Koi suru ni hotoke ni naru to iwamaseba ware zo jōdo no aruji naramashi - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

恋するに仏になると言はませば
我ぞ浄土の主ならまし

Roma-ji: Koi suru ni hotoke ni naru to iwamaseba ware zo jōdo no aruji naramashi
English Translation: If they only said
that by loving one becomes
a Buddha, then I
would surely have long been
the master of the Pure Land.
Meaning: If it were said that one becomes a Buddha by loving, I would surely have been the master of the Pure Land.
Commentary: Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Congratulatory Poems 1188

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The poet says that if loving made one a Buddha, he would have been the master of the Pure Land. Comparing his own life of loving more deeply than anyone to Buddhist practice and exaggerating it, he speaks of the depth of his painful love in a playful tone. It is a bold love poem that draws on the Buddhist path.

First line, "koi suru ni," means "through loving."
Second line, "hotoke ni naru to," means "that one becomes a Buddha," speaking of attaining Buddhahood.
Third line, "iwamaseba," means "if it were said," with "mase" the irrealis form of the counterfactual auxiliary "mashi," answering "mashi" in the final line.
Fourth line, "ware zo jōdo no," means "I, of the Pure Land," with the binding particle "zo" resolved by the attributive "mashi" in the final line.
Final line, "aruji naramashi," means "I would have been the master," completing the counterfactual "maseba ... mashi."
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shui Wakashu
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