Fear of Other Things besides God

9. Surah At Tawbah

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:

وَيَحْلِفُونَ بِاللّهِ إِنَّهُمْ لَمِنكُمْ...   

9: 56.  They swear by Allah that they are indeed of you;

...وَمَا هُم مِّنكُمْ وَلَـكِنَّهُمْ قَوْمٌ يَفْرَقُونَ ﴿٥٦﴾  

but they are not of you; yet they are afraid (to appear in their true colors).

لَوْ يَجِدُونَ مَلْجَأً أَوْ مَغَارَاتٍ أَوْ مُدَّخَلاً لَّوَلَّوْاْ إِلَيْهِ وَهُمْ يَجْمَحُونَ ﴿٥٧﴾

9: 57.  If they could find a place to flee to, or caves, or a place of concealment, they would turn straightway thereto, with an obstinate rush.

C1317. Jamaha: to be ungovernable, to run like a runaway horse, to rush madly and obstinately.

Asad’s Version:

9: 56-57 And they swear by God that they do indeed belong to you – the while they do not belong to you, but are [only] people ridden by fear: if they could but find a place of refuge, or any cavern, or a crevice [in the earth], they would turn towards it in headlong haste.

[see Asad note 80: Thus the Quran shows that the innermost caue of all hypocrisy is fear – fear of mral commitment and, at the same time, fear of an open breach with one’s social environment……….]