Overall meaning : Allah Almighty orders the faithful to spend on good causes out of what He has provided for them before the coming of the Day of Judgement, on which there will be no trading, no close friends to help them, and no intercessors to intercede for them with Allah and benefit from their intercession—unless Allah wills. He then states that the unbelievers who reject faith in Allah Almighty and His messengers and deny the truth are the wrongdoers.
The Almighty then describes Himself as the Only God who alone is deserving of worship, the Ever-Living whose eternal and perfect life is not preceded by non-existence, nor will it ever come to an end. He is self-existent, independent of everything else, and does not depend on anyone or anything for His Being, and the one who disposes of the affairs of all His creation, such as their provision. All His creatures stand in need of Him. His perfect life and self-subsistence and self-existence require that neither drowsiness, nor sleep overtakes Him, Exalted be He. To Him alone belongs everything in the entire universe, and no one can possibly intercede with him until He has authorised those He wills and is pleased with them. He knows everything about His creatures—what has happened to them before and what will happen to them in the future. All other than He do not know anything except what He himself has taught them by His will. Because of His omnipotence and absolute dominion and sovereignty, His Footstool encompasses and extends over the heavens and the earth; and despite the breadth and greatness of the heavens and the earth, the preservation of both is no burden to Him at all; rather, doing so is extremely easy for Him. He is the Most High—in fact His highness is rather absolute over all His creation. He is exalted and superior in His Being, omnipotence and perfect attributes. He is also the Supreme in glory—His greatness is absolute in His Being, attributes and sovereignty.
He next mentions that there should be no compulsion in religion—that no one should be forced to convert to Islam, because it is perfectly clear and represents true guidance that is manifestly distinct from error and falsehood. Its proofs are indisputable and its facts have overwhelmingly manifested themselves. Whoever rejects and disbelieves in false deities and leaders (the taaghut) and have faith in Allah Almighty alone as being the only God worthy of worship has surely followed, and adhered to, the true religion. Allah is All-Hearing—He hears those who renounce false gods and declare their faith in Him as well as those who do otherwise. He is All-Knowing—He knows full well what each person’s heart conceals, and He will repay each person according to their intentions and deeds.
He then states that He is always the helper and supporter of those who truly believe in Him and that He will lead them from the darkness of error and falsehood into the light of faith. As for the unbelievers, their supporters are the false deities and leaders who will help them do evil and lead them astray. The greatest of such false deities is Satan, who has deservedly been excluded from Allah’s grace and mercy. As punishment for their unbelief, they will be subjected to Satan’s temptations and wily schemes, and he will bring them out of light into darkness. These are the inhabitants of Hellfire who will abide in it for all eternity.