The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to Mecca, "What a wonderful land you are, and how dear you are to me. Had my people not driven me out of you, I would never have settled anywhere else."
قال رسول الله ﷺ لمكة: ما أطيبك من بلد وأحبك إلي، ولولا أن قومي أخرجوني منك ما سكنت غيرك.
Tirmidhi (3926), Ibn Hibban (3709), and Hakim (1/486) all narrated it through various routes from Abdullah bin Uthman bin Khuthaym, who said, Saeed bin Jubayr and Abu Tufayl narrated to us, from Ibn Abbas, and he related it. Except that Hakim did not pair Abu Tufayl with Saeed bin Jubayr. Its chain is hasan because of Abdullah bin Uthman bin Khuthaym, for his hadith is hasan. Tirmidhi said, "This is a hasan sahih hadith, gharib from this angle."Something of similar meaning was narrated from Abdullah bin Umar, who said, I saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ circling the Kaaba and saying, "How good you are, and how good your fragrance is. How great you are, and how great your sanctity is. By the One in whose hand is the soul of Muhammad, the sanctity of the believer is greater with Allah than your sanctity, in his wealth and his blood, and that we should think of him only with good."Ibn Majah (3932) narrated it from Abu Qasim bin Abu Damra Nasr bin Muhammad bin Sulayman Himsi, who said, my father narrated to us, Abdullah bin Abu Qays Nasri narrated to us, Abdullah bin Umar narrated to us, and he related it. Ibn Majah's teacher, Abu Qasim bin Abu Damra, is daif. Abu Hatim said of him, "I met him but did not write from him, and he is weak in hadith, not to be trusted." Busiri faulted the hadith on this basis. And his father, Muhammad bin Sulayman, was not deemed reliable by anyone except Ibn Hibban, who mentioned him among his trustworthy narrators. For this reason Hafiz said of him, "Acceptable," meaning when corroborated, and I did not find any corroboration for him.