Overall meaning : Almighty Allah asserts that He will never guide to faith and the truth those who stubbornly refuse to believe in the signs proving His oneness and the truthfulness of His Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and the message he conveys from Him. He declares that that they will suffer a painful torment in the hereafter.
It is only those who stubbornly refuse to believe in Allah’s signs and revelations who invent falsehoods about Allah, and it is they who are the true liars.
Allah then explains the ruling regarding those who utter a statement of unbelief under duress and those who willingly prefer unbelief to faith: Those who utter a statement of unbelief and disbelieve in Allah after professing the faith will incur Allah’s wrath, with the exception of those who do so under duress and utter a statement of unbelief only to save themselves from certain death, while their hearts remain true to their faith. But those who embrace unbelief wholeheartedly, willingly preferring it to faith, will incur Allah’s ire, and they will suffer a grievous punishment. That is because they prefer the life of this world and its glitter to the hereafter. Surely Allah never guides to faith and the truth those who choose to disbelieve and persist in their unbelief. These are they whose hearts, hearing and sight Allah has sealed up, and these are they who are steeped in heedlessness. Truly it is they who will be the losers in the life to come.
Next, He mentions one aspect of His kindness and benevolence towards those who leave their homes for the sake of His religion, thereby seeking His good pleasure: Surely your Lord, Muhammad is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful to the oppressed among your companions who were persecuted so much by the idolaters that they declared unbelief under duress while their hearts remained true to their faith, and then they emigrated from the abode of unbelief to the abode of Islam, fought for the cause of Allah and patiently endured the hardships and harm meted out to them, thereby seeking Allah’s good pleasure.
Allah, Exalted and Sublime be He, then says: On the Day of Judgement, every person will come to plead for himself and use all sorts of excuses, totally preoccupied with his own affairs. On this day, every person will be repaid in full for whatever deeds he has done, and none will be wronged in the least—their bad deeds will not be increased for them, and none of their good deeds will be decreased.