Excerpts from Books and Wikipedia
"Avicenna (...) is regarded as one of the most significant physicians, astronomers, thinkers and writers of the Islamic Golden Age." [Wikipedia] "Central to his theme was the necessity of the existence of God. The only essential being was the being of God, supreme and transcendent. And from His all-encompassing will and knowledge emanated every other being, whose existence was possible but not essential. The office of the Prophet-Revelator was also needed to give direction to the affairs of men. . . . The part which the philosopher played was secondary to that of the Prophet." [Balyuzi: Muhammad and the Course of Islam, p. 314] "Michael Scot, who translated Avicenna's On Animals, absorbed the philosopher's views in the context of his own work as a physician. He freely adopted Avicenna's ideas on the sensory faculties, the distinction between perception and motion, and the difference between man's practical and contemplative intellects. . . . It also uncovered a world where man could understand and even use the laws of nature for his own benefit, a central characteristic that would come to define the new world of Western science." [Lyons: House of Wisdom, p. 177] The Canon of Medicine was completed in 1025. "Persian Avicenna set standard medical textbook through 18th century in Europe." [Wikipedia: Timeline of Middle Ages]