"It is He who expelled the ones who disbelieved among the People of the Scripture from their homes at the first gathering," meaning: al-Sham (the Levant), which is the land of the gathering. "You did not think that they would leave," he says: You did not think that Allah would decree for them that they should be exiled to al-Sham. "And they thought," the Banu al-Nadir thought, "that their fortresses would protect them from Allah," meaning: they did not calculate that they would be driven out of their homes and their fortresses. "They were destroying their houses with their own hands and the hands of the believers." The interpretation of al-Kalbi: "When the Prophet (peace be upon him) was commanded to march against the Banu al-Nadir and this reached them, they destroyed the alleys and fortified the houses. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) came to them and fought them for twenty-one nights. Whenever he gained control over one of their houses or one of their paths, he would demolish it to make room for the combatants, and they began to tunnel their houses from the rear to the house adjacent to it, and they were shooting..."
﴿هُوَ الَّذِي أَخْرَجَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا مِنْ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ مِنْ دِيَارِهِمْ لأوّل الْحَشْر﴾ يَعْنِي: الشَّام، وَهِي أَرض الْمَحْشَر ﴿مَا ظَنَنْتُمْ أَنْ يَخْرُجُوا﴾ يَقُول: مَا ظننتم أَن يحكم اللَّه عَلَيْهِم بِأَن يجلوا إِلَى الشَّام ﴿وظنوا﴾ ظن بَنو النَّضِير ﴿أَنَّهُمْ مَانِعَتُهُمْ حصونهم من الله﴾ أَي: لم يَكُونُوا يحتسبون أَن يخرجُوا من دِيَارهمْ وَمن حصونهم ﴿يُخْرِبُونَ بُيُوتَهُمْ بِأَيْدِيهِمْ وَأَيْدِي الْمُؤْمِنِينَ﴾ تَفْسِير الْكَلْبِيّ: " لمَّا أُمِر النَّبِي ﷺ بالسَّيْر إِلَى بني النَّضِير، فَبَلغهُمْ ذَلِك خرّبوا الْأَزِقَّة، وحصّنوا الدّور، فَأَتَاهُم رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ فَقَاتلهُمْ إِحْدَى وَعشْرين لَيْلَة، كلما ظهر على دَار من دُورهمْ أَو درب من دروبهمْ هَدمه ليتّسع المقاتِلُ، وَجعلُوا ينقبون دُورهمْ من أَدْبَارها إِلَى الدَّار الَّتِي تَلِيهَا، ويرمون
