Yezid 2 was son of `Abd al-Malik (Abdulmalik 1): Chron. 1234, §163 (p. 308). Commander of an Arab fleet which brought fresh supplies from Africa to the Arabs during the siege of Constantinople in spring and summer 718 (στόλος ... οὗ ὑπῆρχεν ἡγεμὼν Ἰέζιδος Σαρακηνῶν ὄνομα: Nic. Brev. de Boor 54, Mango 54:26-28); through fear of Greek fire, he put in at Satyros (and Bryas and as far as Kartalimen, adds Theophanes) in Bithynia, where his fleet was destroyed in a Byzantine attack after the desertion of Egyptian sailors: Nic. Brev. de Boor 54, Mango 54, Theoph. AM 6209.

After the death of the caliph Omar II (Omar 2) in 720, Yezid 2 succeeded him as caliph: Theoph. AM 6212 (καὶ ἀμηρεύει Ἰζίδ), Mansi XIII 197 (mentioned at the Second Council of Nikaia; τοῦτον διαδέχεται Ἔζιδος), Zon. XV 3. 1 (Ἰζὶθ τῶν Ἀράβων ἄρτι γέγονεν ἀρχηγός), Chron. 1234, §163 (p. 308) (in year 101 of the Arabs, i.e. 719/720). He was immediately faced with a rebellion in Persia under his namesake Yezid 3 but sent his general Maslama 1 who subdued Persia for him: Theoph. AM 6212, Chron. 1234, §163 (p. 308).

Yezid 2 was caliph from 720 to 724 as Yezid II. The iconoclast movement is supposed to have originated under him, according to the patriarch Nikephoros 2 and again in a statement read out at the Second Council of Nikaia (the Seventh Ecumenical Council) in 787 by Ioannes 15 (representative of the patriarch of Antioch); described as shallow and fickle (Mansi XIII 197: ἀνὴρ κοῦφός τις καὶ εὐπαράφαρος), he allegedly fell under the influence of a Jewish leader from Tiberias, called Tesserakontapechys 1, who persuaded him that he would have a long life and a reign of thirty years if only he would order the destruction of all pictorial representations throughout his realm, including those in Christian churches and in public places; he therefore had all holy icons and other representations in the lands under him destroyed; this occurred before iconoclasm affected the Roman empire (Mansi XIII 197: πρὸ τοῦ φθάσαι ἐν τῇ γῇ ταύτῃ τὸ κακόν); the idea was taken up by the bishop of Nakoleia (Konstantinos 73) and others inside the empire; Yezid 2, however, died two years and a half after initiating the action; the images and pictures were then restored and Yezid 2's son Oulidos (Walid 2) punished Tesserakontapechys 1: Nicephorus, Antirrheticus III, 528D-532A, Mansi XIII 197-200. According to other sources, in 724 Yezid 2 issued a general decree against sacred images in Christian churches throughout his realm, supposedly at the instigation of an (unnamed) Jewish sorcerer, but he died before it could be put into effect: Theoph. AM 6215, John of Jerusalem, Narratio, cf. Zon. XV 3. 1-3 (when promised a long life by two Jewish sorcerers if he banished images of Christ and His Mother from churches, he did so but died within the year).

Yezid 2 died in 724 after reigning for four years (ὁ τῶν Ἀράβων ἀμηρεύσας) and was succeeded as caliph by his brother Isam (Hisham 1): Theoph. AM 6216. According to Zonaras he was succeeded by his son: Zon. XV 3. 4 (ὁ δὲ τούτου παῖς τῆς ἀρχῆς). His son Walid (Walid 2) became caliph after Hisham 1 in 743. On the date of his decree against pictorial representations, see A. A. Vasiliev, "The Iconoclastic Edict of the Caliph Yazid II, A. D. 721," in DOP 9/10 (1956), pp. 23-47.

In the year 1031 Sel. (719/720) `Umar (Omar 2) died and was succeeded by Yazid ibn `Atba (for `Atka) ibn `Abd al-Malik (Yezid 2); he gave orders for the destruction of all images in his lands, whether in bronze, wood or stone or painted with colours: Chron. 819, p. 16, 5-9 = p. 11, Chron. 846, p. 234, 24-28 = p. 178 (Chabot) = p. 584 (Brooks).

In the year 1035 Sel. (723/724) Yezid 2 died and was succeeded by Hisham ibn `Abd al-Malik (Hisham 1): Chron. 819, p. 16, 18-20 = p. 11, Chron. 846, p. 235, 9-11 = p. 178 (Chabot) = p. 584 (Brooks).

In the year 1034 Sel. (722/723) Yezid 2 succeeded `Umar (Omar 2) as king of the Arabs and reigned for four years; in the year 1035 Sel. (723/724) Yazid 2 ordered the destruction of all images, in temples, churches or houses, and sent out workmen for the purpose; in the year 1036 Sel. (724/725) he ordered that all white dogs, doves and cocks be killed: Pseudo-Dion., Chron., p. 163, 16-29 = p. 123.

In the year 1038 Sel. (726/727) Yezid 2 died: Pseudo-Dion., Chron., p. 164, 8-20 = p. 123.

Son of Abd al-Malik (Abdulmalik 1), Yezid 2 succeeded `Umar (Omar 2) as caliph and ruled for four years; he suppressed a rebellion under Yazid ibn Muhalab (Yezid 3); he ordered the removal of all images of living beings from temples, walls, wooden panels, stones and books; he died in the year 1037 Sel. (725/726) in the district of Damascus: Bar Hebr., p. 109, Mich. Syr. II 489-490.

Azid (sic, i.e. Yezid 2) succeeded Oumar (Omar 2) as ruler of the Arabs and ruled for four years; he was then succeeded by Isam (Hisham 1): Const. Porph., DAI 22, 53ff.

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