EMERGENCE AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE THEME OF IBN SINA IN ENGLISH LITERATURE

Аннотация

This article explores the representation of Ibn Sina (Avicenna) in English literature, tracing the emergence and evolution of his image from early Orientalist works to modern historical fiction and academic interpretations. It analyzes how English authors have portrayed Ibn Sina as a symbol of wisdom, a bridge between East and West, and a figure of intellectual fascination. The article highlights shifts in thematic focus, narrative purpose, and cultural perceptionacross different literary periods. Ibn Sina, known in the Western world as Avicenna, stands among the most influential thinkers of the Islamic Golden Age. Born in 980 CE in what is now Uzbekistan, he made remarkable contributions to various fields, including medicine, philosophy, astronomy, and metaphysics. His most renowned works – The Canon of Medicine (Al-Qanun fi al-Tibb) and The Book of Healing (Kitab al-Shifa) – were foundational texts in both the Islamic world and Europe for centuries. While his scientific legacy is well-documented, the literary reflection of his persona inEnglish literature has received relatively less critical attention. The incorporation of Ibn Sina into English literature reflects a broader historical and cultural engagement between the Islamic and Western intellectual traditions. His entrance into English literary discourse can be traced back to Orientalist literature of the 18th and 19th centuries, when European authors sought to explore and romanticize the East. In these early depictions, Ibn Sina was often portrayed as a mystical or exotic figure – a symbol of ancient Eastern wisdom. However, this representation evolved significantly over time, particularly with the rise of historical fiction and renewed academic interest in Islamic philosophy during the 20th and 21st centuries. This article explores how Ibn Sina has been portrayed in English literature from early Orientalist references to more nuanced and respectful portrayals in contemporary works. The earliest mentions of Ibn Sina in English literature must be understood within the broader framework of Orientalism, a term popularized by Edward Said to describe how Western writers constructed an exoticized image ofthe East. During the18th and19th centuries, English literature – particularly travel narratives, encyclopedic texts, and poetic works – increasingly turned to the Islamic world for inspiration. Within this literary context, Ibn Sina often appeared as a symbol of the ancient and enigmatic wisdom of the Orient, albeit filtered through aEuropean gaze. In early travel writings and encyclopedias, Ibn Sina was referenced primarily for his contributions to medicine and philosophy. He was typically placed alongside other legendary Islamic thinkers such as Al-Farabi and Al-Ghazali. These references were not often literary in a strict sense but were nonetheless significant in shaping how English readers began to perceive Islamic intellectual heritage. For example, 18th-century translations and summaries of his page1724 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ISSN:2692-5206,ImpactFactor:12,23 AmericanAcademicpublishers,volume05,issue05,2025 Journal: https://www.academicpublishers.org/journals/index.php/ijai Canon of Medicine introduced him to educated European audiences, who were impressed by thebreadth and sophisticationof hismedical knowledge. The 20th century marked a turning point in the literary and academic engagement with Ibn Sina in English-language texts. Moving beyond the simplistic exoticism of earlier Orientalist portrayals, this era witnessed more nuanced, humanized, and respectful representations of Ibn Sina in both historical fiction and academic literature. Writers and scholars began to situate him not only as a towering intellectual figure of the Islamic Golden Age but also as a man shaped byhistorical, cultural, andphilosophical currents ofhis time. One of the most notable literary representations of Ibn Sina in the 20th century is Noah Gordon’s bestselling novel The Physician (1986). Although Ibn Sinais not the central character, he plays a pivotal role in the novel as a wise and compassionate teacher of medicine. Set in the 11th century, the novel follows a young English Christian boy, Rob Cole, who disguises himselfas a Jew to studyat themedical school in Isfahan underIbn Sina. Gordon’s depiction of Ibn Sina is multifaceted – he is shown as a brilliant physician, a philosopher with a sharp intellect, a teacher with a humane approach to science, and a moral authority who defends rationalism against dogma. Unlike the vague and romanticized references of the 19th century, Gordon offers a portrayal rooted in research andhistorical context. Parallel to such literary portrayals, academic engagement with Ibn Sina’s legacy deepened in the 20th century. Scholars such as Henry Corbin, Seyyed Hossein Nasr, and Dimitri Gutas produced influential studies on Avicennian philosophy and its relationship to both Islamic and Western intellectual tradition