When Arabs talk about how great a person is, relative to others, they talk about the person's family (birth or descent, or nasab) and the person's or his family's achievements or attributes (hasab). So, someone who belongs to a great family with bright doctors and judges, for example, is said to be of noble descent. I'm struggling though to find an English word for hasab, i.e. for "the achievements or attributes of the individual and/or his family or ancestors".
The word can be used to shorten such a long question as: What qualities or great achievements do you or a family member have or had? One could answer: "I have a PhD, my father is a successful politician, and my great-great-grandmother was the first person to establish an orphanage in my town".
Hasab is derived from another word meaning calculation or counting. The idea was that Arabs, a long time ago, would compete against each other in terms of whose hasab was greater than others, and the competition involved each one of the competing group counting or listing all the things they prided themselves on.
Today, the pair hasab and nasab is most likely to be seen or uttered when a man asks for a woman's hand in marriage. The family of the woman would investigate or even ask the man directly about his hasab and nasab.
Some people would translate hasab as status. I think this translation may capture the essence of the Arabic word, but it misses the whole story.
Best Answer
The best approximation I can think of is
It's often only used at the end of someone's life, when considering a future after they are deceased, though.
Another idea is
This refers to the reputation, wealth, example, and anything else you got from your family's prior achievements, but does not refer to your achievements. If anything it implies that a lot is to be expected from you.
In the case of a marriage or trying to impress someone generally, I think you will need to use two concepts
Or possibly