Allah, the Most High, said:

Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you. Indeed, Allah is All Knowing and All Aware.

Surah al-Hujurat 49:13

Shaykh ‘Abdul-Rahman ibn Nāsir al-Si’dī said regarding this verse in his Tafsir (p. 802):

“Nobility is achieved through taqwá. Thus, the noblest of them in the sight of Allah is the one with the most taqwá and that is the one who is the most obedient and abstains from sins.

It is not referring to the one who has the largest family or the noblest of them in lineage. Rather, Allāh is All Knowing and All Aware. He knows those from among them who act upon the taqwá of Allāh inwardly and outwardly and those who only act upon that outwardly, and He will reward both accordingly.”

Al-Imam ibn al-Qayyim stated that the best definition of al-Taqwá is the definition of the noble tabi’i Ṭalq ibn Habib. (al-Risalah al-Tabukiyyah 1/14)

Al-Imam al-Dahabī narrated in the biography of Ṭalq that when the fitnah of al-Ash’ath took place Ṭalq said, “Protect yourselves from it with al-Taqwá.” It was said to him, “Describe al-Taqwá’ to us.” So, he said, “That you perform the obedience of Allah upon a light from Allah, hoping for the reward of Allah. And that you abandon the disobedience of Allah upon a light from Allah, fearing the punishment of Allah.” (Siyar ‘Alam al-Nubalā)