The Life of Avicenna

he also practiced healing happily, and not without the greatest honors and gifts, and his travels through various cities and regions, his familiarity with Prince-men and Kings, and also with what dignities the Kings honored him, what volumes he wrote, in what places and at what time, and his amazing, or rather divine, facility in composing in every kind of science, what illnesses he labored under, and what remedies he used, in what place he met his day, and at what time, and in what place he was buried, to whom he left his goods after the course of his life. May your Amplitude be happy, as it wishes. Venice, the Kalends of September, 1562.

THE PRINTER TO THE READER

A woodcut depicts a decorative initial 'S' featuring a figure, possibly a scholar or saint, seated with a book, surrounded by foliage and architectural elements.

BUT since Hieronymus Rhamnusius, a famous physician who, in previous years, accurately translated a great part of the books of Avicenna from the Arabic into the Latin language at Damascus, seems to differ quite a bit regarding the birth of Avicenna from the Sorsanus the Arab, his own disciple, who finished his life—which Nicolaus Massa later wrote in Latin after it was translated from the Arabic—we have judged it worth describing that calculation of Rhamnusius here briefly for the sake of learned men and especially those who might wish to reckon this account up to this time according to the years of the Hegira, which according to the Arabs is the flight of Mahomet.

He in his codex of Avicenna (which, having been described earlier in Arabic from a very ancient exemplar, he gave to Latinity, and which still exists today at Venice among his heirs, namely Paul Rhamnusius, a most elegant and learned man, by whose kindness we also made use of in correcting these books) relates these very words almost verbatim.

سعر Se'r, that is, 373. For س signifies 300, ع 70, and ر signifies 3. Wherefore Abuali, whom we call Avicenna, was born 373 years from the flight of Mahomet; for they have now for their thousandth, 890 years from the flight of Mahomet; we, however, 1484 from the birth of Christ. Their year consists of twelve courses of the moon: whence it happens that their year is smaller than ours by about nine days.

And these things [are from] Rhamnusius.