‘We were near Ismā’īl bin Ulayyah, and a man narrated on authority of another man, so I said: ‘Indeed this is not reliable (Thabt)’. So the man said: ‘Are you backbiting him?’ Ismā’īl said: ‘He is not backbiting him; rather he is judging him unreliable’.
كُنَّا عِنْدَ إِسْمَاعِيلَ ابْنِ عُلَيَّةَ فَحَدَّثَ رَجُلٌ عَنْ رَجُلٍ فَقُلْتُ إِنَّ هَذَا لَيْسَ بِثَبْتٍ قَالَ فَقَالَ الرَّجُلُ اغْتَبْتَهُ قَالَ إِسْمَاعِيلُ مَا اغْتَابَهُ وَلَكِنَّهُ حَكَمَ أَنَّهُ لَيْسَ بِثَبْتٍ