Sunan Abi Dawud 2483
سنن أبي داود#2483SahihNarrated Ibn Hawalah: The Prophet (ﷺ) said: It will turn out that you will be armed troops, one is Syria, one in the Yemen and one in Iraq. Ibn Hawalah said: Choose for me, Messenger of Allah, if I reach that time. He replied: Go to Syria, for it is Allah's chosen land, to which his best servants will be gathered, but if you are unwilling, go to your Yemen, and draw water from your tanks, for Allah has on my account taken special charge of Syria and its people
Scholarly Authentication
We show the most cautious grade (weakest-wins) as the overall label. Individual scholars graded it as follows:
Al-AlbaniSahih
Muhammad Muhyi Al-Din Abdul HamidSahih
Zubair Ali ZaiIsnaad Sahih
In-book reference: 15:7