"Ali ibn Abi Talib was a member of the House of Hashem, the first cousin of the Prophet and the fourth Caliph. He was renowned as a warrier often leading his army into battle, and he was one of the first converts to Islam." "It is from the sons of Ali and Fatima, Al-Hassan and Al-Hussein, that the "Sharifs (nobles) and Sayyids (lords) descent respectively."
"Ali is remembered for his generosity and nobility. Besides being couageous, he was always charitable and forgiving to his enemies. The sayings and sermons of Ali are collected in a book called Nahj al-Balaghah ("The Way of Eloquence") which has served as a model for the use of Arabic, similar to what the speeches of Cicero once did for Latin. It was Ali who first laid down the rules of formal Arabic grammar, describing language as made up of nouns, verbs, and particibles (sic)." (credit for narrative given below).
OTHER: Ancestors/Descendants of Muhammed Hashim" at http://www.geneastar.org. (Contributors E. Polti/Manuel Abranches de Soveral, references website <a href=http://kinghussein.gov.jo/rfamily_hashemites.html>King Hussein Website</a> .)