The story of the name
Named by the Prophet ﷺ himself
When Fatimah(RA) and Ali(RA)'s first son was born in Ramadan of 3 AH, the Prophet ﷺ gave the boy his name: Hasan — beautiful, excellent — a name the tradition relates was not in use among the Arabs before. He ﷺ performed the aqiqah for him himself. And he adored him openly: carried him on his shoulder through Madinah, interrupted his own sermon to pick him up when the small boy stumbled in, let him and his brother climb on his back while he prayed. Over him he made a du'a that recruits every believer since into loving him: "O Allah, I love him, so love him" (Bukhari 3749; Muslim 2422).
Whoever does not show mercy
One of the most quoted teachings in Islam came out of a moment with Hasan(RA). The Prophet ﷺ kissed him in front of others, and al-Aqra ibn Habis(RA) remarked that he had ten children and had never kissed any of them. The reply was immediate: "whoever does not show mercy will not be shown mercy" (Bukhari 5997; Muslim 2318). A grandfather's affection, made permanent instruction — and it was Hasan(RA) in his arms when he said it.
The prophecy from the minbar
One day, with Hasan(RA) beside him on the minbar, the Prophet ﷺ looked between the child and the people and said: "this son of mine is a sayyid — and perhaps Allah will make peace through him between two great parties of the Muslims" (Bukhari 2704). Note what he ﷺ chose to praise in advance: not a future conqueror — a future peacemaker.
The prophecy fulfilled
A generation later it came due. Standing at the head of one of two Muslim armies, with a legitimate claim in his hand, Hasan (RA) did the hardest thing power ever does: he laid it down. He relinquished his claim to spare Muslim blood, and the year was named for his sacrifice — 'am al-jama'ah, the Year of Unity. The Prophet ﷺ had called him and his brother the leaders of the youth of the people of Paradise (Tirmidhi 3768); Hasan(RA) showed what that leadership looks like — beauty of face, beauty of name, and the surpassing beauty of a man who could have taken, and chose to give.
To carry this name
To carry this name is to measure strength the way the Prophet ﷺ praised it in his grandson — by what you can give up for the sake of peace — and to make your beauty the kind that reconciles.