Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Abdullah ibn Amir ibn Rabia that Umar ibn al-Khattab went out to ash-Sham. When he came to Sargh, near Tabuk, he heard that the plague had broken out in ash-Sham. Abd ar-Rahman ibn Awf told him that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "If you hear that a land has a plague in it, do not go forward to it. If it comes upon a land which you are in, do not depart in flight from it." Umar ibn al- Khattab came back from Sargh.
أَنَّ عُمَرَ بْنَ الْخَطَّابِ خَرَجَ إِلَى الشَّامِ فَلَمَّا جَاءَ سَرْغَ بَلَغَهُ أَنَّ الْوَبَأَ قَدْ وَقَعَ بِالشَّامِ فَأَخْبَرَهُ عَبْدُ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنُ عَوْفٍ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ قَالَ إِذَا سَمِعْتُمْ بِهِ بِأَرْضٍ فَلاَ تَقْدَمُوا عَلَيْهِ وَإِذَا وَقَعَ بِأَرْضٍ وَأَنْتُمْ بِهَا فَلاَ تَخْرُجُوا فِرَارًا مِنْهُ فَرَجَعَ عُمَرُ بْنُ الْخَطَّابِ مِنْ سَرْغَ