It is to experience contraction (inkibāz) in a matter that does not require it. (Mizān, 74)
rabb rabb) O my Lord! Your obedience to me is greater than my obedience to You!
Abū Yazīd was asked, "How did you attain the station (maqām) you reached?" He replied, "I came to know the primordial realities of things, and then I took Allah as my teacher." I said to him, "If your Lord (Rabb) does not suffice you, then nothing in the heavens or the earth besides your Lord will ever suffice! My tongue is occupied with His dhikr (remembrance of God), and my body is engaged in service to Him. When one becomes weary, I turn to the other."
Rabb is a name of the Real (al-Ḥaqq). In terms of the relation (nisba) of the Essence (Dhāt) to all unseen existents, whether spirit (rūḥ) or body (jasad), and the relation of the Essence to the fixed archetypes (aʿyān-i thābita), it is the source of divine names such as the All-Powerful (Qādir) and the Willer (Murīd). The relation of the Essence to the external world is the origin of lordly (rubūbiyya) names such as the Provider (Razzāq) and the Preserver (Ḥafīẓ). Rabb is a particular name that necessitates the existence and realization of those who take a lord (marbūb, those who are lorded over). Ilāh, on the other hand, is a name that necessitates the affirmation and individuation of those who take a deity (maʿlūh, those who are deified). Everything that occurs in the cosmos is a form of the lordly (rabbānī) name by which the Real (al-Ḥaqq) nurtures (tarbiya) it. It takes from Him what it takes, acts by Him in what it does, and all created beings turn to Him for whatever they need. He, in turn, grants whatever is asked of Him absolutely (muṭlaqan). (Kāshānī, 147; Jāmiʿ, 84)
The name Rabb is authorized by the name Raḥīm, the name Raḥīm is authorized by the name Raḥmān, the name Raḥmān is authorized by the name Allah, and the name Allah is authorized by the Essence (Dhāt). (Nafahāt, 62)