The Book of Healing

The Book of Healing (Arabic: ‫ﮐﺘﺎب اﻟﺸﻔﺎء‬

Kitāb al-Šifāʾ, Latin: Sufficientia) is a
scientific and philosophical encyclopedia
written by Abu Ali ibn Sīna (Avicenna)
from medieval Persia, near Bukhara in
Maverounnahr. Also called The Cure it is
intended to "cure" or "heal" ignorance of
the soul. Despite its title, it is not
concerned with medicine; Avicenna's
earlier The Canon of Medicine in 5
volumes had been medical.
 The Book of Healing

Author Avicenna

Original title ‫ﻛﺘﺎب اﻟﺸﻔﺎء‬

Language Arabic

Genre Medical literature

Published 1027 (Arabic)

This book is Ibn Sina’s major work on

science and philosophy. He probably
began to compose the al-Shifa in 1014,
completed it around 1020,[1] and
published it in 1027.[2][3]

The book is divided into four parts: logic,

natural sciences, mathematics (a
quadrivium of arithmetic, geometry,
astronomy, and music), and
metaphysics.[3] It was influenced by
ancient Greek philosophers, such as
Aristotle, Hellenistic thinkers such as
Ptolemy, earlier Persian and Muslim
scientists and philosophers such as Al-
Kindi (Alkindus), Al-Farabi (Alfarabi) and
Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī.

Sciences
Astronomy

In astronomy, the book proposed the

theory that Venus is closer to Earth than
the Sun.

Chemistry
Ibn Sina's theory on the formation of
metals combined Jābir ibn Hayyān's
sulfur-mercury theory from Islamic
alchemy (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

Toulmin and Goodfield (1965),

commented on Avicenna's contribution
to geology: "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".[5]

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

In The Book of Healing, Avicenna

discussed the mind, its existence, the
mind and body relationship, sensation,
perception, etc. He wrote 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 himself/herself 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 he/she 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 antiquity) and the five
internal senses which he discovered
himself. The five internal senses he
discovered were: the sensus communis
(seat of all senses) which integrates
sense data into percepts; the imaginative
faculty which conserves the perceptual
images; the sense of imagination which
acts upon these images by combining
and separating them, serving as the seat
of the practical intellect; 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
intentions (ma'ni) which conserve all
these notions in memory.[7]

Avicenna also gave psychological

explanations for certain somatic
illnesses, and he always linked the
physical and psychological illnesses
together. He described melancholia
(depression) as a type of mood disorder
in which the person may become
suspicious and develop certain types of
phobias. He stated that anger heralded
the transition of melancholia to mania,
and explained that humidity inside the
head can contribute to mood disorders.
He recognized 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 wrote about symptoms and
treatments for nightmare, epilepsy, and
weak memory.[8]

Avicenna often used psychological

methods to treat his patients.[8] One such
example is when a prince of Persia had
melancholia and suffered from the
delusion that he is a cow, and who would
moo like a cow crying "Kill me so that a
good stew may be made of my flesh" and
would never eat anything. Avicenna was
persuaded to the case and 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. "By order of the butcher, the
patient was also laid on the ground for
slaughter." When Avicenna approached
the patient pretending 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."[9]

Philosophy
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.[10]

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.[11]

Logic

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.[12] 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.[13]

He wrote on the hypothetical

syllogism[2][3] and on the propositional
calculus, which were both part of the
Stoic logical tradition.[14] He developed
an original theory of “temporally
modalized” syllogistic[15] 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

Early Islamic metaphysics, imbued as it

is with Islamic theology, distinguishes
more clearly than Aristotelianism the
difference between essence and
existence. 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.[16]

Avicenna's proof for the existence of God

was the first ontological argument, which
he proposed in the Metaphysics section
of The Book of Healing.[17][18] 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."[19]

Philosophy of science

In the Al-Burhan (On Demonstration)

section of the book, Avicenna discussed
the philosophy of science and described
an early scientific method of inquiry. He
discusses Aristotle's Posterior Analytics
and significantly diverged from it on
several points. Avicenna discussed the
issue of a proper methodology for
scientific inquiry and the question of
"How does one acquire the first
principles of a science?" He asked 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
criticized 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."[20]

Sections of the text

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

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

References
1. "Ibn Sina Abu 'Ali Al-Husayn" .
Muslimphilosophy.com. Retrieved
2014-08-05.
2. Goodman, Lenn Evan (2003), Islamic
Humanism, p. 155, Oxford University
 Press, ISBN 0-19-513580-6.
3. Lenn Evan Goodman (1992),
Avicenna, p. 31, Routledge, ISBN 0-
415-01929-X.
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. Stephen Toulmin and June Goodfield
(1965), The Ancestry of Science: The
Discovery of Time, p. 64, University
of Chicago Press (cf. The
Contribution of Ibn Sina to the
development of Earth sciences )
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. Amber Haque (2004), "Psychology
from Islamic Perspective:
Contributions of Early Muslim
Scholars and Challenges to
Contemporary Muslim
Psychologists", Journal of Religion
and Health 43 (4): 357-377 [366]
8. Amber Haque (2004), "Psychology
from Islamic Perspective:
Contributions of Early Muslim
Scholars and Challenges to
 Contemporary Muslim
Psychologists", Journal of Religion
and Health 43 (4): 357-377 [366].
9. Amber Haque (2004), "Psychology
from Islamic Perspective:
Contributions of Early Muslim
Scholars and Challenges to
Contemporary Muslim
Psychologists", Journal of Religion
and Health 43 (4): 357-377 [376].
10. Nahyan A. G. Fancy (2006), p. 80-81,
"Pulmonary Transit and Bodily
Resurrection: The Interaction of
Medicine, Philosophy and Religion in
the Works of Ibn al-Nafīs (d. 1288)",
 Electronic Theses and Dissertations,
University of Notre Dame.[1]
11. "The Internet Encyclopedia of
Philosophy, Avicenna/Ibn Sina (CA.
980-1037)" . Iep.utm.edu. 2013-08-
02. Retrieved 2014-08-05.
12. 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 )
13. Richard F. Washell (1973), "Logic,
Language, and Albert the Great",
 Journal of the History of Ideas 34 (3),
pp. 445–450 [445].
14. Goodman, Lenn Evan (1992);
Avicenna, p. 188, Routledge, ISBN 0-
415-01929-X.
15. History of logic: Arabic logic ,
Encyclopædia Britannica.
16. "Islam" . Encyclopædia Britannica
Online. 2007. Retrieved
November 27, 2007.
17. Steve A. Johnson (1984), "Ibn Sina's
Fourth Ontological Argument for
God's Existence", The Muslim World
74 (3-4), 161–171.
18. Morewedge, P., "Ibn Sina (Avicenna)
and Malcolm and the Ontological
 Argument", Monist, 54: 234–49
19. Mayer, Toby (2001), "Ibn Sina's
'Burhan Al-Siddiqin' ", Journal of
Islamic Studies, Oxford Centre for
Islamic Studies, Oxford Journals,
Oxford University Press, 12 (1): 18–
39, doi:10.1093/jis/12.1.18
20. 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

External links
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 . archive.org (in Arabic).

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