ABSTRACT
Ibn Sīnā, Avicenna (370/980–429/1037), 1 also known as al-Shaykh al-Ra’īs (“Master and Head”), is among the very few medieval Muslim thinkers to have written an autobiography, which was completed by his student Abū ‘Ubayd al-Jūzjānī. 2 This autobiography/biography was later transmitted by a number of biographers, including al-Bayhaqī (d. 565/1170), al-Qiftī (d. 646/1248), Ibn Abī Uṣaybi‘ah (d. 669/1270) and Ibn Khallikān (d. 680/1282). 3
