Iqbal on the West
Whenever my dad throws out a poetic verse, chances are it's going to be from Iqbal. This one right here is one of my favourites as it directly confronts the rampant materialism of the West, and calls it out as a mirage that will crumble. The AI translation doesn't do it justice, because it does miss out on one particular word used in the original called "tehzeeb", which roughly translates to "etiquette, refined culture, civilized way of life" so the part that says "your civilization will commit suicide with its own dagger" can be better thought as "your way of living will result in your civilization's suicide".
These are dark words, especially as I live in the West, but this verse seems prophetic because everything around me including the polarization of thought, confirmation bias when seeking information, tribalism and support of genocide is leading to just this. I hope Iqbal's wrong, but I fear he's right.
