27وَأَذِّن فِي النّاسِ بِالحَجِّ يَأتوكَ رِجالًا وَعَلىٰ كُلِّ ضامِرٍ يَأتينَ مِن كُلِّ فَجٍّ عَميقٍMuhammad AsadHence, [O Muhammad], I proclaim thou unto all people the [duty of] pilgrimage:1 they will come unto thee on foot and on every [kind of] fast mount,2 coming from every far-away point [on earth],Lit., "proclaim thou the pilgrimage among the people", i.e., the believers (Tabari). Most of the commentators assume that this passage is a continuation of God's command to Abraham; but some of them - in particular, Al-Hasan al-Basri - consider it to have been addressed to the Prophet Muhammad. (Regarding the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, as instituted in Islam, see 2:196-203 and the corresponding notes.)Lit., "lean mount" - an expression which has induced some of the commentators to assume that it denotes "a camel that has become lean on account of a long and fatiguing journey". However, the verb dammarahu or admarahu relates in classical Arabic not only to camels but also to horses, and has the meaning of "he made it [i.e., the mount] lean and fit [for racing or war)"; thus, the noun midmar signifies "a training-ground where horses are prepared for racing or war", as well as "a race-course" (Jawhari, Asas, etc.; cf. also Lane V, 1803 f.). Hence, the adjectival noun damir - especially when contrasted, as above, with the expression rijalan ("on foot") - has the connotation of "fleetness" or, more properly, "fitness for speed", and may by inference be applied to every kind of "fast conveyance".