Al-Kāfi 1, record 165 of the digital edition

Translation

6. Muhammad ibn Yahya has narrated from certain persons of his people and Ali ibn Ibrahim from his father from Harun ibn Muslim from Mas‘ada ibn Sadaqa from abu ‘Abdallah (a.s.) and Ali ibn Ibrahim from his father from ibn Mahbub in a marfu’ manner from Amir al-Mu’minin Ali (a.s.) who has said the following. “Of the most intensely disliked men before Allah, the Majestic, the Most Glorious, are two kinds of people: A man whom Allah has left all to his own soul and he deviates from the path of justice and is intensely attracted towards the words innovation. He seems a master in performing prayer and fasting but is a mischief to deceive people; he has strayed from guidance of the people before him and misleads those who may follow him in his lifetime and after his death. He carries the responsibility for others sins and is the hostage of his own sins. The other man is one who collects ignorance among the ignorant, himself a captive of darkness of the mischievous. The, humanoids, people who look like people, consider him a scholar but he has not been even for a complete day with scholars. He has made an early effort to accumulate some thing that its being of a smaller quantity is better than in larger quantities and in this way he has quenched himself with polluted water and has treasured what is of no use. He sits among the people as a judge to carry the responsibility of what is confusing and uncertain to others. He may even oppose the ruling of the judge before him. One can never tell whether his judgment will remain valid or a judge after him will over turn it just as he has done to the judgments of the judges before him. If he would face one of the complex and difficult issues he comes up with a heap of his personal opinions and then he shapes it up as a clear-cut judgment. In fact, he has dressed himself up with doubtful issue the way a spider waves his fragile web. He is not sure if he has done the right thing or the wrong one. He does not consider the fact that in an unknown case to have proper knowledge is necessary and does not see that beyond his opinion there is a school of law. He analogies one thing to the other but it does not matter to him if his opinion will turn out to be a lie. If an issue is dark (not known) to him he hides it to hide his own ignorance so that people will not say he does not know. He then boldly judges and thus he is the key to hazards, a rider of doubts, perplexed in ignorance and never regrets his lacking knowledge. The level of his knowledge never rises to clear-cut certainty so that he would benefit. He blows out Hadith like winds that blow away hay. The legacies weep from him, the bloods (judging the case of murder) shout against him. The lawful marital relations become unlawful because of his judgment and unlawful ones become lawful. He has no confidence in the judgments issues he can never be trusted for his judgments that he may make nor was he qualified for what he may have done in the matters that he claimed to have true knowledge.”

Translation: Muhammad Sarwar — published with the edition, reproduced verbatim.