Battle of the Yarmuk in the context of "Amr ibn al-As"

Sakhr ibn Harb ibn Umayya (Arabic: صَخْرِ ٱبْن حَرْب ٱبْن أُمَيَّةَ, romanized: Ṣakhr ibn Ḥarb ibn Umayya; c. 560—653), commonly known by his kunya Abu Sufyan (Arabic: أَبُو سُفْيَانُ, romanized: Abū Sufyān), was a prominent opponent-turned companion and father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He was the father of the first Umayyad caliph Mu'awiya I (r. 661–680) and namesake of the Sufyanid line of Umayyad caliphs which ruled from 661 to 684.

Abu Sufyan was a leader and merchant from the Quraysh tribe of Mecca. During his early career, he often led trade caravans to Syria. He had been among the main leaders of Meccan opposition to Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, commanding the Meccans at the battles of the Uhud and Trench in 625 and 627 CE. However, when Muhammad entered Mecca in 630, he was among the first to submit and was given a stake in the nascent Muslim state, playing a role at the Battle of Hunayn and the subsequent destruction of the polytheistic sanctuary of al-Lat in Ta'if. After Muhammad's death, he may have been appointed as the governor of Najran by Caliph Abu Bakr (r. 632–634) for an unspecified period. Abu Sufyan later played a supporting role in the Muslim army at the Battle of the Yarmuk against the Byzantines in Syria. His sons Yazid and later Mu'awiya were given command roles in that province and the latter went on to establish the Umayyad Caliphate in 661.

Abu al-A'war Amr ibn Sufyan ibn Abd Shams al-Sulami (Arabic: أبو الأعور عمرو بن سُفيان بن عبد شمس السلمي, romanized: ʾAbū al-ʾAʿwar ʿAmr ibn Sufyān ibn ʿAbd Shams al-Sulamī), identified with the Abulathar or Aboubacharos (Greek: Ἀβουλαθάρ, Ἀβουβάχαρος) of the Byzantine sources (fl. 629–669), was an Arab admiral and general, serving in the armies of the Rashidun caliphs Abu Bakr (r. 632–634), Umar (r. 634–644) and Uthman (r. 644–656) rejecting the fourth Rashidun caliph Ali (r. 656–661), instead serving Umayyad caliph Mu'awiya I (r. 661–680).

He was one of the last prominent members of the Banu Sulaym tribe to convert to Islam, and fought against Muhammad at the Battle of Hunayn in 630. After becoming a Muslim, he took part in the conquest of Syria in the 630s and fought at the Yarmuk. Later, he commanded the Arab navy during the campaigns against the Byzantines in the eastern Mediterranean, including the decisive Muslim victory at the Battle of the Masts in 654. His army was also allegedly responsible for the destruction of the colossus of Rhodes. From the First Fitna until his disappearance from the historical record in the 660s, Abu al-A'war served Mu'awiya in a number of capacities, including as a commander and negotiator at the Battle of Siffin, an operative of Amr ibn al-As in Egypt, a tax administrator in Palestine and the governor of Jordan; he had held the latter post since the reign of Uthman.