Majma al-Zawaid — Hadith 16664

Hamrah bin Abd Kulal states: Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) set out to travel to Sham after his first journey to Sham. When he drew near to Sham, he and his companions received news that the plague had spread in Sham. His companions said to him: "Go back and do not enter Sham; if you go to Sham while the plague is there, then we do not think you will be able to come back from there." So Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) turned back towards Madinah. That night he halted in the last part of the night, and I was the closest of the people to him at that time. When he rose, I also rose behind him, and I heard him saying: "When I had come near to Sham, these people made me turn back from there because the plague is there. Behold! My turning back from there will not delay the time of my death, nor would my going there have hastened the appointed time of death. Behold! After returning to Madinah and finishing the necessary tasks, I will travel again, go and stay in Sham, and then I will enter Hims, because I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) say: 'Allah Almighty will raise from there (on the Day of Resurrection) seventy thousand people who will not be taken to account and will not be punished; they will be raised from between the olive trees (in) its soft soil and its walls.'"
Ahmad recorded it; its chain contains a narrator, Abu Bakr bin Abi Maryam, and he is da'if (weak).