Author: Sümeyye İsra Çavdar 9 years old
Translator: Zeynep Meldanur Bilir 16 years old
Hi I’m Bilgin. I am currently in Avicenna’s (Ibn-i Sina’s) study room. I met him at a social gathering, and I obtained a promise to talk to him one day. Avicenna (Ibn-i Sina) was someone I was always curious about and wanted to meet. Would you like to meet him too? So let me tell you a little about him. Avicenna (Ibn-i Sina) was born in Uzbekistan in 980 AD and studied medicine under a physician named Kusyar. During his school years, he would go hot and cold all over his teachers with the questions he asked. Come on, let’s go to him before we get even more curious.
- Assalamualaikum the leader of physicians. Shall I call you like that, or would you rather be called you by your name?
- Alaikumselam. I love my nickname, so you can call me like that. By the way, are you a physician friend?
- No, I’m a traveller. I have heard of your reputation long ago and I came here to get to know you better.
- With your permission, I will go with my horse to collect plants to make my new medicine. Would you like to come with me?
- I would like a lot.
There was the dominant sound of horseshoes around and it was accompanied by the elegant scent of lavender trees.
- What is your medicine for, and which plants will we use?
- Most people complain about the foul breath. No matter how much miswak they used, they couldn’t find a solution. Now we will pick cardamom, galangal and mugwort and then crush them to perfection and boil them in hot water.
- What kind of treatments do you give to people?
- I love helping people. Seeing them happy is more exciting for me than for them. It is very gratifying to heal them with my treatments. Now let me talk about what I use in my treatments. I have always treated my patients and diseases with creams and powders made from plants and plant seeds. But remember, young man, if people don’t fix their nutrition, no treatment will work.
- How so? Does nutrition come before every treatment?
- Of course! Don’t eat heavy meals, drink a lot of water after the meal, and don’t consume very fatty foods.
While we were talking about this, we had already returned home. I started to note the questions I will ask tomorrow and the answers I received today with the tiny gas lamp. The breeze in the air was fidgeting the human. In the end we woke up to a sunny morning. I wanted to go as soon as possible and ask my questions.
- Good morning, leader of physicians.
- Good morning.
- What are we going to do now?
- We’ll have breakfast and look at the books.
- What is the best medicine in your opinion?
- The best healing is from Allah (c.c) but the best medicine from human hands is the medicine made from plants.
- Well, how does it feel to you to heal people?
- As I said, there is nothing I like more than saving people from diseases and seeing them grateful to you.
- So how can we find your recipes?
- I am currently thinking of writing a book about my recipes called El-Kanun Fi’t Tıb.
Meanwhile, we came to the library door, when I entered, I couldn’t hide my surprise.
- How many books are there!
Avicenna (Ibn Sina) was smiling slightly. He looked at me and said, “Books are beautiful. Every page is full of completely different worlds.”
After wandering around the library for a while, it was time to return home. I was sad that my conversation with Avicenna (Ibn Sina) ended, but I was happy to meet him.