Musnad Ahmad — Hadith 24009/1

Narrated to us by ‘Isam ibn Khalid, narrated to us by al-‘Attaf ibn Khalid, narrated to us by Yahya ibn ‘Imran, from ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Uthman ibn al-Arqam, from his grandfather al-Arqam, that he came to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and greeted him with peace. He said: "Where are you intending?" He said: "I intended, O Messenger of Allah, to go here," and he gestured with his hand toward where Bayt al-Maqdis is. He said: "What brings you out to it, is it for trade?" He said: "I said: No, but I intended to pray in it." He said: "Then prayer here," and he gestured with his hand to Mecca, "is better than a thousand prayers," and he gestured with his hand toward al-Sham.