He said, “Allah has many creatures who walk upon the water, yet they have no worth in His sight. Even if you were to see a man upon whom karāmāt (miraculous gifts) have been bestowed so that he can fly through the air, do not let him beguile you until you have observed how he behaves with respect to the commands and prohibitions, and how he safeguards the ḥudūd (prescribed limits) and the sharʿ (Sacred Law).” (1)
He also produced other graceful witticisms of this sort, but sayings have been ascribed to him that are problematic and admit of no lawful interpretation. The real issue is whether they are soundly transmitted from him, or whether he uttered them while in a state of bewilderment and spiritual intoxication (2), of absence and effacement—statements that must therefore be folded away and not cited as proof (3), for their outward sense is sheer unbelief. Among them are: “Subḥānī (Glory be to Me),” and “Mā fī al-jubba illā Allah (There is nothing in the cloak but Allah).”
“What is the Fire? Tomorrow I shall lean against it and say, ‘Make me a ransom for its people, otherwise I will swallow it!’ ” (4)
“What is Paradise? A child’s plaything, the pursuit of worldly folk.”
“What are the ḥadīth scholars? If one man addresses them on the authority of another man, our hearts have addressed us on the authority of the Lord.” (5)
Concerning the Jews he said, “Who are these? Hand them over to me; what are they that You should punish them?”
= 2/450. Ibn Majah (3855) also transmits—through the narration of Asmaʾ bint Yazid—that the Prophet ﷺ said: “Allah’s Greatest Name is found in these two verses: ‘wa-ilahukum ilah wāḥid, lā ilāha illā huwa ar-raḥmān ar-raḥīm’ (Your God is one God; there is no deity except Him, the All-Merciful, the Compassionate) and in the opening of Surah Al ʿImran: ‘alif lām mīm; Allāhu lā ilāha illā huwa al-ḥayy al-qayyūm’ (Alif Lam Mim. Allah—there is no deity except Him, the Living, the Self-Subsisting).” The chain contains Shahr ibn Hawshab, who is weak, yet the report is supported by a narration of Abu Umamah that reinforces it, recorded by Ibn Majah (3856), al-Tahawi in Mushkil al-athar 1/63, and al-Hakim 1/506, with a sound isnad.
(1) See Hilyat al-awliyaʾ 10/40.
(2) The “intoxication” (sukr) referred to here means the yearning and rapture experienced in one’s devotion to Allah. Hilyat al-awliyaʾ 10/40 illustrates this: “Yahya ibn Muʿadh wrote to Abu Yazid, ‘I became intoxicated by repeatedly drinking from the cup of His love.’ Abu Yazid replied, ‘You became intoxicated without tasting the pearls, whereas others have drunk the oceans of the heavens and the earth and are still unquenched; their tongues lie parched from thirst as they cry, ‘Is there any more?’”
(3) Sadly, a number of people in our own age cling to such trivialities and circulate them, thereby causing harm—whether intentionally or unintentionally.
(4) Mizan al-iʿtidal reads: “or I shall certainly transmit it.”
(5) Mizan al-iʿtidal 2/346.