Islam Museum Islam Museum islam.museum
Search ⌕ ARENUR
Accessibility
Text size 100%

Saved on this device only — nothing is sent anywhere.

The four elements (al-arkan)

الأركان الأربعة

For Ibn Sina the elements are simple bodies, not divisible into bodies different in form, and all compound beings are made from them by mixture. There are four: fire and air are light, water and earth heavy. He describes earth as cold and dry and water as cold and wet 1. The physician takes this from natural philosophy and does not prove it within his own craft 1.

Depth

At a glance

Review
Draft Completeness 1/5 · Help complete it

Overview

For Ibn Sina the elements are simple bodies that do not divide into bodies of different forms — from them creatures are compounded by mixture; they are four: fire and air are light, water and earth heavy; earth he describes as cold and dry, water as cold and moist 1. The physician takes this on trust from natural philosophy and does not prove it in his own craft 1.

Connections

Explore the connections

Part of
Medicine

People and things also explored

Anatomy· Disease (al-marad)· Health (al-sihha)· Humours (al-akhlat)· Medical treatment (al-mu'alaja)· Powers and actions (al-quwa wal-af'al)· Regimen of health (al-tadbir)· Symptoms and signs (al-a'rad wal-dala'il)

Sources

  1. The Canon of Medicine, vol. 1 (Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyya, Beirut, 1999) , p.17
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “The four elements (al-arkan)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/four-elements/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-22.

Improve this page on GitHub · Report an error · JSON

Related

Anatomy

In his commentary on the Canon's anatomy, Ibn al-Nafis says that religious restraint and compassion kept him from dissecting himself. He therefore relied on earlier practitioners, chiefly Galen, for the shapes of the inner organs, and on reasoned inquiry for their functions.