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Bayt al-Ḥikma (“the House of Wisdom”) was the palace library of the early ʿAbbāsid caliphs, mentioned in the sources only in connection with al-Rashīd (r. 170–193/786–809) and al-Maʾmūn (r. 196–218/812–833). The idea, developed in twentieth-century scholarship, that the Bayt al-Ḥikma was a bureau for the large-scale translation of Greek books into Arabic, operating along the lines of a modern research institute or even a university, is entirely incorrect. While we have little information about th…

Latin form of the name of the outstanding philosopher and physician of the medieval period, Abū ʿAlī Ḥosayn Ebn Sīnā (d. 1037). A version of this article is available in printVolume III, Fascicle 1, pp. 66-110 AVICENNA, Latin form of the name of the outstanding philosopher and physician of the medieval period, Abū ʿAlī Ḥosayn Ebn Sīnā (b. Bukhara 370/980[?], d. Hamadān 428/1037).AVICENNA i. Introductory noteThe generally accepted view that the Islamic philosophic tradition established by Fārābī (d. 339/950) came to an end with Ebn Rošd (Averroes, fl. 520-95/1…