فَإِذَا كَانَ الرَّاوِي لَهَا لَيْسَ بِمَعْدِنٍ لِلصِّدْقِ وَالْأَمَانَةِ، ثُمَّ أَقْدَمَ عَلَى الرِّوَايَةِ عَنْهُ مَنْ قَدْ عَرَفَهُ، وَلَمْ يُبَيِّنْ مَا فِيهِ لِغَيْرِهِ مِمَّنْ جَهِلَ مَعْرِفَتَهُ، كَانَ آثِمًا بِفِعْلِهِ ذَلِكَ غَاشًّا لِعَوَامِّ الْمُسْلِمِينَ؛ إِذْ لَا يُؤْمَنُ عَلَى بَعْضِ مَنْ سَمِعَ تِلْكَ الْأَخْبَارَ أَنْ يَسْتَعْمِلَهَا أَوْ يَسْتَعْمِلَ بَعْضَهَا، وَلَعَلَّهَا أَوْ أَكْثَرَهَا أَكَاذِيبُ لَا أَصْلَ لَهَا، مَعَ أَنَّ الْأَخْبَارَ الصِّحَاحَ مِنْ رِوَايَةِ الثِّقَاتِ وَأَهْلِ الْقَنَاعَةِ أَكْثَرُ مِنْ أَنْ يُضْطَرَّ إِلَى نَقْلِ مَنْ لَيْسَ بِثِقَةٍ وَلَا مَقْنَعٍ.
Translation: If the person transmitting such reports is not a source of truthfulness and trustworthiness, and someone who knows his condition nevertheless undertakes to narrate from him without disclosing his defects to others who do not know them, that person sins by doing so and deceives the general Muslim public. For it cannot be ruled out that some who hear those reports will put them, or part of them, into practice, though those reports—or most of them—may be baseless falsehoods. Furthermore, sound reports transmitted by trustworthy narrators and people in whom confidence can be placed are numerous enough that there is no need to depend on someone neither trustworthy nor a source of confidence.
The warning targets a person who knows a relevant defect yet withholds it from listeners unfamiliar with it while presenting the report for reliance. Recording a weak route openly for technical comparison is not the same act.