Persian · noun · Nation, Faith & Society
Khudkushi-e-Tehzeeb
ख़ुदकुशी-ए-तहज़ीब
said khud-ku-SHEE-e-tah-ZEEB
also written: khudkushi e tehzeeb, suicide of civilization, suicide of culture
Meaning
'The suicide of civilization' — Iqbal's image for a modern West so consumed by greed, irreligion and war that it destroys itself from within despite its outward power.
Related words
PERSIAN
Tahzeeb-e-Hazir
'Modern / present-day civilization' — the contemporary Western order. Iqbal's standing critique: brilliant in science and machinery, hollow at the centre, having lost God and the soul.
ARABIC
Maddiyat
Materialism; the doctrine that matter is all. Iqbal held it the root malady of modern Western civilization — vast in power over things, blind to spirit and the self.
ARABIC
Saleeb
The cross, the central symbol of Christianity.