The works of Ibn Sina in the Süleymaniye Manuscript Library

Abu Ali al-Hussain Ibn Abdallah Ibn al-Hassan Ibn al-Ali Ibn Sina (980-1038), often known by his Latin name of Avicenna, has been described as possessing the mind of Goethe and the genius of Leonardo da Vinci. European medical historians consider him to be one of the most famous scientists of Islam and one of the most famous persons of all races, places and times. Ibn Sina was not only a great physician and scientist but a philosopher as well. He also contributed into the fields such as psychology, geology, mathematics, chemistry, astronomy and logic. Today, Ibn Sina’s portrait hangs in the main hall of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Paris.

The works of Ibn Sina that have come down to us are considerable, even if not complete. For some, Ibn Sina wrote about 450 works of which around 240 have survived. G.C. Anawati lists, in his bibliography of 1950, a total of 276 works including texts noted as doubtful and some apocryphal works. Yahya Mahdawi lists 131 authentic and 110 doubtful works in “Bibliographie d’I.S.” in 1954. Read more about this element on the UNESCO Memory of the World website.