Yo no naka o somuku tayori ya nakaramashi uki orifushi ni kimi awazu shite

世の中を背くたよりやなからまし
憂き折節に君逢はずして

Roma-ji: Yo no naka o somuku tayori ya nakaramashi uki orifushi ni kimi awazu shite
English Translation: There would not have been
the occasion to turn your back
upon the world—
had you not encountered
such a time of bitter grief.
Meaning: There would have been no occasion for you to turn from the world, had you not met with such a time of bitter sorrow.
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 1230

Headnote: "Hearing that in Sanuki he had changed his heart and was devoting himself unceasingly to prayers for the next life, I sent this to a lady-in-waiting, writing out with it this text: 'If people did not rage at and strike us, by what means could we practice forbearance?'"
Hearing that in Sanuki Retired Emperor Sutoku had changed his heart and was devoting himself without rest to prayers for the next life, Saigyō sent this to a lady in his service, together with the scriptural passage "If people did not rage at and strike us, how could we practice forbearance?" You would have had no occasion to forsake the world, he says, had you not met with such bitter times.
The passage means that without being abused and struck, one could not practice the discipline of forbearance. Recasting the emperor's misfortune of exile as a karmic bond leading him into the Buddhist path, Saigyō encourages and consoles him in his devotions. Poems presented to Sutoku follow.

First line, “yo no naka o”: the world.
Second line, “somuku tayori ya”: the occasion to forsake it; ya questions, answered by mashi.
Third line, “nakaramashi”: mashi is counterfactual, "there would have been none"; the poem breaks here.
Fourth line, “uki orifushi ni”: such a bitter time, the disturbance and exile.
Fifth line, “kimi awazu shite”: had you not met with it, the inversion giving the supposition.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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