after the Arab conquest รป as the result of his curing of the Samanid prince Nuh ibn Mansur. After he effected what was seen as a miracle cure, he was given free reign to study the scientific and medical books in the library, many of which dealt with issues of pharmacoepia. The library also contained a great many writings on ethics and religion and comparative religion so that Avicenna was able to begin his work on attempting to reconcile the philosophies of great Arabic and Classical Western writers and thinkers.
By the age of 21 he was accomplished in all branches of formal learning and had already established a wide reputation as an outstanding physician. His path in life seemed to be smoothly paved before him, for his skills and learning were undeniable and he was also blessed with the ability to communicate easily with people, a skill that no doubt helped him as a diagnostician as well as helping his patients believe in his healing powers (Gutas, 1988, p. 81).
But within a few months after reaching what in the West would have been his majority, his father died and the Samanid house was defeated by Mahmud of Ghazna. Deprived of the protection of his former political (and intellectual) patron and tied less firmly to his home because of the loss of his surviving parent, Avicenna began a period of wandering that was to last the rest of his life, with a few periods of tranquility during these years of wandering (Wickens, 1952, p. 24).
His last 14 years were the most settled after decades during which he had to contend with constant upheaval, heavy workloads (when he could find work) and sometimes imprisonment when he fell afoul of local political struggles (Heilbrun and Bynum, 2000, p. 14). It is tempting to speculate that he would have accomplished far more if he had lead a more stable life, but this is of course not necessarily true, for it seems that some people prosper more when they have the most to struggle against. His o...