َ هُوَ الَّذِي أَخْرَجَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا مِنْ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ مِنْ دِيَارِهِمْ لِأَوَّلِ الْحَشْرِ مَا ظَنَنْتُمْ أَنْ يَخْرُجُوا وَظَنُّوا أَنَّهُمْ مَانِعَتُهُمْ حُصُونُهُمْ مِنَ اللَّهِ فَأَتَاهُمُ اللَّهُ مِنْ حَيْثُ لَمْ يَحْتَسِبُوا وَقَذَفَ فِي قُلُوبِهِمُ الرُّعْبَ يُخْرِبُونَ بُيُوتَهُمْ بِأَيْدِيهِمْ وَأَيْدِي الْمُؤْمِنِينَ فَاعْتَبِرُوا يَا أُولِي الْأَبْصَارِ ﴿۲﴾ وَلَوْلَا أَنْ كَتَبَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِمُ الْجَلَاءَ لَعَذَّبَهُمْ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَلَهُمْ فِي الْآخِرَةِ عَذَابُ النَّارِ ﴿۳﴾

﴾2﴿ Huwal lazeee akharajal lazeena kafaroo min ahlil kitaabi min diyaarihim li awwalil Hashr; maa zanantum any yakhrujoo wa zannooo annahum maa ni'atuhum husoonuhum minal laahi faataahumul laahu min haisu lam yahtasiboo wa qazafa fee quloobihimur ru'ba yukhriboona bu yootahum bi aydeehim wa aydil mu'mineena fa'tabiroo yaaa ulil absaar
﴾3﴿ Wa law laaa an katabal laahu 'alaihimul jalaaa'a la'azzabahum fid dunyaa wa lahum fil Aakhirati 'azaabun Naar

﴾2﴿ He alone is the One who expelled the disbelievers from the People of the Book from their homes in the first gathering. You did not think they would leave, and they thought their fortresses would protect them from Allah. But Allah came upon them from where they did not expect and cast terror into their hearts. They destroyed their own houses with their own hands and the hands of the believers. So take heed, O people of understanding
﴾3﴿ And had Allah not decreed their expulsion, He would have certainly punished them in this world. And for them in the Hereafter is the punishment of the Fire

[2] In the Tafsīr of Ibn Kathīr, the detailed incident of Banū Naḍīr is mentioned. Its summary is as follows: initially, they had made a treaty with the Prophet (May Allah bless him and give him peace) agreeing not to fight one another nor to aid each other's enemies. However, after the Battle of Uḥud, they promised to support the idolaters of Makkah and even plotted to assassinate the Prophet (May Allah bless him and give him peace).
As a result, the Prophet (May Allah bless him and give him peace) first ordered the assassination of Kaʿb ibn Ashraf through Muḥammad ibn Maslamah. Then, along with the noble Companions, he laid siege to the fortresses of Banū Naḍīr for twenty-one or twenty-six days. They requested a truce, but the Prophet (May Allah bless him and give him peace) refused and commanded them to leave their land. He allowed them to take whatever possessions they could carry on their camels.
They then destroyed their own homes with their own hands and sought help from the believers to carry wood and other items on their camels. Most of them went to the regions of Adhruʿāt and Ariḥā in Shām. The families of Banū Ḥuqayq and Banū Akhṭab settled in Khaybar, and some went to Ḥīrah. Their remaining movable and immovable property became part of the Prophet’s (May Allah bless him and give him peace) fay’ (war booty without battle).
The hypocrites of Madinah had promised them support, but when Banū Naḍīr were expelled, the hypocrites offered no help, and their hypocrisy became clear to the believers.
“Li-awwali al-ḥashr” — refers to the first of four displacements:
1. From Madinah to Khaybar.
2. During the caliphate of ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with him), from Khaybar to Shām.
3. Near the Day of Judgment due to a fire (either literal or a metaphor for great tribulation), as mentioned among the signs of the Hour.
4. The final gathering on the Day of Judgment.
So the verse refers to the first ḥashr (displacement).
“Ḥuṣūnuhum” — refers to their four famous fortresses: Ṭīḥ, Naṭāh, Sulālam, and Kutaybah.
“Fa-atāhum Allāh” — “Allah came upon them” — atā (coming) is one of Allah’s attributes without interpreting it in a way resembling creation, similar to its usage in Surah al-Baqarah (2:210).
“Min ḥaythu lam yaḥtasibū” — they had assumed the hypocrites would support them, that the believers could not stand against them, and that their fortresses were secure — but events turned out opposite to their expectations.
“Yukhribūn” — their destruction of their homes was partly because they took with them doors and wood they liked, with the Prophet’s permission, and partly to prevent the believers from settling in their homes.
“Wa-aydī al-mu’minīn” — refers to the believers demolishing what remained of their walls, ceilings, etc., to further humiliate and break them.
[3] In this verse, there is strong emphasis on both worldly and otherworldly warning.
“And had Allah not decreed upon them…” — this means that the worldly punishment they faced through exile was not the only possible form of punishment. Many other examples of worldly punishment have occurred in previous nations. However, for this particular group, Allah had decreed exile from their homeland.
“He would have surely punished them” — meaning, in addition to exile, He could have punished them with other forms of worldly torment, such as execution, imprisonment like the idolaters at Badr, or through natural disasters like storms, winds, droughts, and others.