Yo no naka wa kagami ni utsuru kage ni are ya aru ni mo arazu naki ni mo arazu

世の中は鏡に映る影にあれや
あるにもあらず無きにもあらず

Roma-ji: Yo no naka wa kagami ni utsuru kage ni are ya aru ni mo arazu naki ni mo arazu
English Translation: This world of ours—
is it the image cast
upon a mirror?
It is not that it exists,
nor that it does not exist.
Meaning: Is this world like an image reflected in a mirror? It neither truly exists nor does not exist.
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 650

Headnote: "A poem composed on the Mahāyāna view of the Middle Way"
On the Mahāyāna view of the Middle Way, the poet says the world is like a reflection in a mirror, neither truly existing nor wholly non-existent, expressing in a simple image the teaching that clings to neither being nor non-being. Kamo no Mabuchi marked it with a sign of praise.

Line 1 means "this world."
Line 2 means "reflected in a mirror."
Line 3 means "is it an image?" ya interrogative, with a break after the line.
Line 4 means "it does not exist."
Line 5 means "nor does it not exist," in parallel with line 4. From the terror of hell in the preceding poem, it moves to an enlightenment beyond being and non-being.
Author: Minamoto no Sanetomo
Source: Kinkaishu
Prev Poem: Honoo nomi kokū ni miteru Abi jigoku yukue mo nashi to iu mo hakanashi
Next Poem: Kami to ii hotoke to iu mo yo no naka no hito no kokoro no hoka no mono ka wa