ʿIsma (infallibility) and ifiṣām (clinging, adherence) are of two kinds: itisām (holding fast) to Allah, and itisām to the rope of Allah. If you are among the people of the rope (the people of the Qur'an, which is the rope of Allah), then you are among the people of means. If you are attached to Allah, you become one of the people of Allah. Among the people of Allah, there are the general ones and the khasṣṣ (those who are special and select servants). It is said (see itmi'nān 499) that the distinguishing feature of the people of Allah is that, in contemplating the realities of what Allah has created, they differ from other people by reflecting deeply in the manner of the Real (al-Ḥaqq). (Futūḥāt, IV, 404)
Itisām is to preserve obedience and to observe the command. The first type of itisām is to the forms (the outward), the second is to the abandonment of all besides Allah (mā siwā), and the third is to ittisāl (union with Allah). Ittisāl: It is to witness only Allah, and this is called itisām to Allah. (Rawḍa, 478)
Itisām is to rely on the Transformer of states (Allah, who changes conditions) in the face of severe tribulations. (Jāmiʿ, 54)
Itisām is of three kinds: the itisām of the common people is to the religion of Allah; the itisām of the elite is to the rope of Allah; and the itisām of the most elect is to Allah Himself (they hold fast to Him alone). (Jāmiʿ, 61)
In the beginnings (bidāya), itisām is to hold fast to the rope of Allah. To hold fast to the rope of Allah means to serve in accordance with the Book and the Sunnah. In the chapters on spiritual transactions (abwāb), itisām is to cling to Allah's tawfīq (divine enabling grace) and help in resisting the powers of the nafs (the lower self) and in thwarting the snares of Satan. In dealings (muʿāmalāt), itisām is to cling to His strength and power. In character (akhlāq), itisām is to adhere solely to the character of Allah, striving to attract His love, which is necessary for His unity (waḥda). In the stations of walāya (friendship with God), itisām is to cling to the lights of the manifestations of His Names. In the stations of realities (ḥaqāʾiq), itisām is to cling to the manifestation of His Essence. In the final stages (nihāya), itisām is, after being completely annihilated (fanāʾ) in His identity, to hold fast to divinity (ulūhiyya) in order to act with subsistence (baqāʾ) by Him. (Jāmiʿ, 275)