The Book of Healing

Scientific and philosophical encyclopedia by Avicenna

"al-Shifa" redirects here. For other uses, see al-Shifa (disambiguation).

The Book of Healing Author| Ibn Sina

|

Original title| كتاب الشفاء
Language| Arabic
Genre| Natural Philosophy
Published| 1027 (Arabic)

Part of a series on
Avicenna
(Ibn Sīnā)
Works

*     * The Book of Healing
* The Canon of Medicine
* Al-Nijat

Thoughts

* Avicennism
* On God's existence
* Floating man
* Al-Ghazali's criticism of Avicennian philosophy

Pupils

* Abu 'Ubayd al-Juzjani
* Bahmanyar
* Ibn Abi Sadiq
* Ali ibn Yusuf al-Ilaqi

Monuments

* Avicenna Mausoleum
* Avicenna (crater)
* Bu-Ali Sina University
* Avicenne Hospital
* The Physician
* The Physician (2013 film)
* Avicenna Cultural and Scientific Foundation
* Scholars Pavilion

* v
* t
* e

The Book of Healing (Arabic: کتاب الشفاء, romanized: Kitāb al-Shifāʾ; Latin: Sufficientia; also known as The Cure or Assepha) is a scientific and philosophical encyclopedia written by Abu Ali ibn Sīna (also known as Avicenna). He most likely began to compose the book in 1014, completed it around 1020,[1] and published it in 1027.[2][3]

This work is Ibn Sina's major work on science and philosophy, and is intended to "cure" or "heal" ignorance of the soul. Thus, despite its title, it is not concerned with medicine, in contrast to Avicenna's earlier The Canon of Medicine (5 vols.) which is, in fact, medical.

The book is divided into four parts: logic, natural sciences, mathematics (a quadrivium of arithmetic, geometry, astronomy), and metaphysics.[3] It was influenced by ancient Greek philosophers such as Aristotle; Hellenistic thinkers such as Ptolemy; and earlier Persian/Muslim scientists and philosophers, such as Al-Kindi (Alkindus), Al-Farabi (Alfarabi), and Al-Bīrūnī.

## Sciences

[edit]

### Astronomy

[edit]

In astronomy, the book proposes the theory that Venus is closer to Earth than the Sun.

### Chemistry

[edit]

Ibn Sina's theory on the formation of metals combined the alchemical sulfur-mercury theory of metals (although he was a critic of alchemy) with the mineralogical theories of Aristotle and Theophrastus. He created a synthesis of ideas concerning the nature of the mineral and metallic states.[4]

### Earth sciences

[edit]

Toulmin and Goodfield (1965), commented on Avicenna's contribution to geology:[5]

> Around A.D. 1000, Avicenna was already suggesting a hypothesis about the origin of mountain ranges, which in the Christian world, would still have been considered quite radical eight hundred years later

Paleontology

Ibn Sina also contributed to paleontology with his explanation of how the stoniness of fossils was caused. Aristotle previously explained it in terms of vaporous exhalations, which Ibn Sina modified into the theory of petrifying fluids (succus lapidificatus), which was elaborated on by Albertus Magnus in the 13th century and accepted in some form by most naturalists by the 16th century.[6] Ibn Sina made the following observation on the theories held at the time on fossils and the petrifaction of plants and animals:

> "If what is said concerning the petrifaction of animals and plants is true, the cause of this (phenomenon) is a powerful mineralizing and petrifying virtue which arises in certain stony spots, or emanates suddenly from the earth during earthquake and subsidences, and petrifies whatever comes into contact with it. As a matter of fact, the petrifaction of the bodies of plants and animals is not more extraordinary than the transformation of waters."

### Psychology

[edit]

See also: Avicennism and The Canon of Medicine

In The Book of Healing, Avicenna discusses the mind, its existence, the mind–body relationship, sensation, perception, etc. He writes that at the most common level, the influence of the mind on the body can be seen in voluntary movements, in that the body obeys whenever the mind wishes to move the body. He further writes that the second level of influence of the mind on the body is from emotions and the will. As an example, he states that if a plank of wood is placed as a bridge over a chasm, a person could hardly creep over it without falling if that person only pictures themself in a possible fall so vividly that the "natural power of limbs accord with it."

He also writes that strong negative emotions can have a negative effect on the vegetative functions of an individual and may even lead to death in some cases. He also discusses hypnosis (al Wahm al-Amil), stating that one could create conditions in another person so that they accepts the reality of hypnosis. Avicenna was also the first to divide human perception into the five external senses (the classical senses of hearing, sight, smell, taste and touch known since ancient history) and the five internal senses which he discovered himself:[7]: 366

1. sensus communis ('common sense'), which integrates sense data into percepts;
2. the imaginative faculty, which conserves the perceptual images;
3. imagination, which acts upon these images by combining and separating them, serving as the seat of the practical intellect;
4. wahm (instinct), which perceives qualities (such as good and bad, love and hate, etc.) and forms the basis of a person's character whether or not influenced by reason; and
5. ma'ni (intentions), which conserve all these notions in memory.

Avicenna also gives psychological explanations for certain somatic illnesses, always linking the physical and psychological illnesses together. He describes melancholia (i.e. depression) as a type of mood disorder in which the person may become suspicious and develop certain types of phobias. He states that anger heralds the transition of melancholia to mania, and explains that humidity inside the head can contribute to mood disorders. He recognizes that this occurs when the amount of breath changes: happiness increases the breath, which leads to increased moisture inside the brain, but if this moisture goes beyond its limits, the brain would lose control over its rationality and lead to mental disorders. He also writes about symptoms and treatments for nightmare, epilepsy, and weak memory.[7]: 366

Avicenna often used psychological methods to treat his patients.[7]: 366 One such example is when a Persian prince had melancholia, suffering from the delusion that he was a cow. He would moo and cry out, "Kill me so that a good stew may be made of my flesh," and would never eat anything. Avicenna was persuaded to take the case. Avicenna sent a message to the patient, asking him to be happy as the butcher was coming to slaughter him, and the sick man rejoiced. When Avicenna approached the prince with a knife in his hand, he asked "where is the cow so I may kill it." The patient then mooed like a cow to indicate where he was. The patient was laid on the ground for slaughter. When Avicenna approached the patient, pretending to be ready to slaughter him, he said, "the cow is too lean and not ready to be killed. He must be fed properly and I will kill it when it becomes healthy and fat." The patient was then offered food which he ate eagerly, and gradually "gained strength, got rid of his delusion, and was completely cured."[7]: 376

## Philosophy

[edit]

Main article: Avicennism

In the medieval Islamic world, due to Avicenna's successful reconciliation of Aristotelianism and Neoplatonism along with Kalam, Avicennism eventually became the leading school of early Islamic philosophy by the 12th century, with Avicenna becoming a central authority on philosophy.[8]

Avicennism was also influential in medieval Europe, particular his doctrines on the nature of the soul and his existence-essence distinction, along with the debates and censure that they raised in scholastic Europe. This was particularly the case in Paris, where Avicennism was later proscribed in 1210. Nevertheless, his Muslim psychology and theory of knowledge influenced William of Auvergne and Albertus Magnus, while his metaphysics influenced the thought of Thomas Aquinas.[9]

### Logic

[edit]

Avicenna discussed the topic of logic in Islamic philosophy extensively in his works, and developed his own system of logic known as "Avicennian logic" as an alternative to Aristotelian logic. By the 12th century, Avicennian logic had replaced Aristotelian logic as the dominant system of logic in the Islamic world.[10] After the Latin translations of the 12th century, his writings on logic were also an important influence on Western medieval writers such as Albertus Magnus.[11]

He wrote on the hypothetical syllogism[2][3] and on the propositional calculus, which were both part of the Stoic logical tradition.[12] He developed an original theory of “temporally modalized” syllogistic[13] and made use of inductive logic, such as the methods of agreement, difference and concomitant variation which are critical to the scientific method.[2]

### Metaphysics

[edit]

Early Islamic metaphysics, imbued as it is with Islamic theology, distinguishes more clearly than Aristotelianism the difference between essence and existence.[citation needed] Whereas existence is the domain of the contingent and the accidental, essence endures within a being beyond the accidental. The philosophy of Ibn Sīnā, particularly that part relating to metaphysics, owes much to al-Farabi. The search for a truly definitive Islamic philosophy can be seen in what is left to us of his work.

Following al-Farabi's lead, Avicenna initiated a full-fledged inquiry into the question of being, in which he distinguished between essence (mahiat) and existence (wujud). He argued that the fact of existence can not be inferred from or accounted for by the essence of existing things and that form and matter by themselves cannot interact and originate the movement of the universe or the progressive actualization of existing things. Existence must, therefore, be due to an agent-cause that necessitates, imparts, gives, or adds existence to an essence. To do so, the cause must be an existing thing and coexist with its effect.[14]

Avicenna's proof for the existence of God was the first ontological argument, which he proposes in the "Metaphysics" section of The Book of Healing.[15][16] This was the first attempt at using the method of a priori proof, which utilizes intuition and reason alone. Avicenna's proof of God's existence is unique in that it can be classified as both a cosmological argument and an ontological argument. "It is ontological insofar as ‘necessary existence’ in intellect is the first basis for arguing for a Necessary Existent". The proof is also "cosmological insofar as most of it is taken up with arguing that contingent existents cannot stand alone and must end up in a Necessary Existent."[17]

### Philosophy of science

[edit]

Further information: Avicennism and The Canon of Medicine

In the "Al-Burhan" ('On Demonstration') section of the book, Avicenna discusses the philosophy of science and describes an early scientific method of inquiry. He discusses Aristotle's Posterior Analytics and significantly diverges from it on several points. Avicenna explains the issue of a proper methodology for scientific inquiry and the question of "How does one acquire the first principles of a science?" He asks how a scientist would arrive at "the initial axioms or hypotheses of a deductive science without inferring them from some more basic premises?" He explains that the ideal situation is when one grasps that a "relation holds between the terms, which would allow for absolute, universal certainty." Avicenna then adds two further methods for arriving at the first principles: the ancient Aristotelian method of induction (istiqra), and the method of examination and experimentation (tajriba). Avicenna criticizes Aristotelian induction, arguing that "it does not lead to the absolute, universal, and certain premises that it purports to provide." In its place, he develops a "method of experimentation as a means for scientific inquiry."[18]

## Sections of the text

[edit]

Critical editions of the Arabic text have been published in Cairo, 1952–83, originally under the supervision of Ibrahim Madkour; some of these editions are given below.[1]

* Al-Mantiq (Logic), Part 1, al-Ahwani, Cairo: al-Matba’ah al-Amiriyah, 1952. (Volume I, Part 1 of al-Shifa’.)
* Al-‘Ibarah (Interpretation), edited by M. El-Khodeiri. Cairo: Dar al-Katib al-Arabi, 1970. (Volume 1, Part 3 of al-Shifa’.)
* Al-Qiyas (Syllogism), edited by S. Zayed and I. Madkour, Cairo: Organisme General des Imprimeries Gouvernementales, 1964. (Volume I, Part 4 of al-Shifa’.)
* Shehaby, N., trans. 1973. The Propositional Logic of Ibn Sina, Dordrecht: Reidel.
* Al-Burhan (Demonstration), edited by A. E. Affifi. Cairo: Organisme General des Imprimeries Gouvernementales, 1956. (Volume I, Part 5 of al-Shifa’.)
* Al-Jadal (Dialectic), edited by A.F. Al-Ehwany. Cairo: Organisme General des Imprimeries Gouvernementales, 1965. (Volume I, Part 6 of al-Shifa’.)
* Al-Khatabah (Rhetoric), edited by S. Salim, Cairo: Imprimerie Nationale, 1954. (Volume I, Part 8 of al-Shifa’.)
* Al-Ilahiyat (Theology), edited by M.Y. Moussa, S. Dunya and S. Zayed, Cairo: Organisme General des Imprimeries Gouvernementales, 1960;
* R. M. Savory and D. A. Agius, ed. and trans. 1984. ‘Ibn Sina on Primary Concepts in the Metaphysics of al-Shifa’, in Logos Islamikos, Toronto, Ont.: Pontifical Institute for Mediaeval Studies;
* Anawati, G. C., trans. 1978, 1985. "La metaphysique du Shifa’ [The Metaphysics of al-Shifa’]," (Etudes Musulmanes 21 and 27). Paris: Vrin. (Vol. I, Books 1-5; Vol. II. Books 6-10.)
* Marmura, Michael E. 2005. The Metaphysics of the Healing. A parallel English-Arabic text, with introduction and annotation by M. E. Marmura. Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press.
* Al-Nafs (The Soul), edited by G. C. Anawati and S. Zayed. Cairo: Organisme General des Imprimeries Gouvernementales, 1975;
* Rahman, F., ed. 1959. Avicenna's De Anima, Being the Psychological Part of Kitab al-Shifa’, London: Oxford University Press, 1959. (Volume 1, part 6 of al-Shifa’.)

## In English Translation

[edit]

BYU's Islamic Translation Series includes two parts of The Healing.

* Avicenna (2005). The Metaphysics of The Healing. Translated by Marmura, Michael E. Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University.
* Avicenna (2010). The Physics of The Healing: A Parallel English-Arabic Text in Two Volumes. Translated by McGinnis, Jon. Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University.

## See also

[edit]

* Avicenna
* The Canon of Medicine
* Islamic Golden Age
* Early Islamic philosophy
* Islamic science
* Medical literature

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "Ibn Sina Abu 'Ali Al-Husayn". Muslimphilosophy.com. Retrieved 2014-08-05.
2. ^ a b c Goodman, Lenn Evan. 2003. Islamic Humanism. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-513580-6. p. 155.
3. ^ a b c Goodman, Lenn Evan. 1992. Avicenna. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-01929-X. p. 31.
4. ^ Seyyed Hossein Nasr (December 2003), "The achievements of IBN SINA in the field of science and his contributions to its philosophy", Islam & Science, 1
5. ^ Toulmin, Stephen. and June Goodfield. 1965. The Ancestry of Science: The Discovery of Time. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p. 64. (cf. The Contribution of Ibn Sina to the development of Earth sciences Archived 2010-03-14 at the Wayback Machine.)
6. ^ Rudwick, M. J. S. (1985), The Meaning of Fossils: Episodes in the History of Palaeontology, University of Chicago Press, p. 24, ISBN 0-226-73103-0
7. ^ a b c d Haque, Amber. 2004. "Psychology from Islamic Perspective: Contributions of Early Muslim Scholars and Challenges to Contemporary Muslim Psychologists." Journal of Religion & Health 43(4):357–77.
8. ^ Fancy, Nahyan A. G. 2006. "Pulmonary Transit and Bodily Resurrection: The Interaction of Medicine, Philosophy and Religion in the Works of Ibn al-Nafīs (d. 1288) Archived 2015-04-04 at the Wayback Machine" (doctoral dissertation). University of Notre Dame. pp. 80-81.
9. ^ "The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Avicenna/Ibn Sina (CA. 980-1037)". Iep.utm.edu. 2013-08-02. Retrieved 2014-08-05.
10. ^ I. M. Bochenski (1961), "On the history of the history of logic", A history of formal logic, p. 4-10. Translated by I. Thomas, Notre Dame, Indiana University Press. (cf. Ancient Islamic (Arabic and Persian) Logic and Ontology)
11. ^ Richard F. Washell (1973), "Logic, Language, and Albert the Great", Journal of the History of Ideas 34 (3), pp. 445–450 [445].
12. ^ Goodman, Lenn Evan (1992); Avicenna, p. 188, Routledge, ISBN 0-415-01929-X.
13. ^ "History of logic: Arabic logic." Archived 2007-10-12 at the Wayback Machine Encyclopædia Britannica.
14. ^ "Islam". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 2007. Retrieved November 27, 2007.
15. ^ Steve A. Johnson (1984), "Ibn Sina's Fourth Ontological Argument for God's Existence", The Muslim World 74 (3-4), 161–171.
16. ^ Morewedge, P. (1970), "Ibn Sina (Avicenna) and Malcolm and the Ontological Argument", Monist, 54 (2): 234–49, doi:10.5840/monist197054212
17. ^ Mayer, Toby. 2001. "Ibn Sina's 'Burhan Al-Siddiqin'." Journal of Islamic Studies 12(1):18–39. Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies. doi:10.1093/jis/12.1.18.
18. ^ McGinnis, Jon (July 2003), "Scientific Methodologies in Medieval Islam", Journal of the History of Philosophy, 41 (3): 307–327, doi:10.1353/hph.2003.0033, S2CID 30864273

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Avicenna

Works|

* The Canon of Medicine
* The Book of Healing
* Al-isharat wa al-tanbihat
* Alai Encyclopedia
* Book of science
* Al-Nijat
* Five Treatises
* On the Science of the Pulse
* The Book of the Mi'raj

* Category
* Commons

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Islamic medicine

Physicians|

| 7th century|

* Abu Hafsa Yazid
* Al-Harith ibn Kalada
* Bukhtishu
* Ibn Abi Ramtha al-Tamimi
* Ibn Uthal
* Masarjawaih
* Nafi ibn al-Harith
* Rufaida Al-Aslamia
* Zaynab al-Awadiya

|

8th century|

* Bukhtishu
* Ja'ar al-Sadiq

9th century|

* Al-Kindi
* Al-Ruhawi
* Albubather
* Ali al-Ridha
* Ali ibn Sahl Rabban al-Tabari
* Bukhtishu
* Hunayn ibn Ishaq
* Ishaq ibn Hunayn
* Jabir ibn Hayyan
* Jabril ibn Bukhtishu
* Masawaiyh
* Salmawaih ibn Bunan
* Shapur ibn Sahl
* Yahya ibn Sarafyun
* Yuhanna ibn Bukhtishu
* Yusuf al-Khuri

10th century|

* 'Ali ibn al-'Abbas al-Majusi
* Aayon Ibn Aayon
* Abu Bakr Rabee Ibn Ahmad Al-Akhawyni Bokhari
* Abu Bakr al-Razi
* Abu Sahl 'Isa ibn Yahya al-Masihi
* Abu Zayd al-Balkhi
* Abu al-Hasan al-Tabari
* Abu al-Qasim Muqane'i
* Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi
* Abu ul-Ala Shirazi
* Al-Kaŝkarī
* Al-Natili
* Al-Tamimi, the physician
* Eutychius of Alexandria
* Ibn Abi al-Ashʿath
* Ibn Juljul
* Ibn al-Jazzar
* Ibrahim ibn Baks
* Isaac Israeli ben Solomon
* Mohammed ibn Abdun al-Jabali
* Muvaffak
* Qumri
* Qusta ibn Luqa

11th century|

* Abdollah ibn Bukhtishu
* Abu 'Ubayd al-Juzjani
* Abu al-Hakam al-Kirmani
* Al-Biruni
* Ali ibn Isa al-Kahhal
* Ali ibn Ridwan
* Ali ibn Yusuf al-Ilaqi
* Ammar ibn Ali al-Mawsili
* Avicenna
* Badi' al-Asturlabi
* Ibn Abi Sadiq
* Ibn Al-Thahabi
* Ibn Butlan
* Ibn Hindu
* Ibn Jazla
* Ibn al-Haytham
* Ibn al-Kattani
* Ibn al-Wafid
* Jonah ibn Janah
* Masawaih

12th century|

* Abu Jafar ibn Harun al-Turjali
* Abu al-Bayan ibn al-Mudawwar
* Abu al-Majd ibn Abi al-Hakam
* Abu'l-Barakāt al-Baghdādī
* Ahmad ibn Farrokh
* Al-Samawal al-Maghribi
* Avempace
* Averroes
* Ibn Habal
* Ibn Jumay‘
* Ibn Tufayl
* Ibn Zuhr
* Ibn al-Tilmīdh
* Moshe ben Maimon
* Muhammad ibn Aslam Al-Ghafiqi
* Serapion the Younger
* Ya'qub ibn Ishaq al-Israili
* Zayn al-Din Gorgani

13th century|

* Abd al-Latif al-Baghdadi
* Abraham ben Moses ben Maimon
* Al-Dakhwar
* Al-Shahrazuri
* Amin al-Din Rashid al-Din Vatvat
* As-Suwaydi
* Da'ud Abu al-Fadl
* Hussam al-Din al-Jarrahi
* Ibn Abi Usaibia
* Ibn Tumlus
* Ibn al-Baitar
* Ibn al-Nafis
* Ibn al-Quff
* Ibn al‐Raqqam
* Joseph ben Judah of Ceuta
* Najib ad-Din Samarqandi
* Qutb al-Din al-Shirazi
* Rashidun al-Suri
* Sa'ad al-Dawla
* Zakariya al-Qazwini

14th century|

* Al-Nagawri
* Aqsara'i
* Ibn Shuayb
* Ibn al-Akfani
* Ibn al-Khatib
* Jaghmini
* Mansur ibn Ilyas
* Mas‘ud ibn Muhammad Sijzi
* Muhammad ibn Mahmud Amuli
* Najm al-Din Mahmud ibn Ilyas al-Shirazi
* Nakhshabi
* Rashid-al-Din Hamadani
* Sadid al-Din al-Kazaruni
* Yusuf ibn Ismail al-Kutubi
* Zayn-e-Attar

15th century|

* Abu Sa'id al-Afif
* Burhan-ud-din Kermani
* Husayni Isfahani
* Muhammad Ali Astarabadi
* Muhammad ibn Yusuf al-Harawi
* Nurbakhshi
* Shaykh Muhammad ibn Thaleb
* Şerafeddin Kadir

16th century|

* Rostam Gorgani
* ʽImad Shirazi
* Abul Qasim ibn Mohammed al-Ghassani
* Dawud al-Antaki
* Hakim-e-Gilani
* Sultan Ali Khorasani
* Taqi al-Din Muhammad ibn Ma'ruf

17th century|

* Qiwam al-Din Muhammad al-Hasani
* Abd El Razzaq Al-Jazaïri
* Qurayshi al-Shirazi
* Tunakabuni
* Maqsud-Ali Tabrizi

18th century|

* Al-Khurasani al-Shirazi

Concepts|

* Ophthalmology
* Psychology

Works|

* Al-Risalah al-Dhahabiah
* The Canon of Medicine
* Tacuinum Sanitatis
* Anatomy Charts of the Arabs
* The Book of Healing
* Book of the Ten Treatises of the Eye
* De Gradibus
* Al-Tasrif
* Zakhireye Khwarazmshahi
* Adab al-Tabib
* Kamel al-Sanaat al-Tibbyya
* Al-Hawi
* Commentary on Anatomy in Avicenna's Canon
* Lives of the Physicians

Centers|

* Al-'Adudi Hospital
* Bimarestan
* Nur al-Din Bimaristan

Influences|

* Ancient Greek medicine
* Ancient Iranian medicine
* Ayurveda

Influenced|

* Ibn Sina Academy
* Learned medicine
* Medical Renaissance
* Medieval medicine

* v
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Islamic philosophy

| Fields|

* Alchemy
* Aqidah (theology)
* 'Aql (intellect)
* Cosmology
* astrology
* medieval astronomy
* Eschatology
* Ethics
* Kalam (dialectic)
* Fiqh (jurisprudence)
* Logic
* Metaphysics
* Natural philosophy (physics)
* Peace
* Madrasah (education)
* Medieval science
* Medieval psychology
* Sufism (mysticism)

|

Schools|

* Early
* Farabism
* Avicennism
* Averroism
* Illuminationism
* Sufi
* cosmology
* metaphysics
* psychology
* Transcendent theosophy
* Traditionalist
* Contemporary

Concepts|

* ʻAṣabīya
* Ḥāl
* Iʻjaz
* ʼIjtihād
* ʻIlm
* ʻIrfān
* Ijmāʿ
* Maslaha
* Nafs
* Qadar
* Qalb
* Qiyās
* Shūrā
* Tawḥīd
* Ummah

Philosophers by century (CE)

| 9th–10th|

* Al-Kindi
* Ali ibn Sahl Rabban al-Tabari
* Abu al-Abbas Iranshahri
* Abu Bakr al-Razi
* Apharabius
* Abu Hatim al-Razi
* Al Amiri
* Ikhwan al-Safa
* Abu Sulayman Sijistani
* Ibn Masarrah
* Abu Ya'qub al-Sijistani

|

11th|

* Al-Ghazali
* Ibn Miskawayh
* Avicenna
* Ibn Hazm
* Bahmanyār
* Mu'ayyad fi'l-Din al-Shirazi
* Nasir Khusraw
* Hamid al-Din al-Kirmani

12th|

* Abu'l-Barakāt al-Baghdādī
* Afdal al-Din Kashani
* Ahi Evren
* Ahmad Yasavi
* Ayn-al-Quzat
* Averroes
* Ibn Tufail
* Omar Khayyám
* Suhrawardi
* Shams Tabrizi

13th|

* Hajji Bektash Wali
* Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi
* Ibn Sab’in
* Ibn Arabi
* al-Abharī
* Nasir al-Din Tusi
* Fakhr al-Din al-Razi
* Qutb al-Din al-Shirazi
* Sadr al-Din al-Qunawi
* Ibn Taymiyya

14th–16th|

* Ibn Khaldun
* Yunus Emre
* Hajji Bayram
* Jalaladdin Davani
* Sadr ad-Din Dashtaki
* Aziz Mahmud Hudayi
* Qadi Mir Husayn al-Maybudi
* Mahmud Shabistari
* Sayyid Haydar Amuli
* Dawūd al-Qayṣarī
* Jami

17th–19th|

* Mir Damad
* Mir Fendereski
* Mulla Sadra
* Mohsen Fayz Kashani
* Abd al-Razzaq Lahiji
* Mujaddid Alf-i-Sani
* Rajab Ali Tabrizi
* Qazi Sa’id Qumi
* Shah Waliullah Dehlawi
* Hādī Sabzavārī

20th–present|

* Muhammad Husayn Tabatabaei
* Muhammad Iqbal
* Gohar Shahi
* Mohammad Baqir al-Sadr
* René Guénon
* Frithjof Schuon
* Martin Lings
* Fazlur Rahman
* Ismail al-Faruqi
* Seyyed Hossein Nasr
* Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas
* Abdolkarim Soroush
* Gholamhossein Ebrahimi Dinani
* Taha Abdurrahman
* Mohammed Abed al-Jabri
* Mohammed Arkoun
* Fouad Zakariyya
* Reza Davari Ardakani
* Ahmad Fardid
* Mostafa Malekian
* Hasanzadeh Amoli
* Javadi Amoli
* Partawi Shah

* v
* t
* e

Astronomy in the medieval Islamic world

Astronomers

* by century

8th|

* Ahmad Nahavandi
* Al-Fadl ibn Naubakht
* Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm al-Fazārī
* Ibrāhīm al-Fazārī
* Mashallah ibn Athari
* Yaʿqūb ibn Ṭāriq

9th|

* Abu Ali al-Khayyat
* Abu Ma'shar al-Balkhi
* Abu Said Gorgani
* Al-Farghani
* Al-Kindi
* Al-Mahani
* Abu Hanifa Dinawari
* Al-Ḥajjāj ibn Yūsuf
* Al-Marwazi
* Ali ibn Isa al-Asturlabi
* Banū Mūsā brothers
* Iranshahri
* Khalid ibn Abd al‐Malik al‐Marwarrudhi
* Al-Khwarizmi
* Sahl ibn Bishr
* Thābit ibn Qurra
* Yahya ibn Abi Mansur

10th|

* al-Sufi
* Ibn
* Al-Adami
* al-Khojandi
* al-Khazin
* al-Qūhī
* Abu al-Wafa
* Ahmad ibn Yusuf
* al-Battani
* Al-Qabisi
* Ibn al-A'lam
* Al-Nayrizi
* Al-Saghani
* Aṣ-Ṣaidanānī
* Ibn Yunus
* Ibrahim ibn Sinan
* Ma Yize
* al-Sijzi
* Al-ʻIjliyyah
* Nastulus
* Abolfadl Harawi
* Haseb-i Tabari
* al-Majriti
* Abu al-Hasan al-Ahwazi

11th|

* Abu Nasr Mansur
* al-Biruni
* Ali ibn Ridwan
* Al-Zarqālī
* Ibn al-Samh
* Alhazen
* Avicenna
* Ibn al-Saffar
* Kushyar Gilani
* Said al-Andalusi
* Ibrahim ibn Said al-Sahli
* Ibn Mu'adh al-Jayyani
* Al-Isfizari
* Ali ibn Khalaf

12th|

* Al-Bitruji
* Avempace
* Ibn Tufail
* Al-Kharaqī
* Al-Khazini
* Al-Samawal al-Maghribi
* Abu al-Salt
* Averroes
* Ibn al-Kammad
* Jabir ibn Aflah
* Omar Khayyam
* Sharaf al-Din al-Tusi

13th|

* Ibn al-Banna' al-Marrakushi
* Ibn al‐Ha'im al‐Ishbili
* Jamal ad-Din
* Alam al-Din al-Hanafi
* Najm al‐Din al‐Misri
* Muhyi al-Din al-Maghribi
* Nasir al-Din al-Tusi
* Qutb al-Din al-Shirazi
* Shams al-Din al-Samarqandi
* Zakariya al-Qazwini
* al-Urdi
* al-Abhari
* Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr al‐Farisi
* Abu Ali al-Hasan al-Marrakushi
* Ibn Ishaq al-Tunisi
* Ibn al‐Raqqam
* Al-Ashraf Umar II
* Fakhr al-Din al-Akhlati

14th|

* Ibn al-Shatir
* Al-Khalili
* Ibn Shuayb
* al-Battiwi
* Abū al‐ʿUqūl
* Al-Wabkanawi
* Nizam al-Din al-Nisapuri
* al-Jadiri
* Sadr al-Shari'a al-Asghar
* Fathullah Shirazi

15th|

* Ali Kuşçu
* Abd al‐Wajid
* Jamshid al-Kashi
* Kadızade Rumi
* Ulugh Beg
* Sibt al-Maridini
* Ibn al-Majdi
* al-Wafa'i
* al-Kubunani
* 'Abd al-'Aziz al-Wafa'i

16th|

* Al-Birjandi
* al-Khafri
* Baha' al-din al-'Amili
* Piri Reis
* Takiyüddin

17th|

* Yang Guangxian
* Ehmedê Xanî
* Al Achsasi al Mouakket
* Muhammad al-Rudani

Topics

| Works|

* Arabic star names
* Islamic calendar
* Aja'ib al-Makhluqat
* Encyclopedia of the Brethren of Purity
* Tabula Rogeriana
* The Book of Healing
* The Remaining Signs of Past Centuries

Zij|

* Alfonsine tables
* Huihui Lifa
* Book of Fixed Stars
* Toledan Tables
* Zij-i Ilkhani
* Zij-i Sultani
* Sullam al-sama'

Instruments|

* Alidade
* Analog computer
* Aperture
* Armillary sphere
* Astrolabe
* Astronomical clock
* Celestial globe
* Compass
* Compass rose
* Dioptra
* Equatorial ring
* Equatorium
* Globe
* Graph paper
* Mural instrument
* Navigational astrolabe
* Octant
* Planisphere
* Quadrant
* Sextant
* Shadow square
* Sundial
* Schema for horizontal sundials
* Triquetrum

Concepts|

* Almucantar
* Apogee
* Astrology
* Astrophysics
* Axial tilt
* Azimuth
* Celestial mechanics
* Celestial spheres
* Circular orbit
* Deferent and epicycle
* Earth's rotation
* Eccentricity
* Ecliptic
* Elliptic orbit
* Equant
* Galaxy
* Geocentrism
* Gravitational energy
* Gravity
* Heliocentrism
* Inertia
* Islamic cosmology
* Moonlight
* Multiverse
* Muwaqqit
* Obliquity
* Parallax
* Precession
* Qibla
* Salah times
* Specific gravity
* Spherical Earth
* Sublunary sphere
* Sunlight
* Supernova
* Temporal finitism
* Trepidation
* Triangulation
* Tusi couple
* Universe

Institutions|

* Al-Azhar University
* House of Knowledge
* House of Wisdom
* University of al-Qarawiyyin
* Observatories
* Constantinople (Taqi al-Din)
* Maragheh
* Samarkand (Ulugh Beg)

Influences|

* Babylonian astronomy
* Egyptian astronomy
* Hellenistic astronomy
* Indian astronomy

Influenced|

* Byzantine science
* Chinese astronomy
* Medieval European science
* Indian astronomy

## External links

[edit]

* Ibn Sina (Avicenna) — Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
* Avicenna on the subject and the object of metaphysics with a list of English translations of his philosophical works
* (AR) Kitab al-Shifa fi [kidha] tariff huquq al-Mustafa (in Arabic) - via archive.org.

Authority control databases

International|

* VIAF

National|

* Germany
* France
* BnF data
* Israel

Other|

* IdRef
* İslâm Ansiklopedisi

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