Yami harete kokoro no sora ni sumu tsuki wa nishi no yamabe ya chikaku naruran - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

闇晴れて心の空に澄む月は
西の山べや近くなるらん

Roma-ji: Yami harete kokoro no sora ni sumu tsuki wa nishi no yamabe ya chikaku naruran
English Translation: The darkness cleared now,
in the sky within my heart
the moon shining clear—
to the hills that lie westward,
is it drawing ever near?
Meaning: Now that the darkness has cleared, the moon shining in the sky of my heart—is it drawing near the western hills?
Commentary: Book Twenty Buddhist Poems 1978

Headnote: "Composed on contemplating the mind."
This is the sixth poem in the closing sequence of exchanges and moon poems turned toward the western paradise, the closing poem of Book Twenty and the final poem of the entire Shin Kokinshū. The moon that shines clear in the sky of the heart once the darkness has lifted—is it drawing near the western hills? According to the headnote, it was composed on the topic of contemplating the mind.
When, through contemplating his own mind, the moon of enlightenment shines clear, it draws near the western hills, that is, the Western Pure Land; the poem expresses a quiet conviction and hope of rebirth.
The author, "Saigyō Hōshi," whose lay name was Satō Norikiyo, served as a guard of the north quarters of Retired Emperor Toba but took vows at twenty-three. He traveled through the provinces composing many poems, and his personal collection is the Sankashū.
Contemplation of the mind is the practice of observing the true nature of one's own mind, visualizing that mind as the moon.

The first line, "yami harete," means "the darkness of the defilements having lifted." Where 1934 in this book, on the same topic of contemplating the mind, sang of "autumn mist not yet fully cleared," here the darkness has cleared completely. Opening with the Kiyomizu Kannon's call to living beings to "rely on me still," the book closes with a poem in which a living being, having cleared away the darkness, looks toward the west.
The second line, "kokoro no sora ni," likens the heart to the sky, gathering up the "empty sky" of 1952 and the "moon of the heart" of 1950.
The third line, "sumu tsuki wa," is the moon shining clear in the sky of the heart, a figure for the enlightened mind. The moon that served in the preceding exchange and in 1977 as a "guide" leading west now shines clear within the poet's own heart.
The fourth line, "nishi no yamabe ya," is the western hills where the moon sets, pointing to the Western Pure Land. The particle "ya" poses a question.
The last line, "chikaku naruran," closes the kakari-musubi of "ya" with the attributive "ran," wondering whether it is drawing near. The dawn scene of the moon sinking westward is overlaid with the approach of rebirth, closing both the book and the whole anthology.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
Prev Poem: Mukashi mishi tsuki no hikari o shirube nite koyoi ya kimi ga nishi e yukuran