AVICENNA (IBN S Ī N Ā, AB Ū ‘ AL Ī AL-Ḥ USAYN) Arab physician, scholar, and philosopher, one of the greatest names in Arabian-Iranian Muslim culture; b. Afshana, near Bukh ā r ā, in 370 of the hijra (a.d. 980); d. Hamadh ā n, 428 Hijra (a.d. 1037). Life. Avicenna wrote an autobiography, completed by his pupil and secretary J ū zaj.