He said, I saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ standing on his she-camel at al-Hazwarah, saying, "By Allah, you are the best of Allah's lands and the most beloved of Allah's lands to me. By Allah, had I not been driven out of you, I would never have left."
حدثنا عيسى بن حماد المصري أنبأنا الليث بن سعد أخبرني عقيل عن محمد بن مسلم أنه قال إن أبا سلمة بن عبد الرحمن بن عوف أخبره أن
له رأيت رسول الله ﷺ وهو على ناقته واقف بالحزورة يقول والله إنك لخير أرض الله وأحب أرض الله إلي والله لولا أني أخرجت منك ما خرجت
[Its chain of transmission is sahih]. Tirmidhi narrated it in his chapter on the virtue of Makkah, in the Book of Virtues, hadith no. 3925, from the hadith of Layth by this route, and he said, "Hasan gharib sahih." Hakim graded it sahih according to the criteria of the two Shaykhs (7/3), and Dhahabi agreed with him. This hadith has other routes as well.