Al-Walid I

Al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik was the sixth Umayyad caliph, reigning from Damascus during the zenith of imperial Islamic expansion. Under his generals Tariq ibn Ziyad, Qutayba ibn Muslim, and Muhammad ibn al-Qasim, the caliphate expanded across the Iberian Peninsula, Transoxiana, and Sindh, establishing an empire that stretched from the Atlantic Ocean to the borders of China.

Domestically, Al-Walid was one of the greatest architectural patrons of antiquity. He constructed the Great Umayyad Mosque of Damascus, rebuilt the Prophet's Mosque in Medina, expanded Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, and established the world's first state-sponsored hospital (bimaristan) with specialized wards for lepers and the disabled.