God takes care of those who have faith in Him. He grants them success and victory and takes them out of the darkness of disbelief and ignorance into the light of faith and knowledge. The friends of the disbelievers are Satan and his assistants who make disbelief seem beautiful to them and who take them from the light of faith and knowledge into the darkness of disbelief and ignorance. They are the people of the Fire who will remain there forever. Allah takes care of those who have faith in Him: He gives them success and victory and takes them out of the darkness of disbelief and ignorance into the light of faith and knowledge. The friends of the disbelievers are Satan and his assistants who make disbelief seem beautiful to them, and who take them from the light of faith and knowledge into the darkness of disbelief and ignorance. They are the people of the fire of Hell who will live there eternally.
Allah is the Wali (Protector or Guardian) of those who believe. He brings them out from darknesses into light. But as for those who disbelieve, their Awliya' (supporters and helpers) are Taghut (false deities and false leaders), they bring them out from light into darknesses. Those are the dwellers of the Fire, and they will abide therein forever (257)
Allah stated that whoever follows what pleases Him, He will guide him to the paths of peace, that is Islam, or Paradise. Verily, Allah delivers His believing servants from the darkness of disbelief, doubt and hesitation, to the light of the plain, clear, explained, easy and unequivocal truth. He also stated that Shaytan is the supporter of the disbelievers who beautifies the paths of ignorance and misguidance that they follow, thus causing them to deviate from the true path into disbelief and wickedness.
أُولَٰئِكَ أَصْحَابُ النَّارِ هُمْ فِيهَا خَالِدُونَ
(Those are the dwellers of the Fire, and they will abide therein forever.)
This is why Allah mentioned the light in the singular while mentioned the darkness in the plural, because truth is one, while disbelief comes as several types, all of which are false. Similarly, Allah said,
وَأَنَّ هَٰذَا صِرَاطِي مُسْتَقِيمًا فَاتَّبِعُوهُ وَلَا تَتَّبِعُوا السُّبُلَ فَتَفَرَّقَ بِكُمْ عَن سَبِيلِهِ ذَٰلِكُمْ وَصَّاكُم بِهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ
(And verily, this is my straight path, so follow it, and follow not (other) paths, for they will separate you away from His path. This He has ordained for you that you may have Taqwa)[6:153],
وَجَعَلَ الظُّلُمَاتِ وَالنُّورَ
(And originated the darknesses and the light)[6:1], and,
عَنِ الْيَمِينِ وَالشَّمَائِلِ
(to the right and to the lefts)[16: 48]
There are many other Ayat on the subject that mention the truth in the singular and falsehood in the plural, because of falsehood's many divisions and branches.
Commentary
This verse also tells us that faith ('Iman ایمان ) is the greatest blessing
and disbelief (kufr کفر ) is the greatest misfortune, and that there is darkness in friendship with those who disbelieve (kuffar کُفار ).
Unlike sincere devotees, there are some who never accept religion at the cost of the surrender of their being. They are never serious in matters of religion, and as a result believe that intercession by certain religious seers or the performance of certain rituals, or the observance of certain forms is enough to earn salvation in the Hereafter. Due to their insincerity about the Hereafter, they fail to understand that Doomsday is the Day of the manifestation of God’s power and majesty. Hoping that the performance of certain superficial rituals might earn them God Almighty’s pleasure is indeed an underestimation of God’s divinity. This only increases their sinfulness in the eyes of God. The truth comes to one in the form of arguments, and one who is not sincere summarily rejects them. This is one of Satan’s temptations. Guidance comes only to those who scrupulously resist Satan’s temptations and, recognizing the divine arguments, wholeheartedly concur in them.