If there had been any good in performing the Prophet's birthday celebration, the Companions would have preceded us to it
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : The Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) are the most intense in their love for the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him).
The Shaykh : And in their exaltation of him.
The questioner : If loving the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) meant establishing this festival, they would have been the most deserving of it, and they would have been the first to hold it.
The Shaykh : You have spoken well. This is also evidence. Are we better than the Companions? Do we love the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) more than the Companions loved him? No. So why did they not do it?[Al-Ahqaf 46:11]
The Shaykh : And in their exaltation of him.
The questioner : If loving the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) meant establishing this festival, they would have been the most deserving of it, and they would have been the first to hold it.
The Shaykh : You have spoken well. This is also evidence. Are we better than the Companions? Do we love the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) more than the Companions loved him? No. So why did they not do it?
If it had [truly] been good, they would not have preceded us to it.
لَوْ كَانَ خَيْرًا مَّا سَبَقُونَا إِلَيْهِ
Source
قناة «فضيلة الشيخ محمد بن صالح العثيمين»، 4967لو كان في فعل المولد النبوي خير لسبقونا إليه الصحابة📔 الشرح الممتع على زاد المستقنع - ابن عثيمين — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.