Mukhtasar Bukhari

Umm al-Mu'mineen Aisha Siddiqa (may Allah be pleased with her) says: I asked the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) about the plague, so he (peace be upon him) said: "The plague is a punishment; Allah sends this punishment upon whom He wills, and Allah has made it a mercy for the Muslims. When the plague spreads somewhere and a Muslim remains in his town with patience and seeking reward, and does not flee, believing that only what Allah has decreed for him will befall him, then he will receive the reward of a martyr."