All praise to the First Sultan,
MAHMOOD THE GHAZNAVIDE!
His fame be like the firmament,
As moveless and as wide!
MAHMOOD, who saw before him
Pagoda'd Bramah fall--
Twelve times he swept the orient earth
From Bagdad to Bengal;
Twelve times amid their Steppes of ice
He smote each Golden Horde[7]--
Round the South's sultry isles twelve times
His ships resistless pour'd;
MAHMOOD--his tomb in Ghazna
For many an age shall show
The mighty mace with which he laid
DU'S hideous idol low.
True soldier of the Prophet!
From Somnauth's gorgeous shrine
He tore the gates of sandal-wood,
The carven gates divine;
He hung them vow'd, in Ghazna,
To Allah's blest renown--
Trophies of endless sway they tower,
For unto earth's remotest hour
What boastful man may hope the power
Again to take them down?