9 Sura al-Tauba, Medina 113

9: 57

Asad 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 [note80].

Yusuf Ali 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.

Pickthall Had they but found a refuge, or caverns, or a place to enter, they surely had resorted thither swift as runaways.

Transliteration Lau uajidu_na malja'an au maga_ra_tin au muddakhalal lawallau ilaihi wa hum yajmahu_n(a).

[[ Asad’s note 80 – Thus the Quran shows that the innermost cause of all hypocrisy is fear – fear of a moral commitment and, at the same time, fear of an open breach with one’s social environment. In their overriding, immoral desire for social conformity, “the hypocrites seek to deceive God – the while it is He who causes them to be deceived [by themselves]”……………]]

The Quranic text and 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﴾

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.

[[ Ruby’s note – And this fear exists among people who do not have faith and trust in God. They rely on human ability and factors but those are weak. Therefore they become obsessed with fear and take stands that are to protect them but in reality those are detrimental to them. On the other hand those who trust God and continue doing good work in spite of the adverse situation or confronting the situation instead of complying with its wrong demands at times find themselves relatively fearless and upright. In the long run these are the people who succeed. There generally is prevalent misconception between fear and due concern. The former is destructive and the later is constructive. One can take due measures anticipating some possible negative outcome but if one is struck by fear and paranoia it is likely the actions that would emerge as a result would be detrimental and counter-productive at least. This concept in very broad term. In reality fear cannot be totally eliminated but it can be well-managed with conviction and trust in God even in the worst of the situation such as wars and crisis.]