وَتَخْشَى النَّاسَ وَاللَّهُ أَحَقُّ أَنْ تَخْشَاهُ
You fear people, though God has a greater claim to your reverent fear.
Takhshā / takhshāhu both concern fear or reverence. Aḥaqqu means more entitled or deserving. The final contrast moves from social pressure to the deeper moral standard of reverence for God.
The point is not to deny all natural fear of people; it rebukes allowing their disapproval to override what one knows to be right.
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The Ṣanʿāʾ Maqāmah: Missed Goodness, Competing Priorities, and Contradictory Conduct
وَتَخْشَى النَّاسَ وَاللَّهُ أَحَقُّ أَنْ تَخْشَاهُ
You fear people, though God has a greater claim to your reverent fear.
Takhshā / takhshāhu both concern fear or reverence. Aḥaqqu means more entitled or deserving. The final contrast moves from social pressure to the deeper moral standard of reverence for God.
The point is not to deny all natural fear of people; it rebukes allowing their disapproval to override what one knows to be right.