Al-'Aziz
In the following pages we shall be dealing with the sixth of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Names, “Al-‘Aziz”, which is often repeated at the end of Quranic Verses: “And He is Al-‘Aziz (the All-Mighty), the All-Wise”. I have previously made clear that it is not enough to believe that Allah exists. You have to believe in His existence, His Oneness (in His Divine Self, Attributes and Acts), and His Perfection. In fact, your belief in Allah’s Perfection enables you to know His Beautiful Names and Attributes.
Narrated Abu Hurairah that Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), said: “Verily, Allah has ninety-nine Names, one hundred but one. Whosoever knows each and every one of them enters Paradise.” [narrated by Al-Boukhari]
The word “knows” in the above Hadith means that you should know each and every one of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Names and Attributes, that you should know their exact meanings, that you should know how to react towards each and every one of them, and that you should know the denotations and connotations of each and every one of them. Therefore, our topic in the following pages is going to be about Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name “Al-‘Aziz”.
This Divine Name, “Al-‘Aziz”, occurs in a great many Quranic Verses, such as Jesus’ words, “If You punish them, they are Your slaves, and if You forgive them, verily, You, only You, are Al-‘Aziz (the All-Mighty), the All-Wise.” [V; 118]
If the end of the above Quranic Verse were: “…and if you forgive them, verily You, only You, are the Oft-Forgiving, the Most Merciful.”, does this end suit the beginning of the Verse? The answer is: the Verse is ended as follows: “…and if You forgive them, verily, You, only You, are the All-Mighty, the All-Wise.” This is because if a human being, no matter how high his social rank or position might be, forgives a person’s mistake, he might be blamed or asked: “Why did you forgive that person’s mistake?”, “Why did you not punish him?”, or “Why were you so lenient with him?”. But when Allah, All-Mighty, forgives, He is never blamed or asked why, for He, Glory to Him, is the All-Mighty, the All-Wise: “If You punish them, they are Your slaves, and if You forgive them, verily, You, only You, are Al-‘Aziz (the All-Mighty), the All-Wise.”
That is the first Verse in our study. The second Verse is: “And His (Alone) is the Majesty in the heavens and the earth, and He (Alone) is Al-‘Aziz (the All-Mighty), the All-Wise.” [XLV; 37] And the third Verse is: “They (the hypocrites) say: ‘If we return to Medina, indeed the mightier will expel from it the less mighty.’ But ‘Izah (might, honor and power) belongs to Allah, to His Messenger and to the believers, but the hypocrites know not.” [LXIII; 8] A fourth Verse is: “Glorified is your Lord, the Lord of ‘Izah (Might, Honor, and Power)! (He is Free) from what they attribute to Him.” [XXXVII; 180] In the fifth Verse Satan says to the Lord, All-Mighty, “(I swear by) by Your ‘Izah (Might, Honor, and Power) that I will surely mislead them (mankind) all.” [XXXVIII; 82]
In fact, Allah’s Divine Name “Al-‘Aziz” occurs in a great many Verses of the Holy Quran, some of which are mentioned above. But what does this Name mean from the linguistic point of view?
First Meaning: “Al-‘Aziz” is He the like of Whom is none and equal to Whom is none. He is Unique and nothing is like Him. This Name is attributed only to Allah, the One and Only, the like of Whom there is nothing and equal to Whom is nothing. This is the first meaning.
Second Meaning: “Al-‘Aziz” is the One Who overpowers and is never overpowered. If a person is overpowered, he is by no means ‘Aziz (i.e. mighty or honorable) but rather weak and humble. The one who overpowers him is likely to over-humiliate him. In other words, “Al-‘Aziz” is one of Allah’s Beautiful Names, which means “the One Who overpowers and is never overpowered”. To this effect, Allah, All-Mighty, says, “And Allah has full power and control over His Affairs, but most of men know not.” [XII; 21]
In a Divine Hadith, Allah, All-Mighty, says, “You (O My slave) will (something) and I will (something). If you surrender to Me concerning what I will, I fulfill what you will; but if you do not surrender to Me concerning what I will, I tire you out with what you will, and then there will never be except what I will.” And in His Holy Quran He, Glory to Him, says, “And Allah has full power and control over His Affairs, but most of men know not.” [XII; 21] If all people knew that Allah has full power over all things, they would obey Him, they would rely on Him, they would trust in Him, they would turn to Him with love and devotion, and they would turn away from others than Him.
Third Meaning: “Al-‘Aziz” is the Mighty and Forceful, as derived from the Arabic word “’Azza”, which mans “reinforces and makes stronger”. To this effect, Allah, All-Mighty, says, “When We sent to them two Messengers, they belied them both; so We ‘Azzazna (reinforced them) with a third. And they (the Messengers) said: ‘Verily, we have been sent to you as Messengers.” [XXXVI; 14]
Therefore, the first meaning of Allah’s Beautiful Name “Al-‘Aziz” is: the One the like of Whom is nothing, rival to Whom is none, and equal to Whom is nothing. This Name is one of Allah’s Names of Tanzeeh (i.e. Names that denote His being free from any anthropomorphic elements). The second meaning is: the One Who overpowers and is never overpowered. This Name belongs to Names of As-Sifat (i.e. Names that are Attributes of Allah, All-Mighty). The third meaning is: the All-Mighty, the All-Powerful. This Name also belongs to Names of As-Sifat as mentioned above.
There is also a very delicate fourth meaning, which believers need to understand most of all, namely that “Al-‘Aziz” is: the One Who grants power and honor to His slaves. This Name belongs to Names of “Al-Af’al” (i.e. Names that denote Allah’s Acts). To this effect, the Quranic Verse goes: “Say: ‘O Allah, Owner of the Kingdom! You grant the kingdom to whom You will, and You take away the kingdom from whom You will. You endue with honor whom You will, and You humiliate whom You will. In Your Hand is the good. Verily, You are Powerful over all things.” [III; 26]
When the last of the Arab kings of ancient Spain left Spain, he cried sadly. His mother, whose name was ‘A’ishah, addressed him sarcastically, “Cry like women for a lost kingdom that you could not preserve like men!” So what is man’s value if Allah forsakes him?! Allah, All-Mighty, says, “See you not that whoever is in the heavens and whoever is on the earth, and the sun, and the moon, and the stars, and the mountains, and the trees, and all living creatures, and many of mankind, prostrate themselves to Allah. But there are many (men) on whom the punishment is justified; and whomsoever Allah disgraces none can ever honor him. Verily, Allah does what He wills.” [XXII; 18]
A great part of your life has to do with your honor and dignity. Therefore, if you are with Allah, the All-Mighty, He will certainly grant you honor and dignity:
Make to your Lord all your honor,
It will be deeply rooted and firmly established.
But if you seek honor from those who die,
Your honor will similarly die.
Such are the linguistic meanings of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name “Al-‘Aziz”. But there is another more beautiful and delicate meaning: “Al-‘Aziz” is the One Who is too Rare, Who is so badly needed, and Who is too difficult to reach. Something, a metal for example, might be too rare, but, at the same time, it is not so badly needed. Such a thing is not called in Arabic “’Aziz”. We call something “’Aziz” if it has three qualities: It is too rare; it is so badly needed; and it is too difficult to reach. Something else, like air for example, might be so badly needed, but it is not rare. Water is so badly needed but it is not rare in most places.
Therefore, “Al-‘Aziz” is something that is too rare, so badly needed and too difficult to reach. Such qualities, however, have to do with perfection and non-perfection. In other words, the more available a certain thing is, the less ‘Aziz it is; the less badly needed it is, the less ‘Aziz it is; and the easier to reach it is, the less ‘Aziz it is. Now, if something becomes so rare that it becomes only one, i.e. unique, it becomes the most ‘Aziz, which is a paramount quality of perfection and is given only to Allah, Alone, Who is the One and Only Creator, Who is so badly needed by all things and Who is too difficult to reach. Therefore, Allah, Alone, deserves to be called “Al-‘Aziz” in Arabic.
A certain person might be needed by some, or even most, people. The more needed he is, the more ‘Aziz he is. But no human being is needed by all other people everywhere. A certain man might live in the kingdom of a certain king, nevertheless, he does not need the king because he lives in a tent in a remote place with his sheep that give him food and other things that he needs.
Therefore, the more badly needed a certain thing is, the more ‘Aziz it is. Moreover, perfection of this quality is attained when everything needs such thing for everything. I might need a doctor when I am ill, for example, but I do not need him for my sleep: I need a bed for my sleep. I might need a certain teacher if my son is weak in mathematics, but a teacher is not needed by all people and all things, living and non-living: people, animals, plants, objects, substances, atoms, galaxies, …etc. In other words, no one, except Allah, Alone, is needed by all things for all things. That is why He, Glory to Him, is “Al-‘Aziz”.
Just deliberate what the words “everything for everything” mean. Hence, Allah, Alone, is “Al-‘Aziz” because existence and survival of all things depend on Him. For example, matter, which is made up of a nucleus around which electrons move in orbits, would never have existed unless Allah, All-Mighty, had granted it its own existence and enabled it to survive: “Be!”, and it is; “Perish!”, and it perishes. Allah, All-Mighty, says, “Allah: there is no god but Him, the Ever Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists.” [III; 2] In other words, existence and survival of all things are in Allah’s Hand, for He is the Source of life and survival for all things.
Therefore, we should not say that Allah is so badly needed but rather we should say that everything needs Him so badly for everything. The retina, for example, has more than 130,000,000 light receptors located in ten layers. Vision nerves are more than 900,000 ones. What is that substance whose composition changes whenever infringed by light, and in so doing it generates an electric current that is carried to the brain where it is perceived?! You are in bad need of Allah, All-Mighty, for your sight, hearing, speaking, thinking, moving, and living, for your brain, arteries, veins, and each and every single part of your body. Without Allah’s Grace everything becomes nothing. You survive by Allah: your bones and muscles, nerves and organs, all work by His Divine Grace. Without Allah’s Grace, man, and everything else, can not possibly exist or survive. Yes, indeed, everything needs Him for everything.
Hence, the first quality of Allah’s Perfection as being ‘Aziz is that He is One and Only so that everything needs Him so badly for everything, that He is too difficult to reach, none could ever encompass Him in knowledge, not even Prophets, for no one knows Allah except Allah, Himself. You can only reach Him as a created slave of His; therefore, you should comply to His Commands and do deeds of righteousness if you desire to reach Him and be intimate to Him. This is the only way to reach Him and be intimate to Him.
A young man got engaged to the daughter of a religious scholar. Her name was “Wisal” (i.e. communion). The scholar addressed the young man: “My daughter’s dowry is that you should attend the lectures that I deliver in my council.” The young man attended the scholar’s lectures and was so involved in them that he forgot his fiancée, the scholar’s daughter, who sent him a message: “You have forgotten me!” He replied: “O Wisal! You were the cause of the communion (i.e. my association with Allah), so do not be the cause of disunion (dissociation with Him)!”
You can never reach Him except as a slave of His. Therefore, you should be devoted to Him and do deeds of righteousness, you should constantly remember Him and be conscious of Him, and you should serve His other salves, your fellow humans, and do good to them. Yes, indeed. It is possible to reach Him as a slave, but it is impossible to encompass Him in knowledge or perception, for even holy Prophets and Messengers, most righteous and pure as they are, fail to do so. This is because none can know Allah, All-Mighty, except Allah, Himself.
If you ask yourself: “What does “Al-Aziz” mean?”, it means the Unique, the One and Only, Whom everything needs for everything, Who is impossible to be encompassed either by ones mental conception or sensual perception. It is possible to reach Him only by being a slave to Him.
Some scholars say that “Al-‘Aziz” is He, All-Mighty, in the oceans of Whose Majesty the minds get drowned, Whose Graces and Blessings can not be properly enumerated or conceived, Whose Perfection and Beauty can not be described by human tongues. Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), summed up the whole thing as follows:
Narrated Abu Hurairah on authority of ‘A’ishah: “I missed Allah’s Messenger from my bed one day. I searched for him, and my hand touched the soles of his feet while he was on the floor prostrating himself to the Lord, invoking: ‘O Allah! I seek refuge in Your Contentment from Your Wrath, in Your Forgiveness from Your Punishment; and I seek refuge with You from You. I can not praise you enough, for You are as You praised Yourself.’” [narrated by Muslim in His “Sahih” Book of Hadith]
I swear By Allah! It is an indisputable fact that he who knows Allah belittles all others but Him. If you know Allah, it is impossible that you humble yourself to any other human being or creature. If you know Allah, you see no might or honor except with Him, you see no power except His, you see no wisdom except His. That is why Allah, Most Gracious, in a Divine Hadith, says: “O son of Adam! Seek Me, for if you find Me, you find everything, but if you miss Me, you miss everything; and I am more beloved to you than everything.”
If your eyes saw of Our Beauty that which they saw,
You would not turn away from Us to other ones.
And if your ears heard the Beauty of Our Speech,
You would take off the cloak of pride and come to Us.
And if you tasted of (Our) Love even a little,
You would excuse those who died of Our Love.
And if only a breeze from near Us blew to you,
You would die of alienation and eagerness to Our Nearness
Yes, indeed! Allah is Al-‘Aziz (the All-Mighty).
Those who naively fancy that by a couple of Rak’as of prayer and a couple of pounds they can enter Paradise are mere idiots, for the price of Paradise is much dearer. In this context, it has been rightly said: “He who seeks to marry a beautiful lady should be generous enough to pay her dowry.”:
Narrated Abu Hurairah that Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), said: “He who is afraid sets off at nightfall; and he who sets off at nightfall reaches his destination. Verily, Allah’s Commodity is priceless! Verily, Allah’s commodity is Paradise! [narrated by At-Tirmithi]
Allah, Most Gracious, says, “By no means shall you attain piety unless you spend (in Allah’s Cause) of that which you love; and whatever of good you spend: Allah knows it well.” [III; 92]
Your precious time and power should be spent in Allah’s Cause, your wealth that you have worked hard to earn should be spent in Allah’s Cause: “Verily, Allah’s Commodity is priceless! Allah is All-Mighty! Very simply and naturally, Allah is All-Mighty.
Now, in the light of the above-mentioned definition the question is: Who is “‘Aziz” (i.e. mighty and honorable)? The answer is: Allah’s holy Prophets and Messengers are! This is because all mankind are in need of them and of their righteous work. Allah’s Messenger, Muhammad, (PBUH), is “aziz (i.e. mighty and honorable) simply because Allah, All-Mighty, has endued him with His Divine Secret and His Divine Knowledge; and He granted him Prophecy. Allah’s Messenger is the way to Allah and the gate that leads to Him. In other words, Prophets and Messengers are mighty and honorable because Allah, All-Mighty, has made them the gates to His Divine Mercy, Grace, Bounty, and Light. That is why when you attain the Prophet’s pleasure, you attain Allah’s Pleasure; and that is why Allah, Most Gracious, associated His Prophet’s name with His own Name. Therefore, the holy Prophet is ‘Aziz (mighty and honorable) because all people are in bad need of him for both their secular and religious affairs.
A king is ‘Aziz (mighty and honorable): If he has all matters under his control, and if all of his subjects, young and old, venerable and disreputable, go to him for their affairs. In other words, the more needed you are, more ‘Aziz (the mightier and more honorable) you are. If a true believer is badly needed, he is ‘Aziz (mighty and honorable), nevertheless, he is modest. But if a disbeliever is badly needed, he is arrogant and tyrannical.
The venerable Imam and scholar Al-Hassan Al-Basri was one day asked: “How did you attain such an eminence?” Before I give his reply, I would like to whisper these words, from the depth of my heart, to my dear readers: If you know Allah and obey Him, it is impossible for you to humble yourself to anyone else. This is because Allah, All-Mighty, All-Majestic, says, “But honor, might and glory belong to Allah, His Messenger and believers, but the hypocrites know not. [LXIII: 8]
How come that you be with Allah, Al-‘Aziz (the All-Mighty), yet you humble yourself to others than Him. That is impossible! Don’t you invoke at dawn prayer everyday: “Glory to You, O Allah! Your friends are never humble; and Your enemies are never honorable.”?
All true believers, who know Allah, All-Mighty, All-Majestic, stick to His Divine Commands, and set their affairs aright with Him, receive special Divine Care and Treatment from Him. Through such special Divine Treatment and Care they are made to feel that they are so dear and beloved to Him. To this effect, Allah addresses His Messenger, (PBUH), “So wait patiently for your Lord’s Decision, for verily, you are under Our Eyes (Divine Care, Love and Protection).” [LII; 48]
Very often you beseech Allah, Most Gracious, and He answers you, you pray to Him and He repels evil from you, you invoke Him and He casts love for you in the hearts of other people, you supplicate Him and He softens the hearts of your enemies for you, you call to Him and He responds to you, you beg Him and He gives you, and you swear by Him and He verifies your oath.
We go back to the above question that was put forward to Al-Hassan Al-Basri, the venerable Imam and scholar: “How did you attain such an eminence among people?!” His answer was: “Because of two things: I do not need them but they need my knowledge.”
You are by no means ‘Aziz (mighty and honorable) if you are greedy. This is because when you are greedy you are humble and submissive; when you aspire to the things that people have, you become humble, despised and disrespected. But if you aspire to what Allah has, He loves you:
Never ask of a human anything,
But ask the One, Whose Gates are never closed.
Allah is angered if you refrain from asking Him,
But a human is angered if he is asked.
If you ask a human being for something, he gets angry with you, but the Almighty Lord: if you refrain from asking Him, He gets angry with you. That is why Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), says, “A believer should never humble himself.” They asked, “How does he humble himself?” He, (PBUH) replied, “By seeking burdens that he fails to bear.” [narrated by At-Tirmithi]
Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), also says, “Seek things with self-respect, for all matters run according to Divine Foreordainment.” And one day, he, (PBUH), addressed a man who was humbling himself before the others, “Raise up your head, O brother!” Then he, (PBUH), added: “He (the man) has deadened our religion for us!”
One day, Imam Abu Hanifah entered upon Ja’far Al-Mansour for a certain matter. Ja’far was very pleased to receive such a venerable scholar in his palace and said: “O Abu Hanifah! Why don’t you always come to visit us! It is a great honor for us to receive you! You are most welcome!” Abu Hanifah said, “O Commander of the Faithful! Why should I visit you?! I don’t have anything with you for which I fear you! Does anyone visit you unless they have something with you for which they fear you?! I have nothing with you for which I visit you!” This means that the less aspirant you are after what other people have, the more honored Allah makes you; and the more you prostrate yourself in veneration to Allah, the more honored He makes you.
A Caliph once wanted to have a scholar brought to him for religious counsel. The Caliph’s men went to Imam Malik, the venerable Imam and scholar, saying, “O Malik! The Caliph wants you to come to him.” Malik replied, “I do not need him! If he needs me, let him come to me!” Then he added: “Knowledge is sought (come to)! It does not go to anyone!” When the Caliph, whose name was Haroun Ar-Rasheed”, was informed about what Imam Malik had said, he said, “He speaks the truth! I shall go to him!” When the Caliph went to see Imam Malik, the latter said, “Let him sit behind and wait until it is his turn to see me!” By the way, Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), used to sit behind, just like anyone else, and did not have a throne or a special place to sit in. One day, when an Arabian came to see Allah’s Messenger, who was sitting with his venerable Companions, he could not recognize who was Allah’s Messenger, and, therefore, he asked, “Who is Muhammad from among you?!” What modesty! He, (PBUH), never distinguished himself in sitting from his Companions! However, when it was the Caliph’s turn to see the Imam, he came to him and sat on a chair. But the Imam addressed him: “He who humbles himself to Allah, Allah honors him. And he who displays arrogance, He (Allah) humiliates him.” The Caliph, Haroun Ar-Rasheed, stood up, saying, “Take away this chair!” and sat down on the floor. If a scholar desires to be ‘Aziz (honored and mighty), he should never aspire to what people have, he should renounce their world, and he should have a job by which he earns a decent living.
Someone asked: “How can I get to Allah?!” It was wisely said to him: “If you know Allah, you will certainly know how to get to Him!” This is because if you know Allah, you know, through your natural disposition, how to please Him, how to get to Him, how to stick to His Divine Commands, how to sacrifice yourself for Him, and how to prefer Him to anyone or anything else. He asked: “How can I get to Allah?!”; and he was answered: “If you know Him, you will certainly know how to get to Him!” He asked: “I don’t understand what you mean. How can I worship someone I do not know?” He was answered: “How come that you disobey Him (Allah) after you have known Him?! You disobey Him!
You disobey the Lord wile you claim to love Him!
Such is indeed an amazing claim!
If your love were true, you would obey Him.
Verily, he who loves someone does obey him.
A man was once asked: “When did you get to know Allah?” He replied: “(I swear) by Allah! I have never disobeyed Him ever since I knew Him!”
Once again, I would like to whisper to my dear reader: I swear by Allah, the One and Only God! Even if you acquire knowledge of all of the jinn and humans whereby you attain respect and honor among people, but fail to obey Allah, this means that you do not know Him, you do not know Him, you do not know Him!
It has been wisely said: He who does not have enough piety that prevents him from disobeying Allah in his privacy, Allah does not care about anything good he does. Also, do not think of the size of sin, but rather think of Him against Whom you have transgressed by committing such sin. Once you disobey Allah, this means that you do not know Him.
If we imagine someone who has the highest university degree in religious studies, who has written more than a hundred books, and who occupies an important religious position: if a woman enters upon him and he keeps gazing at her beauty, this means that he does not know Allah at all. On the other hand, even a naïve illiterate porter, who can neither read nor write, but has only heard Allah’s Words, “Tell the believing men to lower down their gaze and protect their private parts. That is purer for them. Verily, Allah is All-Aware of what they do.” [XXIV; 30], and, therefore, lowers down his gaze at seeing such a woman for fear of Allah, this means that he knows Allah very well. That is because Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), says, “It suffices man in knowledge that he fears Allah; and it suffices man in ignorance that he boasts of his work.” [narrated by Ad-Darimi]
Keep these words in your mind: Once you disobey Allah, this means that you do not know Him!
It was asked: What are the qualities that a true believer should have towards this Name? Allah, All-Mighty, is “‘Aziz”, but what should a believer’s attitude towards this Divine Name be?
The answer is: Once a true believer knows Allah, “Al-‘Aziz”, he should never believe that any creature has the right to be over-esteemed or over-dignified. It is true that as a human being a true believer should be so polite and well-behaved towards other fellow humans, but he should by no means believe that any one of such fellow humans, or anyone else, except Allah, All-Mighty, Alone, has the right to be over-esteemed or over-dignified. In other words, a true believer should belittle everyone and everything compared to Allah, All-Mighty. He should by no means over-venerate anyone but Allah, Creator of all things and Lord of all worlds. He should by no means humble himself to anyone but Him. To this effect, Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), says, “He who humbles himself to a wealthy person loses two thirds of his religion.” But why? The answer is: because belief in Allah, All-Mighty, is something that is deeply rooted in the heart, confessed by the tongue, and verified by work. In other words, belief in Allah consists of three parts: ideology, verbal confession, and action. Therefore, if you over-esteem a wealthy person for his wealth, you are apt to over-dignify him, humble yourself to him and even praise him for merits that he does not really have, and, hence, you lose two thirds of your belief, i.e. verbal confession – when you praise him - and action - when you humble yourself to him. Your act of over-esteeming or over-dignifying anyone besides Allah, Lord of all worlds, reflects weakness of belief in Him, All-Mighty. That is why Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), says, “A true believer attains honor by standing up the night (in prayer to Allah) and dignity by being in no need of people.”
A true believer has more dignity and self-esteem than the people of a whole town. In this context, Allah, Glory to Him, says, “But honor, might and glory belong to Allah, His Messenger and believers.” A true believer sees that he is a mere slave of Allah’s and that Allah shall by no means let him down; shouldn’t he, therefore, have more dignity and self-esteem than anyone else?!
There is a golden rule: If man knows how Great and All-Mighty the Creator is, he belittles all creatures; but if he fails to know how Great and All-Mighty the Creator is, he over-esteems creatures. In other words, over-estimation of the Creator leads to under-estimation of the created, and vice versa. For example, someone may threaten: “I shall do so and so! I can do so and so!” Such a person does not know at all who Allah is. And if you, as a true believer, praise and glorify such a person, this means that you do not know at all who Allah is. This is because if Allah, All-Mighty, causes blood to clot in one of the arteries of his brain, he will soon be completely paralyzed; and if Allah, Glory to Him, causes blood to clot in one of the arteries of his heart, he will soon die. In fact, the more elevated man’s belief in Allah, Most Gracious, is, the more sincerely and devotedly he turns to Him. To this effect, Allah, All-High, says, “So We leave those who expect not their meeting with Us in their transgression, wandering blindly in distraction.” [X; 11]
If you believe that Allah, only Allah, is the One Who grants you honor and dignity, and if you believe that even if all mankind gather together to raise you up in rank without His Divine Leave, they will never be able to do so, and if you believe that if Allah, All-Mighty, raises you up in rank, none could ever degrade or humiliate you, you would never ask anyone but Allah to grant you honor and dignity, and you would do that by turning to Him with true love and sincere devotion and by showing complete obedience to Him.