Mishkat al-Masabih #1467

‘A’isha said, “I asked God’s messenger about plague and he told me it is a punishment God sends upon whomsoever He wills, but God has made it a blessing to the believers. When plague comes, anyone who stays patiently in his town looking for his reward from God, knowing that only what God has decreed for him can happen to him, will have a reward like that of a martyr.” Bukhari transmitted it.