Al-Hajj (The Pilgrimage)

27. “And proclaim among men the pilgrimage; they will come to you on foot and (mounted) on every lean beast, coming from every remote path.”

The present efforts of the saints of Allah will surely affect on behaviour of the coming generations.

After the time when the Sacred House of Ka‘bah was prepared for the worshippers, Allah commanded Abraham as follows:

“And proclaim among men the pilgrimage; they will come to you on foot and (mounted) on every lean beast, coming from every remote path.”

The Qur’anic word /’aŏŏin/ is derived from /’aŏan/ meaning ‘proclaim’, and the Arabic word /rijal/ is the plural form of /rajil/ in the sense of ‘on foot’. The Arabic term /damir/ means ‘a thin animal’; and the term /fajj/ originally means ‘the distance between two mountains, and later it has been applied to vast roads, while the word /‘amiq/ here means ‘far’.

The narration which has been cited on the commentary of Ali-ibn-’Ibrahim indicates:

“When Abraham (as) received such a commandment, he said:

“O’ Allah! My voice does not reach the people.”

But Allah told him:

“You do proclaim and I will convey it to them (their ears).”

Then Abraham went up over the station (Maqam) and put his finger upon his ear and shouted loudly towards the East and the West, saying:

“O people! The pilgrim (Hajj) unto the Ancient House has been written (enjoined) for you; so accept the invitation of your Lord!”

Thus, Allah caused his voice to reach the ears of all men, even those who were in the back of fathers and in the womb of mothers; and they answered:

“Yes, we accept. O Allah! Yes, we accept.” And all those who will participate in the rites of Hajj pilgrimage until the Day of Resurrection are totally among those who have accepted the invitation of Abraham (as) on that day.1

Those who come on foot are mentioned in the verse before those who come riding on beast, because their rank before Allah is higher, since they suffer the toleration of this voyage more than the latter.

That is why a tradition narrated from the Prophet (S) indicates that he who goes to Hajj on foot will get seven hundred rewards for each step he takes, while those who are mounted on animals will get seventy rewards.¹

Or it is for the sake that it defines the importance of the pilgrim of the Sacred House that they should come toward it by any possible means and not to be ever waiting for a mount.

Using the term /damir/ (a lean animal) in this verse, points to this fact that this path is a way which causes animals to become lean since they pass the hot, dry and grassless deserts, and this is a warning unto us for bearing the difficulties of this way.

Or that they take some animals which are clever, quick, and tolerating. The animals that have become thin in the field of practice and have strong muscles are more suitable while the fat animals are not.

The application of the Qur’anic phrase

“coming from every remote path”

refers to this fact that they come to this destination not only from near paths but also from far and remote paths. (The usage of the Arabic word /kull/ here does not mean induction and encompassment, but it means ‘multiplicity’.)

Abul-Futuh Razi, the well-known commentator, explains the interesting biography of a man named Abul-Qasim Bushr-ibn-Muhammad.

This man says:

“When circumambulating the Ka‘bah, I saw a man who was completely old and weak whose face indicated the toil of a traveling that he had suffered. He was walking by the help of a rod when I approached him and asked him: ‘Where do you come from?’

He answered: ‘I come from a very far distance. I have been paving the way for fifty years to come, and now I am here. I have become old and weak because of the toil of traveling’. I said: ‘By Allah this is a great hardship and, at the meantime, it is a good obedience and a sincere love at the presence of Allah.

Hearing my words, he became happy and he showed a pleasant smile to me. Then he recited a poem for me, the content of which meant: visit whom you love, though your house is far away and curtains cause separation between you and him.

Verily the far distance of the way should never hinder you from pilgrimage, because a lover must go to visit his beloved in any case.

Of course, the attraction of the Sacred House is so much so that attracts the hearts full of Faith towards it from all far and near points of the world. Old and young, small and adult, far and near, from any race and tribe the individual may be, he amorously comes towards Him murmuring the holy phrase:

“Yes, I accept. O’ Lord! Yes, I accept’.

He comes to see, with his own eyes, the splendour and manifestations of His Pure Essence in that holy land and to feel His abundant Grace in his own soul.