Tafsir of At-Tawbah 9:57

(If they could find a refuge), meaning a fortress to which they could resort, as Qatada stated, (or caves), meaning places where they might conceal themselves. It is the plural of magharah, which signifies a cave (ghār). Some have differentiated between them by saying that the ghār is in a mountain, while the magharah is in the earth. It has been recited as mughārāt with the mim vocalized with a damma, derived from the verb aghāra ar-rajulu (the man entered the ghawr—the low land). It is also said that it is the transitive form of ghāra ash-shay’u, where one says aghartuhu—meaning places in which they conceal their persons. It is also permissible for it to be derived from aghāra ath-tha‘labu (the fox dashed), in the sense of places of flight.

(Or a tunnel), meaning a subterranean passage like that of a jerboa, into which they might crawl for shelter. It is a form of mufta‘al (derived from the root d-kh-l), where the ta was changed to a dal and then assimilated. Ya‘qub and Sahl recited it as madkhalan (with a fatha on the mim), as a noun of place from the triliteral verb dakhala. This is the same reading as that of Ibn Abi Ishaq and al-Hasan. Salama ibn Muharib recited it as mudkhulan (with a damma on the mim and a fatha on the kha), derived from the augmented form adkhala, meaning a place where they insert themselves or where fear drives them to enter. Ubayy ibn Ka‘b recited it as mutadakhkhalan, a noun of place from tadakhkhala (to enter gradually). It was also recited as mundakhilan, from indakhala. This usage appears in the poetry of al-Kumayt: "And he does not know in the thick fat how to enter (tandakhil)." Abu Hatim rejected this reading, claiming it should only be with a ta (tadakhkhala), based on his denial of that linguistic form, but his view is not significant.

(They would turn away), meaning they would turn their faces and head towards it. It has also been recited as law-law (a contraction of law wallaw), meaning they would turn to it.

(To it)—that is, to any of the aforementioned places—(while they rush headlong), meaning they would hasten in their departure toward it, such that nothing could hold them back, like a jamuh (unruly) horse—a runaway that no bridle can restrain. Al-A‘mash narrated from Anas ibn Malik that he recited it as yajmuzun (with a zay), which shares the meaning of yajmaḥūn (to rush/scurry). From this comes the jamāzah—a camel swift in running. Some have denied that this is a canonical reading, claiming it to be merely an exegesis; however, that claim is rejected.

The conditional sentence is an interpolation reinforcing the previous content, which is that they are not among the Muslims, and that their resort to claiming such affiliation is only out of taqiyya (dissimulation) due to necessity. The preference for the future tense in the conditional, even though the intended meaning relates to the past, serves to convey the continuous lack of finding such a refuge, as required by the context. A parallel to this is: "If you were to do good to me, I would thank you." Indeed, the negated present tense often occurs in the place of the past to denote the negation of the continuation of the action, though that is not the intended meaning here.