how Avicenna relied on mentorship to reach his full potential

 

Ibn Sina, also known as Avicenna, was an 11th century physician and philosopher. He worked in the Iranian courts and his medical texts were used in medieval European universities. In the western sphere, he was referred to as "the Prince of Physicians." He is known for having treated Nuh Ibn Mansour, a king of a the Samanid dynasty, a Persian-Muslim Empire. He was also private physician to Prince Emir Shams  El-Duwlah, ruler of the Iranian Buyid dynasty. His written works included the five volumes of The Canon of Medicine as well as The Book of Healing which covered both scientific and philosophical topics. 

Ibn Sina relied heavily on the works of past scientists and philosophers. His work The Canon of Medicine was based off of ideas by the likes of Galen, Hippocrates, and Aristotle.

But, how was Ibn Sina's education based on the knowledge of other scholars?

As a young boy, his parents knew that he was brilliant. So, they sent him to be taught arithmetic by an Indian shopkeeper. He was then sent to study Islamic law under a man named Ismail al-Zahid. However, Ibn Sina, recognized physician and philosopher al-Natili as his main instructor. al-Natili guided Ibn Sina through his early education in the Greek sciences. The main ideas from these studies can still be seen in his surviving work. 

What can we learn from Ibn Sina, aka Avicenna's, education?

You do not have to necessarily invent a completely new ideology or theory to be great. You can simply study the works of others and build on those. Oftentimes, it is even necessary to receive direct mentorship from others who have much more experience. This is so that we can view the topics we are building off of from a more advanced lens.