Avicenna has been inspiring for many Western thinkers who paved the way for the Renaissance. Many Western historians have acknowledged his impact on the philosophy of Albertus Magnus, Thomas Aquinas, Roger Bacon, William of Auvergne, Ficino, and Pico della Mirandola. Although Avicenna resembles fictional and mythical figures due to his extraordinary genius, his ideas are not merely the result of his innate talent. His analytical mind has considered some issues like love and affection which were common in his contemporary society. He distinguishes between love and caprice and believes that the latter is polytheistic. Therefore, its forces scatter and remain superficial whereas love, contrary to caprice, is monotheist and deeply focused. Love is indeed an attentive consideration. Avicenna, as a philosopher and physician, has looked at the subject of love from a philosophical and anthropological perspective. On the one hand, he has presented psychological and philosophical analyses and on the other hand, from the experimental view of a physician, has regarded love as an ailment and offered some therapeutic methods for its treatment. Due to his medical approach to the study of soul and love, he has also dealt with physiological and psychological aspects in his philosophical outlook on love. In his analysis of love disorder, he has considered both physical and mental health simultaneously. In terms of psychiatry, he had a thorough viewpoint and paid heed to the biological and social aspects of a patient as well. Lack of attention to the medical and psychological sides of the issue leads to major defects in philosophical arguments about love in an Avicennian way. Therefore, Bu ‘Ali has intentionally cared for both philosophy and medicine in his assessment of love as he recognized the former as a healing force for the human soul and the latter as a health rule for individuals and social groups.

The term used for love in the Arabic language is Ishq, a word derived from Ashaqah, which is a special vine. When this vine winds itself around a tree, the tree withers turns yellow, and finally dies. Then it is said that the tree got Ashaqah. From what Bu ‘Ali mentioned about human love, it is perceived that love is an impression mainly derived from mental thought and imagination which leave consequences on the body, too. The lover has an animal and rational soul but of course, the animal or imaginative soul is the main axis of love because according to the ideas of Avicenna, lovesickness is the result of recurrent perception of imaginary figures and obsession with them.