Sharia (sharia—the sacred law) encompasses twelve qualities that pertain to iman (faith): The first is the two testimonies (shahāda), this is fitra (primordial nature); the second is the five daily prayers, this is religion; the third is zakat (zakāt—almsgiving), this is purification; the fourth is fasting, this is a shield; the fifth is hajj (pilgrimage), this is kamāl (perfection); the sixth is jihad (jihād—striving in the path of God), this is assistance (or victory); the seventh is enjoining good (amr bi’l-maʿrūf), this is ḥujja (proof); the eighth is forbidding evil (nahy ʿan al-munkar), this is wiqāya (protection from evil and being protected); the ninth is community (jamāʿa), this is ulfa (being in relation with people); the tenth is istiqāma (uprightness), this is ʿiṣma (being free from error, infallibility); the eleventh is eating what is ḥalāl (permissible), this is warāʿ (scrupulousness); the twelfth is loving for Allah and hating for Allah, this is wasīqa (the firmest point of love and hate). (Küt, II, 140)
Istiqāma (uprightness) is a rank by which everything attains perfection and completion. The attainment and order of all good things are possible through it. Whoever is not upright in their spiritual state, their gayra (striving) is wasted, their effort is in vain.
The sign of istiqāma for those at the beginning of the path (bidāya) is that there is no weariness in their actions. The sign of istiqāma for those of the intermediate stage (wasāʾiṭ) is that there is no stagnation in their maqām (spiritual station). The sign of istiqāma for those at the end of the path (nihāya) is that no veil comes between them and union (wuṣla) with the Most High (God).
(I heard Master Abū ʿAlī al-Daqqāq say:) There are three degrees of istiqāma: the first is taqwīm (rectification), then iqāma (establishment), then istiqāma. Taqwīm is the disciplining of the nafs (the lower self),
iqāma is the purification of the qalb (the heart), and istiqāma is the drawing near of the secrets (the innermost hearts) to Allah. (Qushayri, 102)
(It has been said:) None but the great can attain to istiqāma. For istiqāma