The Devils Deception by Imam Ibn AL-Jawzi

Chapter Eleven: The Devil's Deception of the $lifts
When the Companions had reported the Sunnah, and the Tabi'in
received it from them, and the Scholars of J::iadith traveled widely,
traversing East and West to a single word from here and a single
word from there, ascertaining what was authentic and what was fabricated,
labelling some transmitters as trustworthy and others as untrustworthy,
revising the Sunnahs and compiling them, if the result were
obliterated, all their labour would be wasted, neither would the rule
of Allah be known when a case arose. The Shari1ah prescribes no
such practice; had any other before us a chain of transmitters going
back to their Prophet? No nation p1ior to us had the privilege of having an
authentic continous chain all the W'!)I to their Prophet.
We have been told that the Imam AJ::imad Ibn l:Ianbal, who had
traveled East and West in search of hadith, inspite of his extensive
gathering of }:iadith once asked his son what he had written down
from a certain scholar of J::iadith. His son replied that on the day of
'eid, the Prophet ) used to go out by one route and return by
another. AJ::imad said: "/ nna lilltihi, a Sunnah of the Prophet ) which
had never reached me!"252
Such then was the words of a man who had collected so much;
what must be the case of one who wrote nothing down, or washed
out anything he did write? Tell me, If we were to get rid of books,
then what would we rely on when giving rulings? On so-and- so the
ascetic, or so-and-so the $ii.ft, or on illusions and visions which may
occur to them?
We seek refuge with Allah from becoming misguided after receiving
guidance.
252
Bukhari, #986.
453