Musnad Ahmad 1153:1194

Abu Abd al-Rahman narrated to us, Dawud—meaning Ibn Abi al-Furat—narrated to us, from Abdullah ibn Buraydah, from Yahya ibn Ya'mar, from Aisha, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, that she informed him that she asked the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, about the plague. The Prophet of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, informed her: "It was a punishment that Allah, the Almighty and Majestic, would send upon whom He willed, but Allah made it a mercy for the believers. There is no servant in whose land the plague occurs, and he remains in his land, patient and anticipating the reward, knowing that nothing will afflict him except what Allah has written for him, but that there will be for him the like of the reward of a martyr."