Do the earlier scholars differ from the later ones?

Husain Ibn Shihab Al-Karaki Al-Amili writes:

فإن كثيرا من المتفقهة يزعمون أن طريق القدماء والمتأخرين واحد لا اختلاف فيه فإن المتأخرين لم يخرجوا في عملهم من النص وقد بينا لك حقيقة الأمر ولو أردنا جمع ما خالف فيه المتأخرين القدماء وعملوا فيه بغير النص لاجتمع من ذلك مجلد دخم

“Many of those who are devoted to understanding (fiqh) claim that the path of the original scholars and the late scholars is one and the same, and that they would not differ, since the late scholars would not move outside the framework of traditional texts in their approach, but we brought the truth about this to your attention and if we had collected everything in which the late scholars contradicted the original scholars and went ahead without traditional texts, then a huge collection would have been made from it.” [Hidayat-ul-Abrar, page 311]

فاعلم أنه وقع المتأخرين غفلات وأغاليط لو ذكرناها لطال الكلام حتى أنهم ربما عملوا بالقياس والاستحسان والرأي من حيث لا يشعرون

“Know that the late scholars went so far with negligence and mistakes – if we had named them, the treatise would have been lengthy – that they even sometimes went ahead with analogy (qiyas), discretion and their own opinion without being aware of it.” [Hidyat-ul-Abrar, page 308]

والحق أن كل قول يستند إلى كلام الأئمة عليهم السلام فهو باق لا يموت بموت قائله وما يستند إلى كلام الظنون التي تخطء وتصيب فمردود على قائله سواء كان حيا أو ميتا فيجب على طالب الحق أن يميز الخطأ من الصواب فما وافق النص عمل به وما اشتبه أمره أحتاط فيه وما خالف ذلك تركه لأهله

“The truth is that any statement based on the words of the Imams (a.) is valid. It does not die with the death of the person who spoke it. However, statements based on assumptions that can be wrong and right is returned to the person who made it, regardless of whether he is alive or dead. Therefore, it is necessary for anyone seeking the truth to distinguish what is wrong from what is right. Whatever was in accordance with the text of the tradition is what was acted upon, and whatever was unclear, caution was exercised, and whatever differed from this was left to its originators.” [Hidyat-ul-Abrar, page 304]

Comment:

Muhammad Al-Hurr Al-Amili writes:

الشيخ حسين بن شهاب الدين بن حسين بن محمد بن حسين بن حيدر العاملي الكركي الحكيم كان عالما فاضلا ماهرا أدبيا شاعرا منشئا من المعاصرين

“The scholar Husain Ibn Shihab Ad-Din Ibn Husain Ibn Muhammad Ibn Husain Ibn Haidar Al-Amili Al-Karaki Al-Hakim was knowledgeable, excellent, skilled, literate, poetically active and a haven among contemporary scholars.” [Amal-ul-Amal, Volume 1, Page 70]

Muhammad Baqir Al-Majlisi writes:

الشيخ حسين بن شهاب الدين بن حسين بن محمد بن حسين بن جاندار الشامي الكركي العاملي طودرسي في مقر العلم ورسخ ونسخ خطة الجهل بما خط ونسخ علا به من حديث الفضل إسناده واقوى به من الادب إقواؤه وسناده رأيته فرأيت منه فردا في الفضائل وحيدا وكاملا لا يجد الكمال عنه محيدا

“The scholar Husain Ibn Shihab Ad-Din Ibn Husain Ibn Muhammad Ibn Husain Ibn Jandar Ash-Shami Al-Karaki Al-Amili is firmly grounded and deeply rooted in knowledge. He lifted up the traces of ignorance with what it left behind and picked it up. Through him an excellent conversation increased from the bottom up and through him literary skill gained strength and support. I looked at him and saw from him unique and perfect excellence from which perfection cannot escape.” [Bihar-ul-Anwar, Volume 106, Page 261]