Avicenna, history corrections

AVICENNA / Ibn Sina

By Dr. Tahmineh Nikookar

Dr. Tahmineh Nikookar was born in Iran and has a Master's Degree in Chemical Engineering. She lives in Canada where she runs a practice offering a variety of therapies. Click here to see more.

I have noticed in many books, articles and different publications "Avicenna", has been referred to as being an Arab. As the history shows, this is completely untrue. Rather, he is Persian/Iranian. I recently interviewed Dr. Houshang Seyhoun, the famous Iranian architect, and the designer of Avicenna monument, which is located in Hamadan- Iran. The comments below are from this interview.

• Avicenna was born in Old Persian land, and not in an Arabic country.

• None of his parents were Arab. In fact, both were Persian.

• His mother tongue language has been Persian or Farsi, and he has written books in Persian.

• History documents show that Avicenna never stepped into any Arabic Country.

• Unfortunately, his life coincides with the time of a few centuries invasion of Persia by Islamic Arabs. The history shows that due to the power of Arab rulers, using their language (Arabic) was a must, by those people whose land was occupied by Islamic Arabs.

• In spite of the fact that all the countries which had been invaded by Arabic people, finally forgot their original language due to the reasons explained above, Iran/Persia, is the only country that resisted this change and kept their original language (Farsi or Persian), up to this date.

• Therefore, if the scientists at that time have written books or articles in the Arabic language, it does not mean their nationality is Arab. In fact, it is due to the political pressure from Arab rulers. One has only to refer to the content of "Avicena Life History" to determine that indeed, he was Persian.

I hope it helps, to prevent future historical mistakes of this nature.

Above is Dr Houshang Seyhoun, the famous Iranian architect of monuments and mausoleums like Avicenna. He is not only an architect, but a great artist too. He has many art shows either group show or solo, and one of his art shows was with Salvador Dali & Pablo Picasso.