[^2] One who always verbally declares that all praises...
[^2] One who always verbally declares that all praises belong to Allah (al-Hamdu lilLah), whether in his qira'a or elsewhere in prayer, but is oblivious of the true meaning of what he utters may, for example, give away a lot of wealth as alms (sadaqa), but always experience a sense of self-esteem (`ujb), thinking that he has done a favor on Allah.
This is while the core of praise restricts it for the real doer of good or possessor of an attribute of perfection, which in the language of Qur'an is none other than Allah. The Holy Qur'an says: الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ All praises belong to Allah. [^3] Whenever anyone does any good 'the doer and the deed' both are the creation of Allah, since their existence as well as subsistence entirely depends on His power.
And since He is the sole Creator and whatever He creates is beautiful, every beautiful deed is His: الذي أحسن كلَّ شئ خلقه 'One who made beautiful all that He created' [^4] Furthermore, since He is the sole possessor of all perfect & beautiful attributes, all praises belong to Him: اللَّهُ لا إِلَهَ إِلاَّ هُوَ لَهُ الأَسْمَاء الْحُسْنَى Allah, excepting Him, there is no God; His are the beautiful Names.
[^5] Therefore how can one ever think highly of himself for having given something that he really and ontologically does not possess? How can one ever extol himself for a good deed that the Almighty enabled him to perform? One, however, who understands and always pays attention to the fact that all praises solely belong to Allah and appreciates its true meaning would always thank Allah for the blessing of enabling him to give his wealth for His sake.
To express takbir in prayers and be ignorant of its meaning or inattentive of the same, would not make one God-wary in many of his acts. Allahu Akbar means that Allah is greater than whatever is described of Him. In simpler words, He transcends the bounds of finitude and is free from every kind of shortcoming or imperfection. He is Infinite and present everywhere: فَأَيْنَمَا تُوَلُّوا فَثَمَّ وَجْهُ اللَّهِ ' ...
Whithersoever you turn, there is the face of Allah ...' [^6] One, therefore, who does not inculcate this truth in his mind and heart in prayer would always blemish his soul with the taints of 'sin'.