Muwatta Malik 1622
موطأ مالك#1622Da'ifThese are the words of a Companion, not of the Prophet ﷺ. The chain is graded on its own terms.
وَحَدَّثَنِي عَنْ مَالِكٍ، أَنَّهُ قَالَ بَلَغَنِي أَنَّ عُمَرَ بْنَ الْخَطَّابِ، قَالَ لَبَيْتٌ بِرُكْبَةَ أَحَبُّ إِلَىَّ مِنْ عَشَرَةِ أَبْيَاتٍ بِالشَّامِ . قَالَ مَالِكٌ يُرِيدُ لِطُولِ الأَعْمَارِ وَالْبَقَاءِ وَلِشِدَّةِ الْوَبَإِ بِالشَّامِ .
Yahya related to me that Malik said, "I heard that Umar ibn al- Khattab said, 'A night in Rukba (a valley near Taif,) is more preferable to me than ten nights in ash-Sham.' " Malik said, "He meant to lengthen and preserve their lives because of the severity of the plague in ash-Sham
Scholarly Authentication
The label above is the grade most of these scholars gave — one dissenting opinion no longer speaks for all of them. If any scholar calls a narration fabricated, that verdict is shown instead, whatever the others say. Each scholar's own wording:
In-book reference: 45:25