祇園精舎の鐘の聲、

諸行無常の響あり。

娑羅雙樹の花の色、

盛者必衰のことわりをあらはす。

おごれる人も久しからず、

唯春の夜の夢のごとし。

たけき者も遂にほろびぬ、

偏に風の前の塵に同じ。

The sound of the Gion Shôja bells

echoes the impermanence of all things;

the color of the sâla flowers reveals the truth

that the prosperous must decline.

The proud do not endure,

they are like a dream on a spring night;

the mighty fall at last,

they are as dust before the wind.

- Heike Monogatari