The genealogy of this person is as follows: Yazid b. Abu Sufyan, Abu Khalid Sakhr b. Harb b. Umayya b. Abd Shams b. Abd Manaf al-Qurashi al-Umawi. He was the brother of Muʿawiya. He was older and more virtuous than him. He was called Yazid al-Khayr. He became Muslim in the year of the conquest of Mecca. He participated in the Battle of Hunayn. The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) gave him 100 camels and forty uqiyyas of silver. Abu Bakr sent him to command a quarter of the army in Syria. He was the first commander to reach Syria. When Abu Bakr bid him farewell, he walked beside him on foot and gave him some advice. Along with him, Abu Ubayda, ʿAmr b. al-ʿAs, and Shurahbil b. Hasana were also sent as commanders to Syria. These were the four commanders of the army in Syria. When they conquered Damascus, he entered the city through the small Jabiya gate. Abu Bakr had promised him the command of Damascus. When ʿUmar became caliph, he appointed him as commander there, thus fulfilling the promise that Abu Bakr al-Siddiq had given him. Yazid became the first Muslim governor and commander appointed there.
According to the well-known opinion, he died due to the plague of ʿAmwas. Walid b. Muslim claimed that he died in the nineteenth year of the Hijra after conquering Caesarea. At the time of his death, he left his brother Muʿawiya as his deputy in Syria. ʿUmar also confirmed Muʿawiya's governorship of Syria. May Allah be pleased with them. There is not much information about Yazid in the books. Abu ʿAbdullah al-Ashʿari narrated that Yazid transmitted the following hadith:
"The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) said: The condition of one who performs prayer but does not fulfill its bowing (rukūʿ) and prostration (sujūd) properly is like that of a hungry person who eats only one or two dates, and these one or two dates do not benefit him much."