PATIENCE DURING ILLNESS H H 34 "Lady Ayesha asked the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, what the plague was. He replied: 'It is a punishment that Allah sends upon whom He wills; but for Muslims He has made it as a mercy. If a worshiper of Allah is afflicted by the plague and remains patiently in his town hoping to be recompensed by Allah, with the realization that only that which is determined by Allah will happen to him, he will indeed receive a recompense equal to that of a martyr." R 34 Bukhari with a chain up to the Mother of Believers, Lady Ayesha who related this.
33- وعن عائشةَ رضيَ الله عنها: أَنَّهَا سَألَتْ رسولَ الله صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم عَنِ الطّاعُونِ ، فَأَخْبَرَهَا أنَّهُ كَانَ عَذَاباً يَبْعَثُهُ اللهُ تَعَالَى عَلَى مَنْ يشَاءُ ، فَجَعَلَهُ اللهُ تعالى رَحْمَةً للْمُؤْمِنينَ ، فَلَيْسَ مِنْ عَبْدٍ يَقَعُ في الطَّاعُونِ فيمكثُ في بلدِهِ صَابراً مُحْتَسِباً يَعْلَمُ أنَّهُ لا يصيبُهُ إلاَّ مَا كَتَبَ اللهُ لَهُ إلاَّ كَانَ لَهُ مِثْلُ أجْرِ الشّهيدِ . رواه البخاري .