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The Ash-Shifa Manuscript

Ibn Sina's greatest book — from Bukhara to Europe's libraries — in twelve cards.

Bukhara

Abu Ali ibn Sina was born in Afshana near Bukhara in 980 CE.

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  1. Bukhara
    Abu Ali ibn Sina was born in Afshana near Bukhara in 980 CE.
  2. The child
    He memorized the Qur'an before ten and read logic, fiqh and medicine young.
  3. The library
    He cured Bukhara's emir, who opened the Samanid library for him to read at will.
  4. The fire
    The library burned one day and he grieved, but he kept what he read in his chest.
  5. The wanderings
    He moved between Jurjan, Rayy, Hamadan and Isfahan — physician and minister.
  6. The book
    He began the Book of Healing — an encyclopedia of logic, physics, mathematics and metaphysics.
  7. The nights
    He wrote at night; his student said he would not sleep until his task was done.
  8. The size
    Ash-Shifa runs to eighteen volumes — among the largest works a single person wrote.
  9. The Canon
    Before it he wrote the Canon of Medicine — medicine's reference east and west for centuries.
  10. The preservation
    The manuscripts of Ash-Shifa were copied by many hands, kept from Cordoba to Konya.
  11. The translation
    Translated to Latin at Cordoba, it was studied in Europe's schools into the seventeenth century.
  12. The master
    They called him the Chief Master; he died in Hamadan in 1037 — his book is still read.

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