An Arab legend tells that a Yemenite chief named Akrimah, and his followers, were passing a cairn in which the body of the great Hatim lay.
Akrimah said to his companions, "Men report that Hatim, when alive, never sent a guest away empty. Now here we are at his tomb: our provisions have run short, and there is no village near: let us see whether after death he will do anything for us."
So he called a halt and cried, "O Hatim, here we stand at your door—I, Akrimah of Yemen, and my followers—all of us hungry and weary; what can you do for us?"
Of course there was no response. Hatim was dead. He could help no one. Death had laid him low and robbed him of all he had possessed.
Mohammed and Buddha and Confucius, like Hatim, are dead. They cannot succor, or sympathize, or save. They could not save themselves from the grim power of death. How then can they help others if they could not help themselves?
But Christ has conquered death. His tomb is vacant. The power of the grave has been broken. Christ is the Victor, and He has won the victory for us. He has risen, and we shall rise. Indeed so overcome is the power of death that we shall not all sleep—we shall not all die. At His coming, the dead in Christ will be raised and the living in Christ will be changed.
We have not a dead Hatim as chieftain, upon whom it is in vain to call. We have a living Christ as the Captain of our salvation, and upon Him we can never call in vain. He hears and He answers His own.