And if they were almost to provoke you, the people of Mecca would certainly drive you out with their enmity and deceit from the land of Mecca. And if they did so, they would not remain after your expulsion except for a little while. Indeed, Allah will destroy them, and it was as He said, for they were destroyed at Badr shortly after your expulsion. It is said that its meaning is that if they had expelled you, they would have been completely eradicated. But they did not expel you; rather, you migrated by the command of your Lord. It is said from the land of the Arabs. It is said from the land of Medina, for when the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, migrated, the Jews envied him and disliked his proximity to them. They gathered to him and said: 'O Abu al-Qasim, the prophets were only sent to Sham, which is a sacred land and the migration of Ibrahim. If you were to go to Sham, we would believe in you and follow you. And we know that nothing prevents you from leaving except the fear of the Romans. If you are the Messenger of Allah, then Allah will protect you from them.' The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, camped a few miles from the city, and it is said at Dhul-Hulaifah, until his companions gathered to him and people saw him determined to go to Sham due to his eagerness for people to enter the religion of Allah. Then it was revealed, and he returned. It was recited: 'they will not remain.' And in the reading of Abu: 'they will not remain' with the application of 'if.' If you say: What is the meaning of the two readings? I say: As for the common one, the verb is conjoined to the verb, and it is raised because it is the news of 'kād,' and the verb in the news of 'kād' occupies the position of the subject. As for the reading of Abu, it contains the sentence in its entirety, which is 'if they do not remain,' conjoined to the sentence of his saying: 'And if they were almost to provoke you.' And it was recited: 'against you.' He said: 'The houses have been erased after them, as if the women spread mats among them.' That is, after them is the way of those whom We have sent, meaning that every people who expelled their Messenger from among them, the way of Allah is to destroy them. And it is established as a source of confirmation, meaning: Allah has made it a way.