Muwatta Malik #1747
Madina
The Arabic includes the chain of narration (sanad) and the collector's commentary; the English translation shows the Prophet's words only.
وَحَدَّثَنِي عَنْ مَالِكٍ، أَنَّهُ قَالَ بَلَغَنِي أَنَّ عُمَرَ بْنَ الْخَطَّابِ، قَالَ لَبَيْتٌ بِرُكْبَةَ أَحَبُّ إِلَىَّ مِنْ عَشَرَةِ أَبْيَاتٍ بِالشَّامِ . قَالَ مَالِكٌ يُرِيدُ لِطُولِ الأَعْمَارِ وَالْبَقَاءِ وَلِشِدَّةِ الْوَبَإِ بِالشَّامِ .
Yahya related to me that Malik said, "I heard that Umar ibn al-
Khattab said, 'A night in Rukba (a valley near Taif,) is more
preferable to me than ten nights in ash-Sham.' "
Malik said,
"He meant to lengthen and preserve their lives because of the severity
of the plague in ash-Sham ."
About Muwatta Malik
This hadith is #1747 from Muwatta Malik, in the Book of Madina.