The pedigree of Al-Yafi family goes back to our master Al-Hussein bin Ali bin Abi Talib, may God be pleased with them (1).
Linguistically, the family name of Al Yafi family goes back to the city of Jaffa in Palestine. The family’s ancestors immigrated from Mecca to the Maghreb. With the Islamic conquests, the family’s ancestors moved to Andalusia (2). After that, the family moved and settled in Damietta, Egypt. From Damietta, Mohamed bin Mohamed bin Saleh (the father of Omar) moved to Jaffa in Palestine, where Sheikh Omar was born in 1173 AH corresponding to 1759 AD. (3)
Sheikh Omar started seeking knowledge in Jaffa, from which he moved to Nablus (see Omar Al-Yafi’s page), then continued to Egypt, where he studied at Al-Azhar Al-Sharif then moved to Gaza until he reached to study under the supervision of its sheikhs in the year 1198 AH. Sheikh Omar toured the Levantine states and the Hijaz, spreading knowledge and establishing Sufi supplications. He is considered the first person of the family to be recorded in jurisprudence and poetry books upon noting his nickname “Al-Yafi” in relation to the place of his birth in Jaffa, Palestine. Sheikh Omar settled in Damascus Al-Sham and took his residence in the Umayyad Mosque known as the “Al-Yafi’s Place”, where he held lessons and Islamic remembrances.
In the 19th and 20th centuries, members of Al-Yafi family spread to Syria (Damascus and Homs), Lebanon (Beirut and Tripoli) and Egypt.
It is worth noting that Abu Al-Nasr family in Lebanon, Palestine and Medina, and the Al-Zuhri family in Homs (Syria) are related to Al-Yafi family. Abu Al-Nasr family refers to Sheikh Mohamed Abu Al-Nasr bin Omar Al-Yafi and Al-Zuhri family is linked to Sheikh MOhamed al-Zuhri bin Omar Al-Yafi.
It is worth noting that Abu Al-Nasr family in Lebanon, Palestine and Medina, and the Al-Zuhri family in Homs (Syria) are related to Al-Yafi family. Abu Al-Nasr family refers to Sheikh Mohamed Abu Al-Nasr bin Omar Al-Yafi and Al-Zuhri family is linked to Sheikh Mohamed al-Zuhri bin Omar Al-Yafi.
Many members of this family have become famous over the past two centuries. The most distinguished of them are Sheikh Mohamed Abu Al-Nasr, Sheikh Mohamed Al-Zuhri, Sheikh Muhi Al-Din, Sheikh Saad Al-Din bin Muhyi Al-Din, Sheikh Abdul Karim bin Mohamed Abu Al-Nasr (Head of the Ashrafs in Beirut), Farid Pasha bin Saad Al-Din, Sheikh Abu Al-Saud, Prime Minster Abdullah Al-Yafi, and Others.

References
(1)- Certificate from the Head of the Ashrafs of Damascus.
(2)- Records of the Sharia Court in Beirut. Dr. Hassan Al-Hallak, p. 71/1987.
(3)- Al-Zarkali Collection / Al-Zahiriyah Library Serial No. 1304.