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The 99 Names · Name 10 of 99 · In a pair

الْمُتَكَبِّرُ

al-Mutakabbir

The Supremely Great, to whom alone greatness rightly belongs

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Recited as it sounds in the Qur'an, 59:23.

Heard together with: al-Jabbār / al-Mutakabbir; al-Kabīr

A Name heard in its pair

Classical teachers said Names like this one are always spoken beside their partner, so that power is never heard without mercy, or holding back without giving. So there is no ladder here: nothing in us climbs towards it.

Pride is claiming a greatness you don't have. al-Mutakabbir is the One to whom it simply belongs.Read: Q 59:23; 45:37; human pride: 7:146

On screen

Ozymandias wrote 'look on my works'. The sand answered. Greatness that has to be claimed is not greatness.

Where it shows up

In scripture: Q 59:23; 45:37; 7:146. Isaiah 40:18 'To whom, then, can you liken God?'
The same thread in Jewish and Christian scripture: Weak (no close parallel)
In the universe: NASA Voyager 1's 'Pale Blue Dot' (14 Feb 1990): Earth 'just a point of light about a pixel in size' from 6 billion km
In nature: Wonders of the Solar System clip, Brian Cox on the 'most fascinating picture' (BBC Earth Science)
In people: Sagan's own reflection that the image shows 'Earth's vulnerability' (NASA page paraphrase)
In science: Astronomy: scale. Earth is one pixel at 6 billion km

Living it

Humility

Its kind

In a pair: a hard Name, always heard beside its partner.

In the Qur'an: 59:23

Sources for this page

gutenberg.org/ebooks/4800; science.nasa.gov/mission/voyager/voyager-1s-pale-blue-dot; api.quran.com; sefaria.org Isa 40:18