Sambodhi 1981 Vol 10

Author(s): Dalsukh Malvania, H C Bhayani, Nagin J Shah
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

Page 91

Ibn Sina : His Philosophy of Being
curiocity he gained complete mastery of all Greek works on mathematics, scieace and medicine by his eighteenth birthday. Then he turned to Aristotle's Metaphysica which he read over forty times without being able to understand it. But when he came across Abu Nasrs al Farabi's book, On the objective of the Metaphysica' he got clarity into the content of Aristotle's Metaphysica. On the other hand, as a grown up person, Ibn Sina, in search of right patron, moved from place to place. He served many rulers until be moved on to Hamadan since 1015, and then to Isfaban which become his home for the last fourteen years of his life.
Bzing a versatile genius Ibn Sina contributed to the fields of medicine, mathematics, astronomy, misic, literature etc. However, he was metaphysician by temperament. He passionately devoted himself to the study of metphysics. As a result he became perhaps the most remarkable Islamic philospher of the medieval period. It is already mentioned that through al-Farabi's commentary on Aristotle's metaphysica he could grasp its content. But his inquisitive mind made further discoveries with his own original contribution in the realm of thought.
Among his works on philosophy, Kitab al Shifa (Book of Healing) is considered the greatest one. He made an abridgement of it called Kitab-al-Najat (the Book of Salvation). Another famous philosophical work is Kitab al Isharat wal Tanbihat (Book of Remarks and Admonities.) His philosophical treatises, among others, included Philosophy el-Arudi, Philosophy el Atai, Guide to Wisdom, an epistle on The Fountains of Wisdom, a treatise on the Soul, a mysterious poem on the Soul, and a series of mystical treatises which like Kitab al Ishara show distinct progress in the direction of what Ibn Sina designed the "Oriental Philosophy" or " Illumination".
So far as Ibn Sina's contribution to metaphysics is concerned it should be noted that though he borrowed from Aristotle and Neo-Platonism he had thought out his system carefully and independently. He couched his own discoveries into Aristotelian logical frame-work, however, he transcended the limits of Aristotelian thought process. And in this process he seemed to have been iufluenced by mystical experiences of others, though not of his own. As mentioned earlier, al Farabi's commentary on Aristotle helped him much to solve some of the metaphysical problems. In this context it should be noted that al Farabi himself was attached to a mystical school of the Sufis. Moreover, Ibn Sina himself also was influenced by Sufism. He had personal contacts with the most famous Sufi of his times, Khwaja
Sambodhi-X. 11