def add_timeout(self, deadline, callback, *args, **kwargs):
        """Runs the ``callback`` at the time ``deadline`` from the I/O loop.

        Returns an opaque handle that may be passed to
        `remove_timeout` to cancel.

        ``deadline`` may be a number denoting a time (on the same
        scale as `IOLoop.time`, normally `time.time`), or a
        `datetime.timedelta` object for a deadline relative to the
        current time.  Since Tornado 4.0, `call_later` is a more
        convenient alternative for the relative case since it does not
        require a timedelta object.

        Note that it is not safe to call `add_timeout` from other threads.
        Instead, you must use `add_callback` to transfer control to the
        `IOLoop`'s thread, and then call `add_timeout` from there.

        Subclasses of IOLoop must implement either `add_timeout` or
        `call_at`; the default implementations of each will call
        the other.  `call_at` is usually easier to implement, but
        subclasses that wish to maintain compatibility with Tornado
        versions prior to 4.0 must use `add_timeout` instead.

        .. versionchanged:: 4.0
           Now passes through ``*args`` and ``**kwargs`` to the callback.
        """
        if isinstance(deadline, numbers.Real):
            return self.call_at(deadline, callback, *args, **kwargs)
        elif isinstance(deadline, datetime.timedelta):
            return self.call_at(self.time() + timedelta_to_seconds(deadline),
                                callback, *args, **kwargs)
        else:
            raise TypeError("Unsupported deadline %r" % deadline)