and a man of Hamadhan who claimed to be a philosopher. (78) A letter to a friend which asks him to judge between him and this Hamadhani. (79) Answers to a number of question&.. I (80) His words Explaining the Essence '!! Sorrow. (81) His commentary on Aristotle's De Anima, which is said to be from the Judgment. (82) An essay on the Soul, known as the Chapters. (83) An essay on the Refutmion of the Science of Astrology. (84) Anecdotes on Grammar. (85) Metaphysical Chapters on the Proof of the First [Principle]. (86) Chapters on

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al-Dawla's flight from Tash Farrish, Sultan Mascud's army commander, which is described in the biography of Ibn Sina and reported by Ibn al-Athir, IX, 425, s.a. 423. See Mahdavi, p. 197, for a description of the MS. 10. "Ibn Zayla": Abu Man~iir al-I;Iusayn ibn Tahir ibn Zayla (or Ibn Zila, according to Ibn Funduq) was one of Ibn Sina's favorite pupils. He was a native of I~fahan and may have been a Zoroastrian (Majusi); his fields of special competance were mathematics and music. He wrote several commentaries, including one on !jayy ibn raq::;an, and a book on the Soul (al-nafs). He died in 440jl048·-49 at an early age. See Ibn Func;luq, pp. 92-93. II. "Bahmanyar": Heis called Abu al-J:Iasan Bahmanyar ibn (al-) Marzuban by both Ibn Abi U$aybiCa, II, 19, and Ibn Funduq, p. 91. The latter adds that he was a Zoroastrian born in Adharbayjan, who wrote several works on logic and music, but that he was not skilled in Arabic theology (al-kalam al-'arabi.) He died in 458/ 1066, "thirty years after the death of Abu cAli." Ibn Funduq, ibid.

12. "Abu al-Ray\:1an al-Biruni": Ibn Sina's contemporary and chief rival as the greatest philosopher-scientist of that time. Born in Khwarazm in 362/973, he was a client at many of the same courts as Ibn Sina: the Samanids, the Khwarazm-shahs, the Ziyarids inJurjan, and the Buyids in al-Rayy. They may have come into personal contact in one or more of these courts, although neither man mentions it. Their correspondence is mentioned by al-Biruni in al-Athar al-baqiya Can al-quriln al-khaliya cd. C. Eduard Sachau (Leipzig, 1923; rpt. Baghdad, n.d.), p. 257; tr. Sachau, The Chronolog_v of Ancient Nations (London, 1879), p. 247. According to Ibn Funduq, p. 95, the correspondence became bitter, especially when al-Biruni questioned some of Ibn Sina's replies. Ibn Sina allowed his best pupil, al-Mac$umi, to read al-Biruni's objections in a mocking manner and write an in~ulting answer to alBiruni. See Ibn Funduq, pp. 29 and 62, for ,further information on these disputes. Also see D.]. Boilot, "al-Biruni," E12, I, 1236-38. 13. "the prince Abu Bakr Mu\:Jammad ibn CUbayd": Although all of the MSS of the autobiography / biography read "the prince" (al-amir) , MSS of the work itself read "to the faithful shaykh" (li'l-Jhaykh al-amin). He is called either Abu Bakr Mu\:1ammad or Abu Bakr ibn Mu\:Jammad. See Mahdavi, p. 39. However, Ibn Funduq, p. 33, says that Ibn Sina dedicated this work to "the faithful wazir (alJhaykh al-wazir al-amin) Abu Sa'd al-Hamadhani." 14. "Abu cAli al-Naysaburi": The biographical dictionaries do not list this name. IS. "Questions of !j1.l.nayn": I-:Junayn ibn Is\:1aq (d. 260 / [873], according to al-Qifti, p. 173, and Fihrist, p. 294; or 264 J [877], according to Ibn U$aybi'a, I, 190), the Nestorian translator of Greek scientific and philosophical works. He also wrote a number of treatises on medicine, of which his Questions is called an introduction (madkhal) to medicine by Ibn Abi U$aybiCa, I, 197. 16. "Abu Sacid ibn Abi al~Khayr": One of the most famous ~iifis of Ibn Sina's time (he was born in 357/967 and died in 440/1049), he and Ibn Sina probably never met, despite the many accounts to the contrary. See H. Ritter, rr Abu Sacid

OF THE BIBLIOGRAPHY

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