It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) that the noble companions (may Allah be pleased with them) sought permission from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to write down hadith, but he did not grant them permission for this.
Hadith Takhrijاس روایت کی سند صحیح ہے۔ دیکھئے: [ترمذي 2667] ، [الالماع للقاضي ص: 148] ، [المحدث الفاصل 362] ، [الجامع للخطيب 461] ، [تقييد العلم ص: 32] و [جامع بيان العلم 335] یہ حکم شروع اسلام میں تھا۔
´Narrated Abu Sa'eed Al-Khudri:` "We sought permission from the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) for writing but he did not permit us."
Shaykh Dr. Abdur Rahman Freywai
Explanation: 1: The reason for this is that, in the early period of Islam, the ruling was: “Do not write anything from me, and whoever has written anything from me other than the Qur’an, let him erase it. And narrate from me, and there is no harm.” (Sahih Muslim) That is, do not write anything of mine except the Qur’an, and if anyone has written anything other than the Qur’an, let him erase it. However, there is no harm in narrating my hadiths. Later, the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam), through his statement: “Convey from me, even if it is a single verse,” granted permission for this as well.
Source: Sunan al-Tirmidhi – Majlis ‘Ilmi Dar al-Da‘wah, New Delhi Edition, Page: 2665