O believers, expend of what We have given you before the day arrives on which there will be no barter, and no friendship or intercession matter, and those who are disbelievers will be sinners. 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 at all in religion; undoubtedly the right path has become very distinct from error; and whoever rejects faith in the devil (false deities) and believes in Allah has grasped a very firm handhold; it will never loosen; and Allah is All Hearing, All Knowing. 256 God is near unto those who have faith, taking them out of deep darkness into the light - whereas near unto those who are bent on denying the truth are the powers of evil that take them out of the light into darkness deep: it is they who are destined for the fire, therein to abide. 257