He is the Greatest, who shows His greatness in everything, on all occasions. The manifestation of greatness belongs only to Allah. The creation, whose being or not being depends on the will and the single order of Allah, does not have the right to assume this name.
Of all the creation, the first one who became arrogant and claimed greatness was the accursed Devil. Then there are those who have followed the Devil, who think that the power, intelligence, knowledge, position, fame, and fortune that Allah has lent to them momentarily are theirs, so that they become proud.
If man thought of his beginning and his end, which are very close to each other, he would remember that his "before" was a drop of sperm transplanted from his father's urinary tract to his mother. His end will be to become a limp, cold, yellow corpse that cannot be borne even by the ones who loved him and that will be thrown into a hole in the ground.
Where are the Pharoahs, the Nimrods, Napoleons and Hitlers?
Al-Mutakabbir is an honor fit only for Allah. The created one cannot assume this attribute. Allah al-Mutakabbir is the adversary of the proud man. He will humiliate him, making him the lowest of the low. Just as the rain that comes from the skies does not gather on the tops of high mountains, Allah's blessings and compassion gather in lowly places.
The ones who wish to feel the divine attribute of al-Mutakabbir will find it only when they work hard to try to achieve the highest level of their potential, while never boasting of or even revealing their greatness.
'Abd al-Mutakabbir is he who is shown his smallness and the greatness of Allah. His egotism and pride are effaced and replaced by the greatness of Allah reflected in him. He is safe from being belittled and bows to none other than the Truth.1
AL-MUTAKABBIR - The One Supreme in Pride and Greatness
Al-Mutakabbir is the one who considers everything base in comparison with his own essence. He does not consider majesty and glory to be the property of anyone other than himself. He looks upon others as the kings look upon their servants. If this evaluation is true, then this is pride in the purest sense of the word; and the one who makes it certainly is a proud person. That conclusion in an absolute sense is inconceivable of anyone except God Most High.
However, if that self-glory and self-magnification are false and his conclusion in respect of his uniqueness in magnificence is not as he believes it to be, then pride is false and reprehensible. The one who considers magnificence and glory to be his own particular properties, to the exclusion of others, must know that his evaluation of it is false and his opinion useless. The truth of the matter is that these two characteristics are the property of none but God Most High.
An Admonition: Al-Mutakabbir among men is the one who is abstemious and a "gnostic" (al-carif). The significance of the abstinence of the "gnostic" lies in the fact that he is free from created things which might occupy his heart. He considers himself above everything except the Truth Most High so that he becomes contemptuous of both this world and that which is to come. He is one who considers himself above being distracted by either of them from the Truth Most High.
The abstinence of one who is not a "gnostic" is only a transaction and an exchange by which the individual hopes to purchase enjoyment in the next life by means of forfeiting enjoyment in this life. He is ready to forsake a thing now in the hope of receiving it many times over in the hereafter. Certainly this is only forward-buying (salam) and bargaining. The one who is enslaved by the appetite for food and marriage is contemptible even though these (pleasures) are lasting. However, al-Mutakabbir is contemptuous of every appetite and portion in which the animal kingdom can conceivably share.2