Sunan ad-Dārimī Ḥadīth [96] – The salvation lies in clinging to the sunnah

أَخْبَرَنَا أَبُو الْمُغِيرَةِ، حَدَّثَنَا الْأَوْزَاعِيُّ، عَنْ يُونُسَ بْنِ يَزِيدَ، عَنِ الزُّهْرِيِّ قَالَ: كَانَ مَنْ مَضَى مِنْ عُلَمَائِنَا يَقُولُونَ: الِاعْتِصَامُ بِالسُّنَّةِ نَجَاةٌ، وَالْعِلْمُ يُقْبَضُ قَبْضًا سَرِيعًا، فَنَعْشُ الْعِلْمِ ثَبَاتُ الدِّينِ وَالدُّنْيَا، وَفِي ذَهَابِ الْعِلْمِ ذَهَابُ ذَلِكَ كُلِّهِ

Book: Introduction
Chapter [16]: Obedience to the sunnah

Ḥadīth [96]: It is narrated on the authority of Zuhrī ^{[d. 125H]} (may Allāh have mercy upon him) that he said: Our scholars who came before us used to say: ‘Salvation lies in clinging to the sunnah. And knowledge will be snatched away swiftly. So, with the spread of knowledge, the world and religion stand. With the departure of knowledge, all that vanishes.’

Reference: Sunan ad-Dārimī (96 (1/34-35))