He also said: “The soundness of five lies in five: the soundness of the child is in the maktab (elementary Qur’anic school); the soundness of the youth is in the pursuit of knowledge; the soundness of the man in his prime is in the mosque; the soundness of the woman is in the home; and the soundness of the trouble-maker is in prison.” (1)

He was asked about the nature of mankind and replied, “Manifest weakness coupled with far-reaching pretension.”

Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Sulamī said: “They expelled al-Ḥakīm from Tirmidh and testified against him that he was an unbeliever because he wrote the book Khatm al-Wilāyah (2) and the book ʿIlal al-Sharīʿah. They alleged that he claimed the awliyāʾ have a ‘seal’ just as the prophets have a seal, that he gave precedence to sainthood over prophethood, and that he cited as proof the ḥadith, ‘The prophets and the martyrs will envy them.’ (3)

“When he reached Balkh they welcomed him, because his doctrinal position matched theirs. (4)

“Ibn al-Najjār mentioned him but erred when he said that ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad ibn Yanal al-ʿUkbarī narrated from him; Ibn Yanal only heard from Muḥammad al-Tirmidhī, a shaykh who taught them in the year 318.

“Al-Sulamī also said: ʿAlī ibn Bundār the money-changer told us, ‘I heard Aḥmad ibn ʿĪsā al-Jawzajānī say, “I heard Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī al-Tirmidhī say: ‘I have not authored anything on…’”’”