He heard the Prophet ﷺ saying as he stood at al-Hazwarah in the marketplace of Mecca, "By Allah, you are the best of Allah's lands and the most beloved of Allah's lands to Allah . Had I not been driven out of you, I would never have left."
إنه سمع النبي ﷺ وهو واقف بالحزورة في سوق مكة: والله إنك لخير أرض الله، وأحب أرض الله إلى الله عز وجل، ولولا أني أخرجت منك ما خرجت.
Tirmidhi (3925), Ibn Majah (3108), and Ahmad (18715) narrated it, and Ibn Hibban (3708) and Hakim (7/3) graded it sahih, all of them through routes from Zuhri, who said, Abu Salama bin Abdul-Rahman informed us, from Abdullah bin Adi bin Hamra Zuhri, and he related it. Its chain of transmission is sahih.Tirmidhi said, "This is a hasan sahih gharib hadith." Hakim said, "Sahih according to the criteria of the two sheikhs." Its detailed sourcing was given previously in the book on the Prophetic biography.As for His saying, "and those around it", this refers to the villages of the Arabs surrounding Makkah, and this warning extends to all the other villages on earth, for the Prophet ﷺ is a messenger from Allah, Most High, to all people. Allah, Most High, says, "We have not sent you except comprehensively to mankind, as a bringer of good tidings and a warner" [Surah Saba 34:28].