O YOU who have attained to faith! Spend [in Our way] out of what We have granted you as sustenance ere there come a Day when there will be no bargaining, and no friendship, and no intercession. And they who deny the truth - it is they who are evildoers! 254 Allah, there is no god except He, the Living, the Everlasting. Neither dozing, nor sleep overtakes Him. To Him belongs all that is in the heavens and the earth. Who is he that shall intercede with Him except by His permission! He knows what will be before their hands and what was behind them, and they do not comprehend anything of His Knowledge except what He willed. His Seat embraces the heavens and the earth, and the preserving of them does not weary Him. He is the High, the Great. 255 There is no compulsion in religion. The right direction is henceforth distinct from error. And he who rejecteth false deities and believeth in Allah hath grasped a firm handhold which will never break. Allah is Hearer, Knower. 256 Allah is the Protecting Guardian of those who believe. He bringeth them out of darkness into light. As for those who disbelieve, their patrons are false deities. They bring them out of light into darkness. Such are rightful owners of the Fire. They will abide therein. 257