[2:256] There is no compulsion in religion.
The arguments are clear and the proofs plain and evident.
[2:256 cont'd] Rectitude has become clear from error;
The night is distinguished by its darkness from the day and its light. The eternal rights are things to be known (al-ḥuqūq al-azalīyya maʿlūma) while the basic limits that define things are effects (al-ḥudūd al-awwalīyya maʿlūla). [The first] is through the predicate of timeless eternity (naʿt al-qidam) and [the second] is through the attribute of non-existence (waṣf al-ʿadam).
[2:256 cont'd] so whoever disbelieves in the false deity,
The false deity is anything which distracts one from his Lord.
[2:256 cont'd] and believes in God,
Belief is the life of the heart through God.
[2:256 cont'd] has laid hold of the most firm handle,
Laying hold of the most firm handle is holding to the command and prohibition (al-amr wa'l-nahy), which is travelling the path of al-Muṣ?afā (ṣ).
[2:256 cont'd] unbreaking; God is Hearing, Knowing.
Anyone who realizes the truth of it secretly and holds to it publicly will win in both abodes and will be happy in the two existences.