ʿUthmān ibn Ḥakīm said, “I saw ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn wearing a cloak of khazz (silk-wool brocade) and a khazz gown. (1)

Ḥusayn ibn Zayd ibn ʿAlī narrated, on the authority of his uncle, that ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn used to buy a khazz cloak for fifty dinars, wear it during the winter, then sell it and give its price away in charity. (2)

Muḥammad ibn Hilāl said, “I saw ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn wearing a turban and letting its tail hang down his back. (2)

It is also reported that in summer he would wear two lightly-dyed Egyptian garments while reciting: ‘Say, Who has forbidden the adornment of Allah which He has produced for His servants, and the good things of provision?’ (2) [al-Aʿrāf 7:31].

Another report states that whenever ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn rode through Medina on his mule, he never told anyone, “Make way.” Instead he would say, “The road is shared; I have no right to push anyone aside.”

He possessed an awe-inspiring dignity, and—by Allah—it was his due, for he was worthy of the supreme imamate by virtue of his noble lineage, his leadership, his knowledge, his devotion, and his consummate intellect.

The ode of al-Farazdaq is famous—and we ourselves have heard it. Hishām ibn ʿAbd al-Malik performed the pilgrimage shortly before he assumed the caliphate. Whenever he tried to touch the Black Stone, the crowds jostled him; but when ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn approached it, they parted for him out of reverence.

Hishām was disturbed by this and said, “Who is this man? I do not know him.” Whereupon al-Farazdaq composed:

This is the man whose tread the broad plain of Mecca knows;
The House knows him, the free precinct and the sacred precinct know him.
This is the son of the best of all Allah’s servants;
The devout, the pure, the unsullied, the banner ever raised.
When Quraysh behold him, their spokesman proclaims:
To the noble qualities of this man every virtue comes to its end.