10. Al-Mutakabbir — The Possessor of All Greatness
It means the One who possesses supreme majesty and greatness, He who sees everything else as lowly compared to Himself, and sees majesty and greatness in nothing but Himself. He regards everything else as a king regards his servant, and this cannot be imagined absolutely and perfectly except for Allah SWT.
Another view states that takabbur and kibriya' are declarations of Allah SWT's right to attributes of majesty and perfection.
Ism Al-Mutakabbir gathers together all the meanings of tanzih (transcendence). So whoever recognises the loftiness, majesty, and greatness of Allah will always accustom himself to being lowly and humble.
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
"May Allah have mercy on the servant who recognises His power, so that he does not transgress its limits."
This trait of arrogance is blameworthy when possessed by a creature, for it is a locus of deficiency. A person who behaves arrogantly is inevitably forced by that attitude into having attributes that do not suit him. In one hadith Qudsi, Allah SWT says:
"Majesty is My cloak and Greatness is My garment. So whoever tries to strip them from Me, I will surely punish him, and I do not care." Ascetic zuhud people who are mutakabbir (arrogant) are not the same as the arrogance of ordinary people. For the arrogance of ascetic people means detaching oneself from all creatures that would occupy one's inner self. So he behaves arrogantly toward everything besides Allah SWT. He belittles this world and the Hereafter with the intention of distancing himself so that neither of them distracts him from remembering Allah SWT. Whereas the asceticism of those who are not truly gnostic ('arif) is like a transaction (buying and selling); as if he buys the pleasure of the Hereafter with the pleasure of this world, forsaking the small pleasures of this world in order to obtain a manifold return in the Hereafter.
The benefit is Ism this brings greatness and manifests goodness and blessing. Therefore, whoever recites it ten times on his wedding night before having intercourse with his wife will be blessed with a righteous child.
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