Avicenna
Avicenna
Avicennawas a Persian polymath who is regarded as one of the most significant thinkers and writers of the Islamic Golden Age...
ProfessionPhilosopher
insanity different madness
The different sorts of madness are innumerable.
mean medicine body
Medicine considers the human body as to the means by which it is cured and by which it is driven away from health.
wine darkness fool
Is it the fault of wine if a fool drinks it and goes stumbling into darkness?
lightning brilliant disappear
The more brilliant the lightning, the quicker it disappears.
causes all-things known
The knowledge of anything, since all things have causes, is not acquired or complete unless it is known by its causes.
doctors ignorant camps
An ignorant doctor is the aide-de-camp of death.
spiritual space essence
God, the supreme being, is neither circumscribed by space, nor touched by time; he cannot be found in a particular direction, and his essence cannot change. The secret conversation is thus entirely spiritual; it is a direct encounter between God and the soul, abstracted from all material constraints.
wisdom prayer islamic
Prayer is that which enables the soul to realize its divinity. Through prayer human beings worship absolute truth, and seek an eternal reward. Prayer is the foundation-stone of religion; and religion is the means by which the soul is purified of all that pollutes it. Prayer is the worship of the first cause of all things, the supreme ruler of all the world, the source of all strength. Prayer is the adoration of the one whose being is necessary.
disease herbs lack-of-knowledge
There are no incurable diseases — only the lack of will. There are no worthless herbs — only the lack of knowledge.
trust men world
The world is divided into men who have wit and no religion and men who have religion and no wit.
length-of-life important life-is
Width of life is more important than length of life.
short-life length width
I [prefer] a short life with width to a narrow one with length.
water earth virtue
It is in the nature of water ... to become transformed into earth through a predominating earthy virtue; ... it is in the nature of earth to become transformed into water through a predominating aqueous virtue.
art health mean
Medicine is the science by which we learn the various states of the human body in health and when not in health, and the means by which health is likely to be lost and, when lost, is likely to be restored back to health. In other words, it is the art whereby health is conserved and the art whereby it is restored after being lost. While some divide medicine into a theoretical and a practical [applied] science, others may assume that it is only theoretical because they see it as a pure science. But, in truth, every science has both a theoretical and a practical side.