APPENDIX I FIKDAUSI'S PANEGYEIC OF MAHMUD OF GHAZNI AND HIS SATIEE ON THE SAME EULEK Among the men of genius whom Mahmud of Ghazni attracted to his court was the great Persian poet Fir- dausi of Tus in Khorasan (see page 32 above). Firdausi sang in epic strains of the ancient glory of Iran, and Mahmud promised him a thousand gold pieces for every thousand couplets he should compose of the Shah Namah, or " Book of Kings." This princely assurance called forth from the grateful poet a splendid panegyric which forms part of the invocation that introduces the famous epic. These eulogistic phrases have been ren- dered into English by Atkinson as follows: THE PANEGYRIC Praise, praise to Mahmud, who of like renown, In battle or the banquet, fills the throne ; Lord of the realms of Chin and Hindustan, Sovereign and Lord of Persia and Turan, With his loud voice he rends the flintiest ear; On land a tiger fierce, untouched by fear, And on the wave, he seems the crocodile That prowls amidst the waters of the Nile. Generous and brave, his equal is unknown ; In deeds of princely worth he stands alone. The infant in the cradle lisps his name ; The world exults in Mahmud's spotless fame. 245
