Greatness is my cloak and majesty my robe: some things belong to God alone
A saying of the Prophet gives these words in God's own voice. Credit for a large achievement arrives from every side, and after a while it starts to feel earned. Naming greatness as God's own clothing sets it back down, so praise passes through a person instead of sticking to them.
No power and no strength except by God: strength itself is on loan
Sufis repeat this short phrase constantly, on the authority of the Prophet, who called it a treasure. Someone who has won and built can trace every result back to their own effort, and the trail looks convincing. The phrase cuts that trail at its first step, since the drive to try and the health to keep going both arrived from elsewhere.
Faqr: Poverty before God
Faqr names hands that hold nothing of their own. Adding up the property, the skills and the years can leave a person feeling solidly stocked, and quietly proud of the pile. Seeing that none of it was manufactured by the one holding it turns the whole heap into something borrowed for a while.
You give the kingdom to whom you will: position is handed out, not owned
Sufis pray these words from the Quran often. Anyone who holds a position long enough starts to feel fused with it, as though the role and the person were one thing. Treating it as lent, given for a season and collected later, keeps the grip loose while the work still gets done.
ʿUbūdiyya: Servanthood
Ibn Arabi comes back again and again to servanthood as the highest place a person reaches. Someone with authority has to settle on what they are, and the flattering answers sit close at hand. The servant's place sits lower and holds better, because a servant carries out what they are given and never has to be the source.
Shukr: Gratitude
Al-Ghazali describes gratitude as seeing the gift, warming to the giver, and using it as the giver wanted. When good things pile up around a person, the pleasure in them slides easily into admiration for oneself. Gratitude turns the attention back toward whoever supplied everything, and the gladness in that is steadier than pride.