10. Al-Mutakabbir, The Supreme, The Majestic

O LORD, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth, Who have displayed Your splendor above the heavens! Psalm 8:1

This is a name that the commentators have some difficulty with because the word would convey pride and arrogance if applied to a person, but of course, this is God, which changes things.  The Wahiduddin website says

Mutakabbir is an empathic [sic -- I think they mean emphatic] form of the root k-b-r which denotes actively using rights, privileges and attributes that are above and beyond the rights of everyone else. In mankind, this would be called pride or arrogance, but for the One this is simply the truth.

The root k-b-r (ك ب ر) is related to being great in size, dignity, age, majesty, knowledge and rights.

From what I have read, the key thought here is not just that God is great and majestic, but that God, in some sense, claims that majesty and displays it.  I liked the interpretation given on this website that Al-Mukatabir is "He Who Reveals His Greatness in Everything".

From time to time, I have spoken with skeptics who complained about a notion of a God who would require worship.  "What kind of a God worthy of the title would care about people bowing and scraping to them, would need to hear their praises constantly being sung?" they ask.  And it's a fair question in one sense--I do not believe that God needs this. And yet, God does claim it, and God, and only God, has a right to do so.  That is at least part of what is expressed in the name Al-Mutakabbir.  God does not need our worship to remind Him of His greatness.  However, as we worship God, we sometimes get a glimpse of that greatness and majesty.

In thinking about this, and in writing the song that follows, I have been informed by a number of passages of biblical passages.  I haven't followed any of them exactly, but many of the images were brought out by reading and thinking about Job 26:7-14, Ezekiel 1:4-28, Isaiah 6:1-5, Revelation 7:9-12, Psalm 93:1-4 and Psalm 104:1.

Al-Mutakabbir

You hung the earth in space

Put the stars in place

You stir up the waves

That crash upon the sand

These are just the outer fringes

Of how glorious You are

Our minds can’t understand

Rainbows and lightning 

And a throne set on high

Where angels forever

Make their “holy, holy” cry

All this is just a likeness,

just a shadow of what’s real

Our minds can’t take it in

Al-Mutakabbir, Al-Mutakabbir

Robed in majesty and splendor

Angels, jinn and people bow down

Al-Mutakabbir, Al-Mutakabbir

We just can’t know how majestic You are

Our best language falters and fails

We have the vision of the prophets

And your glory written on the world

But our words turn to stammers

And our hearts are undone

When a touch of Your greatness assails.

Al-Mutakabbir, Al-Mutakabbir

Robed in majesty and splendor

Angels, jinn and people bow down

Al-Mutakabbir, Al-Mutakabbir[/align]

Listen to the Song