Editing Avicenna (section)

== Biography ==
=== Early life and education ===
Avicenna was born in {{circa|980}} in the village of Afshana in [[Transoxiana]] to a Persian family.<ref>According to {{harvnb|El-Bizri|2006|p=369}}, Avicenna was "of Persian descent". According to {{harvnb|Khalidi|2005|p=xviii}}, Avicenna was "born of Persian parentage". According to {{harvnb|Copleston|1993|p=190}}, Avicenna was "Persian by birth". {{harvnb|Gutas|2014|pp=xi,310}}, mentions Avicenna as an example for "Persian-born authors" and speaks of "presumed Persian origins" for Avicenna. {{harvnb|Glick|Livesey|Wallis|2005|p=256}}, states "An ethnic Persian, he [Avicenna] was born in Kharmaithen, near Bukhara".</ref> The village was near the [[Samanid Empire|Samanid]] capital of [[Bukhara]], which was his mother's hometown.{{sfn|Goichon|1986|p=941}} His father Abd Allah was a native of the city of [[Balkh]] in [[Bactria]].{{sfn|Gutas|2014|p=11}} An official of the Samanid bureaucracy, he had served as the governor of a village of the royal estate of Harmaytan near Bukhara during the reign of [[Nuh II]] ({{reign|976|997}}).{{sfn|Gutas|2014|p=11}} Avicenna also had a younger brother. A few years later, the family settled in Bukhara, a center of learning, which attracted many scholars. It was there that Avicenna was educated, which early on was seemingly administered by his father.{{sfn|Gutas|1987|pp=67–70}}{{sfn|Gutas|2014|p=12}}{{sfn|Adamson|2013|p=8}} 

Although both Avicenna's father and brother had converted to [[Isma'ilism]], he himself did not follow the faith.{{sfn|Daftary|2017|p=191}}{{sfn|Daftary|2007|pp=202–203}} He was instead a [[Hanafi school|Hanafi Sunni]], the same school followed by the Samanids.{{sfn|Gutas|1988|pp=330–331}}

Avicenna was first schooled in the [[Quran]] and literature, and by the age of 10, he had [[Hafiz (Quran)|memorized the entire Quran]].{{sfn|Gutas|2014|p=12}} He was later sent by his father to an Indian greengrocer, who taught him [[arithmetic]].{{sfn|Gutas|2014|p=13}} Afterwards, he was schooled in fiqh by the Hanafi [[faqīh|jurist]] Ismail al-Zahid. Sometime later, his father invited the physician and philosopher [[al-Natili]] to their house to educate ibn Sina.{{sfn|Gutas|2014|p=12}}{{sfn|Adamson|2013|p=8}} Together, they studied the ''[[Isagoge]]'' of [[Porphyry (philosopher)|Porphyry]] (died 305) and possibly the [[Categories (Aristotle)|''Categories'' of Aristotle]] (died 322 BCE) as well. After Avicenna had read the ''[[Almagest]]'' of [[Ptolemy]] (died 170) and [[Euclid's Elements|Euclid's ''Elements'']], al-Natili told him to continue his research independently.{{sfn|Adamson|2013|p=8}} By the time Avicenna was eighteen, he was well-educated in [[science in classical antiquity|Greek sciences]]. Although ibn Sina only mentions al-Natili as his teacher in his [[autobiography]], he most likely had other teachers as well, such as the physicians [[Qumri]] and Abu Sahl 'Isa ibn Yahya al-Masihi.{{sfn|Gutas|1987|pp=67–70}}{{sfn|Gutas|2014|p=13}}

=== Career ===
==== In Bukhara and Gurganj ====
[[File:Transoxiana 8th century.svg|thumb|right|300px|alt=Geophysical map of southern Central Asia (Khurasan and Transoxiana) with the major settlements and regions|Map of [[Khurasan]] and [[Transoxiana]]]]
At the age of seventeen, Avicenna was made a physician of Nuh II. By the time Avicenna was at least 21 years old, his father died. He was subsequently given an administrative post, possibly succeeding his father as the governor of Harmaytan. Avicenna later moved to [[Gurganj]], the capital of Khwarazm, which he reports that he did due to "necessity". The date he went to the place is uncertain, as he reports that he served the [[Khwarazmshah]], the ruler of Khwarazm, the [[Ma'munids|Ma'munid]] ruler [[Abu al-Hasan Ali]]. The latter ruled from 997 to 1009, which indicates that Avicenna moved sometime during that period.

He may have moved in 999, the year in which the Samanid Empire fell after the [[Kara-Khanid Khanate]] captured Bukhara and imprisoned the Samanid emir [[Abd al-Malik II (Samanid emir)|Abd al-Malik II]]. Due to his high position and strong connection with the Samanids, ibn Sina may have found himself in an unfavorable position after the fall of his suzerain.{{sfn|Gutas|1987|pp=67–70}}

It was through the minister of Gurganj, Abu'l-Husayn as-Sahi, a patron of Greek sciences, that Avicenna entered into the service of Abu al-Hasan Ali.{{sfn|Gutas|2014|p=19 (see also note 28)}} Under the Ma'munids, Gurganj became a centre of learning, attracting many prominent figures, such as ibn Sina and his former teacher Abu Sahl al-Masihi, the mathematician Abu Nasr Mansur, the physician ibn al-Khammar, and the [[philologist]] [[al-Tha'alibi]].{{sfn|Bosworth|1978|p=1066}}{{sfn|Bosworth|1984a|pp=762–764}}

==== In Gorgan ====
Avicenna later moved due to "necessity" once more (in 1012), this time to the west. There he travelled through the [[Khurasan]]i cities of [[Nisa, Turkmenistan|Nasa]], [[Abivard]], [[Tus, Iran|Tus]], [[Samangan, Torbat-e Jam|Samangan]] and [[Jajarm]]. He was planning to visit the ruler of the city of [[Gorgan]], the [[Ziyarid dynasty|Ziyarid]] [[Qabus]] ({{reign|977|981|997|1012}}), a cultivated patron of writing, whose court attracted many distinguished poets and scholars. However, when Avicenna eventually arrived, he discovered that the ruler had been dead since the winter of 1013.{{sfn|Gutas|1987|pp=67–70}}{{sfn|Madelung|1975|p=215}} Avicenna then left Gorgan for [[Dihistan]], but returned after becoming ill. There he met [[Abu 'Ubayd al-Juzjani]] (died 1070) who became his pupil and companion.{{sfn|Gutas|1987|pp=67–70}}{{sfn|Gutas|2014|pp=19, 29}} Avicenna stayed briefly in Gorgan, reportedly serving Qabus's son and successor [[Manuchihr]] ({{reign|1012|1031|link=no}}) and resided in the house of a patron.{{sfn|Gutas|1987|pp=67–70}}

==== In Ray and Hamadan ====
[[File:Gold dinar of Majd al-Dawla, the last ruler of the Buyid amirate of Ray.jpg|thumb|Coin of [[Majd al-Dawla]] ({{reign|997|1029}}), the ''[[amir]]'' (ruler) of the [[Buyid]] branch of [[Ray, Iran|Ray]]]]
In {{circa|1014}}, Avicenna went to the city of [[Ray, Iran|Ray]], where he entered into the service of the [[Buyid dynasty|Buyid amir]] [[Majd al-Dawla]] ({{reign|997|1029}}) and his mother [[Sayyida Shirin]], the ''de facto'' ruler of the realm. There he served as the physician at the court, treating Majd al-Dawla, who was suffering from [[melancholia]]. Avicenna reportedly later served as the "business manager" of Sayyida Shirin in [[Qazvin]] and [[Hamadan]], though details regarding this tenure are unclear.{{sfn|Gutas|1987|pp=67–70}}{{sfn|Adamson|2013|p=14}} During this period, Avicenna finished writing ''[[The Canon of Medicine]]'' and started writing his ''[[The Book of Healing]]''.{{sfn|Adamson|2013|p=14}}

In 1015, during Avicenna's stay in [[Hamadan]], he participated in a public debate, as was customary for newly arrived scholars in western Iran at that time. The purpose of the debate was to examine one's reputation against a prominent resident.{{sfn|Adamson|2013|pp=15–16}} The person whom Avicenna debated against was Abu'l-Qasim al-Kirmani, a member of the school of philosophers of [[Baghdad]].{{sfn|Adamson|2013|p=15}} The debate became heated, resulting in ibn Sina accusing Abu'l-Qasim of lack of basic knowledge in [[logic]], while Abu'l-Qasim accused ibn Sina of impoliteness.{{sfn|Adamson|2013|pp=15–16}}

After the debate, Avicenna sent a letter to the Baghdad Peripatetics, asking if Abu'l-Qasim's claim that he shared the same opinion as them was true. Abu'l-Qasim later retaliated by writing a letter to an unknown person in which he made accusations so serious that ibn Sina wrote to Abu Sa'd, the deputy of Majd al-Dawla, to investigate the matter. The accusation made towards Avicenna may have been the same as he had received earlier, in which he was accused by the people of Hamadan of copying the stylistic structures of the Quran in his ''Sermons on Divine Unity''.{{sfn|Adamson|2013|pp=16–18}} The seriousness of this charge, in the words of the historian Peter Adamson, "cannot be underestimated in the larger Muslim culture".{{sfn|Adamson|2013|p=17}}

Not long afterwards, Avicenna shifted his allegiance to the rising Buyid amir [[Shams al-Dawla]], the younger brother of Majd al-Dawla, which Adamson suggests was due to Abu'l-Qasim also working under Sayyida Shirin.{{sfn|Adamson|2013|p=18}}{{sfn|Madelung|1975|p=293}} Avicenna had been called upon by Shams al-Dawla to treat him, but after the latter's campaign in the same year against his former ally, the [[Annazids|Annazid ruler]] Abu Shawk ({{reign|1010|1046}}), he forced Avicenna to become his [[vizier]].{{sfn|Adamson|2013|p=18 (see also note 45)}}

Although Avicenna would sometimes clash with Shams al-Dawla's troops, he remained vizier until the latter died of [[colic]] in 1021. Avicenna was asked to stay as vizier by Shams al-Dawla's son and successor [[Sama' al-Dawla]] ({{reign|1021|1023|link=no}}), but he instead went into hiding with his patron, Abu Ghalib al-Attar, to wait for better opportunities to emerge. It was during this period that Avicenna was secretly in contact with [[Ala al-Dawla Muhammad]] ({{reign|1008|1041}}), the Kakuyid ruler of [[Isfahan]] and uncle of Sayyida Shirin.{{sfn|Gutas|1987|pp=67–70}}{{sfn|Adamson|2013|p=22}}{{sfn|Bosworth|1984b|pp=773–774}}

It was during his stay at Attar's home that Avicenna completed ''The Book of Healing'', writing 50 pages a day.{{sfn|Adamson|2013|pp=22–23}} The Buyid court in Hamadan, particularly the [[Kurds|Kurdish]] vizier Taj al-Mulk, suspected Avicenna of correspondence with Ala al-Dawla, and as a result, had the house of Attar ransacked and ibn Sina imprisoned in the fortress of Fardajan, outside Hamadan. Juzjani blames one of ibn Sina's informers for his capture. He was imprisoned for four months until Ala al-Dawla captured Hamadan, ending Sama al-Dawla's reign.{{sfn|Gutas|1987|pp=67–70}}{{sfn|Adamson|2013|p=23}}

==== In Isfahan ====
[[File:MuhammadibnRustamDushmanziyarCoin.jpg|thumb|left|Coin of [[Ala al-Dawla Muhammad]] ({{reign|1008|1041}}), the [[Kakuyids|Kakuyid]] ruler of [[Isfahan]]]]
Avicenna was subsequently released, and went to Isfahan, where he was well received by Ala al-Dawla. In the words of Juzjani, the Kakuyid ruler gave Avicenna "the respect and esteem which someone like him deserved".{{sfn|Gutas|1987|pp=67–70}} Adamson also says that Avicenna's service under Ala al-Dawla "proved to be the most stable period of his life".{{sfn|Adamson|2013|p=25}} Avicenna served as the advisor, if not vizier of Ala al-Dawla, accompanying him in many of his military expeditions and travels.{{sfn|Gutas|1987|pp=67–70}}{{sfn|Adamson|2013|p=25}} Avicenna dedicated two Persian works to him, a philosophical treatise named ''[[Daneshnameh-ye Alai|Danish-nama-yi Ala'i]]'' ("Book of Science for Ala"), and a medical treatise about the pulse.{{sfn|Lazard|1975|p=630}}
[[File:Мавзолей Авиценны 1.JPG|thumb|The [[Avicenna Mausoleum|Mausoleum of Avicenna]], [[Hamadan]], Iran]]
During the brief occupation of Isfahan by the [[Ghaznavids]] in January 1030, Avicenna and Ala al-Dawla relocated to the southwestern Iranian region of [[Khuzestan Province|Khuzistan]], where they stayed until the death of the Ghaznavid ruler [[Mahmud of Ghazni|Mahmud]] ({{reign|998|1030}}), which occurred two months later. It was seemingly when Avicenna returned to Isfahan that he started writing his ''Pointers and Reminders''.{{sfn|Gutas|2014|p=133}} In 1037, while Avicenna was accompanying Ala al-Dawla to a battle near Isfahan, he contracted a severe colic, having suffered from colic throughout his life. He died shortly afterwards in Hamadan, where he was buried.{{sfn|Adamson|2013|p=26}}
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