Imam Zayn al 'Abideen & Hisham ibn 'Abd al Malik.

Al Salamu 'Alaykum.

The person most respected and loved during the Ummayyad period was 'Ali ibn Husayn (Zayn al 'Abideen). In the simple, pure and saintly life led by him, he had no peer. Once Hisham ibn 'Abd al Malik came to the Ka'ba for Tawaaf but owing to the huge gathering he could not reach the Hajr-e-Aswad. Therefore, he sat down to wait till he could get a chance to kiss it. In the meantime 'Ali ibn Husayn arrived and the people at once cleared the way for him to make the Tawaaf and kiss the Black Stone. Everyone present in the Ka'ba received him with the utmost deference. At last Hisham, pretending as if he did not know 'Ali ibn Husayn asked who he was. The poet, Farazdaq who happened to be present immediately composed an introductory ode for Hadrat Zayn al 'Abideen. It has been reported that certain additions were made to this famous ode later on but it is still regarded as a masterpiece of Arabic poetry. It opened with the following verse:

The pebbles and paths of Makka affirm his virtues;

The House of Allah knows him as well as the surroundings do.

Other highly reputed scholars of outstanding piety during this period were Hasan al Muthanna, his son, 'Abdullah al Mahad, Saalim ibn 'Abdullah ibn `Umar, Qaasim ibn Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr, Sa'eed ibn al Musayyib and 'Urwa ibn Zubair.
Taken from Saviours of Islamic Spirit by 'Ali Miyan Nadwi, Chapter on 'Umar ibn 'Abd al 'Aziz. (with some linguistic corrections)