Parte 12 · Capítulo 186
O texto do Ari
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- *Know that the ten Sefirot are five complete Partzufim: Arich Anpin, which is Keter and has ten Sefirot in it; and likewise Aba and Ima are complete Partzufim, and there are ten Sefirot in each one of them; and likewise ZON, each one is included of ten. But know that the Tifferet, when it was emanated, was only an existence of six, and was called VAK, from Chesed to Yesod, and it had no head. And this is the secret of the Vav within the Hei, in Bina, which has no head.
Luz Interior
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Observação Interior, perguntas e respostas
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Carregando a Observação Interior…
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And here you should remember all that was explained regarding the ZAT of Nekudim, above in Parts Six and Seven, for it is impossible to elaborate here as needed. And chiefly you must remember that at first the vessels of Nekudim came out one beneath the other in a single line, and afterward the lights came out. And the reason was explained there: that this is the rule, that the vessels of the upper Partzuf, once they were refined and emptied of their lights, became vessels for the one below it. And this rule applies in all the Partzufim, in all five worlds: AK and ABYA, as was written there. And it follows that the ten Sefirot of the Partzuf of Nekudim came out in the vessels of the Nekudot of SAG, which began from the Tabur downward of AK, and extended until the Sium [end] of the legs of AK (see page 391, the passage beginning “And behold”); and this was before the second restriction. But after the restriction of the NHY of AK, when the bottom Hey rose into the Einayim and the AHP of every degree were pushed away to the degree below it, the AHP of Rosh [head] became the discernment of Guf [body], and the AHP of Toch became the discernment of NHY, and the AHP of NHY became BYA of separation. It follows, then, that these ZAT of the vessels of SAG of AK, in which the ZON of Nekudim were clothed, no longer remain in the Atzilut of Nekudim now, except for the discernment of Rosh and Toch of them, which are GE; but their AHP is already found in BYA, so that of the ZAT only what is from the Chazeh [chest] upward remains, and it is they who received the lights of the Katnut of Nekudim, since they are of the discernment of Atzilut. But from the Chazeh downward, which stand in BYA, could not receive anything at all from those lights, because the Parsa that is between Atzilut and BYA stands there exactly at the place of the Chazeh of these ZAT of Nekudim, which are ZA, as is known.
Now it has been explained that the ZAT of the Katnut of Nekudim are only the discernment of GE alone, from the arrangement of the old vessels of SAG that were clothed in them, which are the discernment of the HBD HGT of those vessels; for Galgalta are the vessels of HBD, and Einayim are the vessels of HGT, which, in the ratio of the lights, are regarded as HGT NHYM — Galgalta being the discernment of HGT, and Einayim being the discernment of NHYM. For the light of Ruach clothes in the vessels of HGT, and the light of Nefesh in the vessels of NHYM. It follows that the point of the Chazeh of the vessels is exactly the Malchut of the ZA of Nekudim, and from the discernment of the lights the point of the Chazeh is regarded as the discernment of the Atara [crown] of Yesod of ZA, and there the Parsa that is between Atzilut and BYA cleaves. And know that the ARI calls these seven vessels the first Ibur that precedes correction — that is, the essential Atzilut of the ZAT of Nekudim, which came out in the Katnut of Nekudim, and which are also called the anterior vessels of the ZAT of Nekudim. And those from the Chazeh downward, which stand in BYA, are called the posterior vessels of the ZAT of Nekudim, which, in Gadlut, through the ascent of the NHY of AK as MAN [Mayin Nukvin] to AB and SAG, drew a new light that breached this Parsa between Atzilut and BYA; then the vessels from the Chazeh downward reconnected to the Partzuf of ZAT — namely, the posterior vessels — and it was found that they again expanded until the Sium of the legs of AK, like the ZAT of SAG of AK before the second restriction. However, since the force of the bottom Hey remained in the Parsa, the light therefore departed from them, and they all broke — both the posterior vessels, whose place was already in BYA, and the anterior vessels, which are in truth the discernment of Atzilut, being from the Chazeh upward as above — and this is because they had joined into a single Partzuf with the posterior vessels in their expansion until the Sium of the legs of AK, as above; therefore these became mixed with those, and they too broke, as was written there at length.
And you already know that the whole essence of the correction of the world of Atzilut as it is now lies in the Parsa having been strengthened further, so that the incident of the breaking of the vessels at the time of the illumination of AB SAG can no longer repeat. That is, from now on the illumination of the AB that breaches the Parsa cannot nullify it entirely, as happened in the incident of Nekudim; rather, the entire matter of its breaching is only so that the posterior vessels can rise above the Parsa, but the light of Atzilut can no longer expand below the Parsa, as is known. And the meaning of the matter is this: this sweetening of the quality of judgment within the quality of mercy, made at the second restriction — namely, the connection and rise of the bottom Hey into the first Hey, as is known — is now fixed in an absolute manner. Consequently, it follows that the Parsa between Atzilut and Beria, which is the discernment of the Sium of the line of the new Ein Sof, made in the Bina of the ten Sefirot of NHY — because the bottom Hey that was beneath the legs of AK rose there, as is known — is also fixed in an absolute manner. And with this it follows that those posterior vessels, which are of the discernment of Bina and ZA and Nukva of the ten Sefirot of NHY, which are of the discernment of the point of the Sium of the first restriction, standing in BYA, are already fixed there in such a way that they can no longer receive anything into them, and all the more so that they cannot rise to Atzilut — for there is the place of the second restriction, namely, the discernment of Malchut sweetened within Bina. Therefore it will no longer happen that the anterior vessels become mixed with the posterior vessels. Understand this well.
And you already know that all these many discernments that occur in the ten Sefirot, by reason of the screen and the reflected light, are not by this distanced even a little from the ten Sefirot of direct light, and their ratio to one another always remains equal. Therefore it must be understood: since, by force of the second restriction, the bottom Hey rose to Bina and they joined together, it follows that the discernment of ZON of direct light — namely, phase three and phase four — went out from every degree from the second restriction onward, and nothing remained in the degrees except KHB alone. As the ARI wrote above (page 145, item 1), that nothing remained in the Sefirot of straightness except the three discernments: root, soul, and body, which are KHB; but the garment and the palace, which are ZON, separated from the body and became surrounding light. Study it there well. However, according to this there is a difficulty: for we find ZON in every Partzuf, and likewise the collective ZON, even after the second restriction. How then can it be said that they separated from the Sefirot of straightness?
And the matter is this: it is known that the ten Sefirot, each one included of ten, are really only five discernments. It is also known that there are two discernments within the five discernments: for there are discernments in which there is the light of Hochma, and they are called KHB ZON; and there are five discernments of the light of Hassadim, and they are called HGT NH. For this is the whole distinction between GAR and ZON: that in GAR, each one of them has five discernments of the light of Hochma, whereas in ZON there are only five discernments of the light of Hassadim, called HGT NH, as is known. For KHB of Hochma that descended to the discernment of Hassadim are called by the name HGT — Netzah being ZA, and Hod being Nukva, as is known. It follows that the essence of ZA is the Netzah of these five discernments, and HGT are the GAR that join to it through the inclusion of the upper ones, while Hod is what joins to it through the inclusion of Malchut.
It follows, then, according to the above rule, that nothing remained in the Sefirot of straightness except KHB, which are root, soul, and body; but the garment and the palace, which are ZON, separated and became surrounding lights. This is why it is regarded that nothing remained in ZA of the five discernments he had before the second restriction, except the discernment of his HGT — since they are of the upper ones, as above — which are the discernments of root, soul, and body within him; but the Netzah, which is the discernment of himself, called garment, and likewise the Hod, which is the discernment of Malchut, separated from ZA and became surrounding lights. And this is the secret of why ZA is always called by the name HGT.
Now you will well understand the difference between the anterior vessels, from the Chazeh upward, of the ZA of Nekudim, which remained in Atzilut, and the discernment of the posterior vessels, from the Chazeh downward, which are found there below the Parsa, as above. For the discernment of GE, which are HBD and HGT until the Chazeh, being only from the discernment of the inclusion of the upper ones, and not from the discernment of ZA himself, therefore remained in the Atzilut of Nekudim above the Parsa. But from the Chazeh downward, which are his NHY, in which Netzah is the discernment of ZA himself, they separated from the Guf of Atzilut and became BYA; and the lights within them became the two surrounding lights, garment and palace.
And one should not ask, according to this, that ZA no longer has any root at all in the Sefirot of Atzilut — for his HBD HGT, which remained after the second restriction, are not at all of the discernment of himself but of the upper ones. Indeed, you should remember what was explained in Part Five, that the discernment of the imprint of the ten Sefirot of ZA is chiefly from the AB of AK, where the Sefirot were exchanged because of the light of Keter that remained in the Peh [mouth], and there the light of Hochma came out in the vessel of Keter, and the light of Bina in the vessel of Hochma, and the light of ZA in the vessel of Bina, and the light of Malchut in the vessel of ZA. Study it there well. Therefore this same exchange also occurred in the five Hassadim, in which the light of Netzah rose to the vessel of Tifferet. It follows now that that upper third of Tifferet, which remained in the world of Nekudim after the second restriction, is now the essence of ZA from the side of the ascent of the lights. And likewise the point at the Chazeh is the essential root of the Nukva of ZA. And remember that from the side of the lights they are HGT NHYM. It follows, then, that the essence of Tifferet is Yesod, and the point of the Chazeh is Malchut.
And this is the secret of why ZA begins only from Hochma and not from Keter, unlike the other Sefirot. Because in relation to the Partzuf Galgalta of AK — that is, before the Sefirot were exchanged, as above — ZA no longer has any root at all after the second restriction, for from Netzah downward he became BYA, as above. Rather, the only root that remained for him in Atzilut after the second restriction is only in relation to the AB of AK, as above, where the Keter descended to the degree of Hochma, since the light of Keter remained in the Peh, and the light of Hochma clothes in the vessel of Keter, as above. Therefore the Hesed of ZA is now regarded only as the discernment of Hochma and not as the discernment of Keter — proving that ZA has no Keter from his root.
This is what he means by, “Know that the ten Sefirot are five complete Partzufim, etc., and there are ten Sefirot in each one of them, and likewise ZON is included of ten; but know that the Tifferet, when it was emanated, had only an existence of six, and was called VAK, from Hesed to Yesod, and it had no head.” And you should understand, with the above, that here he relates the five Partzufim of Atzilut to the collective ten Sefirot of direct light, to hint that they follow a single path. For there is no difference between the Partzufim and the ten Sefirot of direct light, except in this: that the ten Sefirot of the Partzufim are included one within another, since through the reflected light rising from Malchut, the lower ones are included in the upper ones, and the upper ones in the lower ones, as above (Inner Observation, page 75, chapter 9); and with this, they do not mix with one another, but each one remains within its own discernment. Study it there well.
And therefore, even though the GAR too are each included of ZON, the ZON within them are not regarded as ZON in the true sense, but only to the measure that ZON are rooted within them. And therefore, at the time of the second restriction, when the AHP went out of every degree — which is the discernment of NHY, which are ZON, as above — even the NHY of Ima did not fall into BYA, but only to the degree below it, which is ZON. For all the discernment of NHY that she has is only by force of the inclusion of ZON, from what is rooted within her. If so, these ZON that are in Bina are regarded like the KHB of ZA — that is, the discernment of his roots — and since they remained in Atzilut, GAR are regarded as having complete ten Sefirot even at the second restriction, for the inclusion of ZON is not lost from GAR. Understand this well.
However, ZON themselves, since nothing remained in them but the roots — that is, the discernment of HBD HGT, which are GE included from the upper ones, as above — while the discernment of themselves fell into BYA behind the point of the Sium of the second restriction. It follows that they are missing their own NHYM, that is, from the Chazeh downward, and nothing remained in them after the second restriction except HBD HGT of the vessels, and HGT NHY of the lights — that is, only the discernment of their anterior vessels. Thus ZA has no more than six vessels alone. Unlike GAR, which are not missing the inclusion of ZON within them, for the portion they had in ZON before the second restriction remains in them even now; but ZA is truly missing the discernment of himself, which is his NHY from the Chazeh downward, which went out and became BYA. And this is what he means by, “for the Tifferet, when it was emanated, had only an existence of six, without a head” — for the NHY of his vessels, from the Chazeh downward, fell into BYA, and were not emanated with him, neither in the Katnut of Nekudim nor in the first Ibur of Atzilut. For the Parsa is already fixed with great firmness, so that no discernment at all of this NHY can ever rise to Atzilut again; and all the more so the lights of Atzilut will no longer expand from the Parsa downward. Therefore these NHY remain forever lacking from ZA. And this is what the ARI always says, that ZA has only six vessels. Remember these things.
However, it was explained there that AA too has a part in the emergence of the Mochin of ZA, and one must understand how this can be pictured, since ZA has no grip at all in his HGT, as above, while the Mochin of ZA must necessarily be drawn from HGT and not from NHY. And the matter is this: at the time of the Ibur [impregnation] of ZA, AVI and YESHSUT join into a single Partzuf, meaning that they attain the level of AB of MA, and they clothe in the place of the GAR of AA, which is the level of AB fixed in Atzilut, as is known. And it was explained there that AVI, at the level of AB, have only six vessels — HGT NHY alone — that is, according to what they permanently clothe upon AA. Therefore they are missing the NHY of vessels and the GAR of lights. But through the coupling of Neshikin [kissing] of AA, which raises for them the AHP of the discernment of the screen of phase three, the six vessels HGT NHY of AA divide and become the ten Sefirot, in the manner of what is done in the Gadlut [greatness/adulthood] of ZA. For the upper two-thirds of every joint of HGT rises and becomes for them a Rosh [head], and the bottom third of every joint of HGT joins with the upper thirds of NH of AA, and they become HGT; and the bottom and middle two-thirds of NH of AA remain for them as NHY. It follows that the HGT of AVI of AB are made of two discernments: for the bottom thirds of the previous HGT become the middle thirds, and the upper thirds of the previous NHY of AA now become the bottom thirds of the HGT of AA, called the shoulders of AA.
And it was explained that the new shoulders of AA, which clothe and become the HGT of AVI of AB, are made from the upper two-thirds of the previous NH of AA. And you should know that these shoulders are drawn to ZA and become in him a Reisha. And they are called, in every place, the two crowns that AVI bequeath to their children.
This is what he means by, “and this is the secret of the expansion of the two crowns that AVI are crowned with, etc., and this is ‘with the crown with which his mother crowned him,’ which is his Reisha”: for these two crowns, which are the shoulders of AA at the discernment of the level of AB of AVI, as above, did not become the discernment of HGT in a manner that would make them fit for the Reisha of ZA except through their joining to the HGT within AVI; but on the side of AA himself, they are always the discernment of NHY. For on the side of permanence, AA has ten vessels of the level of AB, and does not need the division of VAK. Only for AVI, who have no more than six vessels in permanence, does the division of VAK occur for them; and then the upper two-thirds of NH of AA rise and become his shoulders, whereby they become fit to be crowned upon ZA and to become for him a Reisha. Thus the whole discernment of the Rosh of Gadlut that ZA attains comes chiefly only through AVI, since through them the NH of AA, which belongs to the building of ZA, acquires the degree of HGT, fit to become a Rosh for him. Indeed, AA surely has a part in them too, since they are the discernment of his NH; but since, on his own side, they were not fit to become a Rosh, they are therefore regarded chiefly as belonging to AVI. And this is why the ARI is precise in the verse, “with which his mother crowned him” — to teach that were it not for Ima, ZA would never have had the discernment of Rosh. As explained.
Indeed the ARI teaches us here a great thing, and here one must remember all that was explained in Part Seven, concerning the emergence of the seven lower ones of Nekudim (see Part Eight, item 624, the passage beginning “And in addition”), that there were three divisions in the emergence of the ten Sefirot of Nekudim. The first is their Katnut [smallness/infancy], as they came out from the Nikvey Einayim of AK: AVI came out from the Rosh, to the discernment of HGT, which is the level of ZA, and the ZAT are found in the illumination of Nefesh alone. The second is through the ascent of MAN of the NHY of AK, which drew a new light that breached the Parsa; and this light went out through the Tabur and illuminated AVI of Nekudim, and the first Hey descended from Einayim to their Peh — that is, they raised their AHP from the degree below and joined them to their Partzuf. Through this AVI returned to the Rosh, in the discernment of face to back; for Ima, although she had already returned her AHP, and although she had returned to the discernment of Rosh, nevertheless does not turn her face to Aba, for He desires mercy. And then the ZAT received the discernment of Ruach Nefesh from AVI — that is, the level of phase one, which is the light of Hassadim from Ima. And the third division is through the aforementioned new light, which went out through the Yesod of AK, and illuminated the MAN of Vav and a dot to the Peh of AVI, from where all eight levels in ZA went out — from the level of the look of the eyes of the upper AVI, until the level of Malchut of YESHSUT — which, from that point downward, came into the ZAT of Nekudim, as written there; and the ZAT of Nekudim broke, front and back, and fell to BYA. And the eight levels of AVI and YESHSUT were nullified, and their posteriors fell to the place of ZAT, and not to BYA.
And know that these three divisions are the root of the three discernments of Ibur [impregnation], nursing, and Mochin of ZON. And it is known that the order of all sortings is that whatever is most select is sorted first. Therefore, first is the first Ibur, sorted from the discernment of the Katnut of Nekudim, which is the essential Atzilut of ZA, from the discernment of the look of the eyes in AHP. And it has already been explained above that they are the discernment of GE of ZA, from the Chazeh and above, called the anterior vessels — the discernment of the vessels being HBD HGT until the Chazeh. And from the discernment of the lights they are the discernment of NHY — that is, the level of Malchut — for AVI were then in the discernment of Ruach, and the ZAT in the discernment of Nefesh.
And this is the whole level of the first Ibur of ZA, as above (page 1140, item 45).
And the NRNHY of nursing are drawn from the second division, when AVI returned to Rosh, only that they were still in the state of face to back, from which the ZAT received the level of Ruach in wholeness, since Ima returned to Rosh, and the light of Hassadim within her was in the true discernment of GAR and Rosh; and from this discernment is drawn the GAR of Ruach, and the Mochin of VAK, which ZA attains at the time of the second Ibur, after the two years of nursing — these being the discernment of ten complete Sefirot from the side of the vessels, but from the side of the lights there is nothing there but the light of Hassadim from Ima, since Ima is still in the state of face to back and does not receive the illumination of Hochma from Aba, except through the MAN of Vav and a dot, as written in Part Seven.
And the GAR of Mochin that ZA attains after the second Ibur, of nine years and one day, is drawn from the third division, which is the discernment of face to face of AVI of Nekudim.
And the reason for these things is that everything depends on the MAN that ZA raises from the posteriors of AVI that fell at the time of the breaking of the vessels. Now in the first Ibur of ZA, the raising of MAN is done by AVI themselves, for the AHP of AVI raise the GE of ZA that are attached to them, and therefore there is nothing else in ZA there, only the GE that AVI raised — which are the seven vessels in the light of Nefesh. But for the second Ibur, ZA himself rises to MAN, and he raises MAN from the posteriors of AVI that fell to his degree. And at first he raises the MAN of the second division — that is, the AHP of the building of their own Partzuf of AVI that fell to his degree, which returned AVI there to the Rosh by force of the umbilical cord that lowered the first Hey from Einayim to the Peh — and therefore they are of use also to ZA, to lower his own first Hey from Einayim to the Peh, and to raise his AHP; then he attains GAR of Ruach and the Mochin of VAK, but not GAR in the true sense, since Ima is still here in the state of face to back. And after nine years and one day, ZA raises MAN from the discernment of the posteriors of AVI that fell to his degree at the time of the breaking of the vessels — which are from the discernment of Vav and a dot, that is, from the eight levels of the upper AVI and YESHSUT, which were nullified and fell to the place of ZON — for before the nullification AVI were in the state of face to face; therefore, once ZA restores them, AVI now also return to face to face, and Ima then bestows the illumination of Hochma, which is the Mochin of GAR.
And it is known that this Vav and a dot are the discernment of the AHP that went out to BYA from the ten Sefirot of NHY of AK, and they are the discernment of the two lower thirds of Netzah-Hod of AK — the bottom third of Netzah being the discernment of ZA of those ten Sefirot, and the bottom third of Hod being the discernment of the Nukva of ZA. For after the NHY of AK received the new light that breached the Parsa, they raised them from BYA, and the Yesod of AK bestowed them in the discernment of MAN to AVI. And one must know that in every MAN of a lower one that rises to the upper one, not the whole discernment of the lower one rises, but only its internality alone. It follows that this Vav and a dot that rose as MAN are not the whole of the AHP that went out to BYA, but only the internality of this AHP — that is, the GE included within this AHP. For all the Sefirot are included one within another, and therefore even the AHP that went out to BYA include within them also the discernment of GE, and it is these GE that rose in the secret of Vav and a dot as MAN.
And it is indeed true that the coupling of AVI that is made upon this discernment of GE suffices for a complete level of GE and AHP — that is, so that they can expand in ZA even in the discernment of the true AHP of the vessels of ZA. However, as long as they remain in the discernment of MAN within the vessels of AVI, they are regarded then only as the internality of AHP, which is GE, and not as the true discernment of BYA — meaning they are not the discernment of root and palace, which separated and became BYA, as above (page 1190, the passage beginning “And it is found”). Study it there well. For they are only the discernment of GE included within them, as above. And with this you will understand that this does not contradict what the ARI wrote, that the garment and the palace separated entirely from ZA, while here he says that they rose as MAN in the secret of Vav and a dot. And with what has been explained you will understand that Vav and a dot are not the true discernment of garment and palace, but the discernment of root, soul, and body included in the garment and palace — such that the discernment of the garment and palace themselves did not rise at all in the discernment of MAN. And with this you will understand why the discernment of the posteriors of AVI, from this discernment of Vav and a dot, did not fall back to BYA but remained in Atzilut, as is known — it is because they are only the discernment of the fronts of them, and are not the true discernment of BYA.
And this is what he means by, “But now he still lacks NHY, so Bina needed to extend her legs downward, and the secret of the Yesod within her”: for all that was corrected in the first Ibur is only the discernment of the anterior vessels, which came out in Nekudim in the first division mentioned above — that is, the vessels of HBD HGT until the Chazeh, in which the lights of HGT NHYM clothe. If so, how could he receive the discernment of Rosh and GAR from Ima? For lacking the NHY of vessels, there is no place in him to receive GAR of lights. And one cannot say that through the illumination of the coupling of AB SAG, which lowers his first Hey from Einayim, he raises to himself the AHP — that is, the discernment of his posterior vessels from BYA — for this is altogether impossible, since the Parsa, which is the discernment of the Sium of the second restriction, tolerates only the anterior vessels alone, by the boundary that was spread at the time of the second restriction over the place of the point of the Chazeh of ZA, as above; and for this reason the garment and palace separated from the Partzufim, and the nullification of the Parsa will never happen again in Atzilut.
And this is what he means by, “Then Bina needed to extend her legs downward with the Yesod within her” — meaning that the discernment of the NHY of Ima were renewed, that is, the discernment of the AHP of Ima, which are only the discernment of the internality of AHP — that is, the discernment of GE included in the AHP — fit to be found above the Parsa, as above. And to this measure were sorted out, from the vessels and sparks of ZA that rose from BYA to Atzilut, and they extended the legs of ZA — meaning, they became for him the discernment of new NHY. But his own AHP, which are the same posterior vessels that served him at the time of Nekudim, which are truly BYA, which the Parsa expelled at the time of the second restriction, as above — these can no longer rise and join to the ZA of Atzilut, as happened in Nekudim, for this is why the strengthening of the Parsa in Atzilut is so effective, so that no nullification will ever happen to it again. Understand this well. And it is for this reason that ZA is called, in the secret of the phrase, “an amputee goes out with his own peg leg” (see above, Part Eleven, item 34, and see there in Inner Light).
And you already know that this extension of legs and new NHY come through the illumination of the coupling of AB SAG, which lowers the first Hey from Einayim to the Peh, so that the AHP are found returning to the Rosh. And accordingly one should understand why the ARI calls them by the discernment of the extension of legs alone, when in fact all the degrees were extended. For at the time when a Partzuf has only the discernment of GE alone, then the AHP are lacking both in Rosh and in Toch and in Sof, which are the legs; and at the time of the return of the AHP to the Partzuf, all the degrees are found extended, in that the AHP of Rosh return to Rosh, and the AHP of Toch return to Toch, and the AHP of Sof return to Sof. If so, why is the return of the AHP called by the name of the extension of the legs alone?
And the reason is that the discernment of the AHP of Rosh falls to the discernment of Toch, and the AHP of Toch falls to the discernment of Sof, and they are still found within the degree of the Partzuf. However, the AHP of Sof always falls entirely outside the degree of the Partzuf. And this is so in the Partzufim of GAR themselves. But in the Partzuf ZON, which is the lowest of the Partzufim of Atzilut, its AHP of Sof falls entirely to the BYA of separation, as is known. Therefore the essential lack of the AHP is discernible in every Partzuf only in its legs. And therefore also the return of the AHP is called by their name, and therefore the ARI calls them by the name of the extension of legs. And it has now been explained that in truth all the degrees of ZA are extended and completed through the raising of the AHP of Ima in all the degrees of her own RTS; but since the essential mark is in the Sof, which are the legs, it is therefore called by the name of the extension of legs.
And this is what he means by, “ZA was at first VAK, and afterward he was completed to ten complete Sefirot, etc.: the two upper joints of Hesed join with the upper joint of Netzah of Ima, so that his Hochma is a complete measure of three joints; and likewise in the left line, etc.” Explanation: for a complete Partzuf must have RTS [Rosh-Toch-Sof] within it — that is, HBD HGT NHY — such that every degree of them has RTS within it. And in truth there is RTS even in the Partzuf of Ibur, but it is regarded only as the level of NHY within the vessels of HBD, so that he has only the discernment of Rosh of vessels, called Galgalta. It follows that the whole RTS of the Ibur is the discernment of Galgalta in the light of Nefesh. And likewise during nursing he has RTS, but since altogether he has only Galgalta and Einayim, which are HBD HGT of vessels, and Nefesh Ruach of lights, this measure of his is regarded as RTS — that is, GE in Rosh, and GE in Toch, and GE in Sof. And so likewise in every individual Sefira of Ibur and nursing. And in Gadlut, when the AHP are returned to him, which are the new NHY, then his measures of RTS are completed for him, for now he has GE and AHP in Rosh, which are HBD HGT NHY, and likewise in Toch, and likewise in Sof. And now his measures are found complete, each one with RTS.
And by this measure of completeness, it is found that at the time of the Ibur he has only one third of a complete measure in each one of his RTS, for he has only HBD of vessels and NHY of lights in his Rosh, and likewise in his Toch, and likewise in his Sof — so that each one of them is lacking two thirds. And at the time of nursing he has two thirds of a complete measure in each one of his RTS, for he then has HBD HGT of vessels and HGT NHY of lights in his Rosh, and likewise in his Toch, and likewise in his Sof — so that each one of his RTS is lacking one third of a complete measure, which is the bottom third of vessels and the upper third of lights, which, from the discernment of their clothing one within the other, are regarded as only one third, as is known — by the inverted ratio between vessels and lights.
And it is found that at the time of Gadlut, the legs of Ima are extended and complete for ZA new NHY — that is, they return the AHP to him. Then he attains that third that was lacking to him at the time of nursing, which, from the discernment of vessels, are NHY, and from the discernment of lights, are HBD. And then this third is added to the Rosh, and he now has three thirds in the Rosh, which is a complete measure. And likewise a third is added to the Toch, and likewise to the Sof.
And this is what he means by: “The two upper joints of Hesed join with the upper joint of Netzah of Ima, so that his Hochma is a complete measure of three joints.” As explained: if we discern within the Partzuf of nursing the three parts of Rosh, Toch, and Sof within it, each one is found only with two thirds — which, from the discernment of the lights, are HGT NHY, and from the discernment of the vessels, are HBD HGT. It follows that in his right line, whose RTS are called Hochma, Hesed, Netzah, there are only two thirds in Hochma, two thirds in Hesed, and two thirds in Netzah; and likewise in his left line, which is BGH; and in his middle line, which is DTY, each one has only two thirds. And therefore, since the extension of the legs of Ima, which are her new NHY, complete ZA — both HHN in the right line, and BGH in the left line, and DTY in the middle line — it necessarily follows that the NHY of Ima divide into nine thirds, and complete the ten Sefirot in his three lines.
It is found that the upper two thirds of Hesed, which, from the ratio of the vessels, are regarded as the two thirds of Hochma, now receive one third from the NHY of Ima allotted to it, and are completed to a whole measure. And this third that they receive cannot be fixed with a name, for from the discernment of the vessels it is NHY — that is, the part allotted to it from the new AHP that were returned to it from BYA. But from the discernment of the lights it is HBD, for GAR of lights and NHY of vessels come as one, as is known. Therefore this completion is called simply “a third” — in lights it is the upper third, and in vessels it is the bottom third. And after the two thirds of Hochma received the bottom third of Ima, which, from the ratio of the lights, the upper two thirds of Hesed received the upper third of Ima, then the Hochma of ZA is completed to a whole measure — that is, now within itself there is also RTS, as above. And likewise for the other Sefirot in the three lines of ZA. Understand this well, and do not become confused by the inversion that prevails between the vessels and the lights.
And with what has been explained, you will well understand the change of expressions found in this matter in the words of the ARI. For what he wrote above (item 188) — that at the time of Gadlut, HGT rise and become HBD, and NHY rise and become HGT, and Ima extends her NHY, and from them are made for him new NHY — the intent is, in the particulars of all the ten Sefirot of ZA, that at the time of nursing all his ten Sefirot are lacking one third, which, from the side of vessels, is NHY, and from the side of lights, is HBD, as above. It follows that, from the side of vessels, Ima completes for him in every Sefira only the discernment of NHY — that is, the third that was lacking to him — and then, in every Sefira, the discernment of HBD of lights is also drawn to him. And at the time when the NHY of vessels was lacking, the Ruach clothed in his HBD, and the Nefesh in his HGT, and therefore, from the discernment of the clothing of the lights in them, they are regarded only as HGT NHY, for they are regarded chiefly by the name of the light clothed in them. But now, after he has attained the NHY of vessels from Ima, so that GAR of lights, which are Neshama, are then drawn to him, it is found that the Neshama now clothes in the vessels of HBD, and Ruach descends to the vessels of HGT, and Nefesh descends to the vessels of the new NHY. It follows that the previous HGT, which rose and now became HBD, did so because of their now attaining the light of Neshama, for only the vessel that clothes the light of Neshama is called by the name HBD. And likewise the previous NHY rose and became HGT, meaning a vessel for the light of Ruach, since now the Ruach descended and clothed in them, as above. And the vessels of NHY are truly new, coming to him from the extension of the legs of Ima. However, this happens in each and every Sefira of the ten Sefirot in the three lines of ZA, for each Sefira of them, at the time of the Ibur, was included of only three Sefirot, and at the time of nursing, of six Sefirot, and now at the time of Gadlut, of ten Sefirot. Understand this.
And what he writes here (item 190), that in every Sefira there are two thirds, and in Gadlut an upper third from Ima joins with them and completes them to a whole measure, is also the same thing, only that he explains them in particulars. And what he writes, that the third of Ima becomes in every Sefira an upper third, the intent is from the discernment of the lights: for through the completion of the bottom third of the vessels, GAR of lights, which are the light of Neshama, are drawn to him, so that the upper third of the vessels then returns to become HBD — which before this was only HGT, as above. It follows that the upper third of every Sefira is by force of the NHY of Ima. Understand.
And this is what he means by, “Since Tevuna slays herself over him, so that the internality of her NHY departs, and only her externality enters him — and within it the Mochin of ZA — therefore they become truly a part of the limbs of ZA, and of his body” (item 191). He explains here what he wrote above (item 189), that the new NHY of ZA are not from the discernment of ZA, but are the NHY of Tevuna that were extended and became NHY of ZA. Now one may ask, how is this possible — that the NHY of an upper Partzuf should join and become the bodily limbs of a lower Partzuf? And on this he explains here: since Tevuna slays herself over him, etc. — that is, she descends from the discernment of GAR to the discernment of VAK in the secret of “crouching,” whereby her NHY fall to the degree of ZA (as written above, page 1131, item 11, and see there in Inner Light) — whereby the Mochin of Katnut of phase one clothe in ZA; and after ZA receives the Mochin of Katnut of Tevuna, which is the discernment of the first Hey in her Einayim, he thereby becomes fit also to receive her Gadlut — that is, the lowering of the first Hey from Einayim to Peh, which is done at the time of Gadlut. For he then also receives that discernment of AHP that are now returned to her, and they become truly his own self and his own flesh, as though they were from the discernment of himself, and are regarded as truly his own NHY. And likewise he wrote above (page 883, item 33), “For no Mochin at all can come into being until Bina goes outward” (see there in Inner Light, the passage beginning “It is impossible”) — the intent is also on the above matter: for had ZA not received the Katnut of phase one of Tevuna, which is through her descent to the discernment of “crouching,” whereby her NHY descend to ZA, then ZA would never have had any possibility of ever having the discernment of Rosh and GAR. For the posterior vessels of himself are not fit to return to Atzilut, after the Parsa of Atzilut was fixed permanently, as above. It follows that all his discernment of GAR comes through the attainment of the posterior vessels of Ima, as explained above at length.
And this is what he means by, “Know that at first the upper parts begin to grow, and afterward the lower ones; for in the entry of the Mochin, the lower ones enter first, but in the Gadlut of ZA himself, the upper ones grow first” — that is, the inverted ratio that exists between lights and vessels, as written above at length. And he thereby resolves what he says above, that at the time when he has VAK, his Rosh is regarded as HGT — which is puzzling, since there is no Rosh but HBD, as is known, and HGT is Guf. And on this he explains that his intent is from the ratio of vessels: since there is an inversion between lights and vessels — that in lights, the lower Mochin enter first, while in vessels it is the reverse, since the upper ones grow first. Therefore he calls the Rosh by the name HGT: since from the side of lights there is in it only Nefesh and Ruach, it follows that the Ruach clothes in the vessels of HBD; therefore the vessels of HBD are called by the name HGT — that is, by the name of the light clothed in them, for the vessels act only to the measure of the lights within them. Understand this well. And the reason for these things was explained well above, in Inner Observation, page 72, the passage beginning “Indeed”: for every bestower bestows through that which is coarser, and every receiver receives through that which is more refined. Study it there well.
And this is what he means by, “The four upper joints of the right line — which are the three joints of Hesed, and the upper joint of Netzah — now join together and become the Hesed of ZA, etc. And so likewise in the three lines” (item 194). Explanation: for you already know the distinction of RTS — that the ten Sefirot that the reflected light clothes from below upward are called Rosh, and the place of the coupling is called Peh; and the ten Sefirot that clothe in the vessels from above downward are called HGT, or Guf, and the point of the Chazeh is the Malchut within them; and the ten Sefirot of Sium are called NHY, and the Atara [crown] of Yesod is the Malchut within them, which concludes the whole Partzuf, as written at length in the previous parts.
It is also known that the VAK of Gadlut do not come in the first Ibur, so long as his first Hey is in the Einayim, but in the second Ibur, after the two years of nursing — when, through inclusion in the upper coupling of AB SAG, they lower his first Hey from Einayim to Peh, and return the AHP to his degree, and ten vessels are completed for him; then he receives GAR of nursing, and VAK of Gadlut, as explained above at length. And even though he then attains the discernment of GAR of Katnut, and they clothe in his HBD, and HGT NH of Hassadim descend each to its place — the Ruach in the vessels of HGT, and the Nefesh in the vessels of NHY — nevertheless the GAR are not regarded as a true Rosh, for the reason that there is still no coupling there at all, as above (page 1172, the passage beginning “And what”); therefore the Hassadim are not revealed in him from the Chazeh downward, but are in the discernment of covered Hassadim. See there.
And therefore this second Ibur is called by the name “coupling for the completion of vessels,” for the essential correction reaches only the vessels. For while the first Hey was in the Einayim, HBD descended to the discernment of HGT, and HGT to the discernment of NHY, because the first Hey, which concludes the illumination of the Partzuf, stands in the Chazeh, which is the vessels of Einayim; and then HGT are not fit to receive light, being the discernment of the ten Sefirot of Sium, which receive only feminine light — that is, the light of Nefesh, meaning the lights of Sium, which receive and can no longer bestow and expand, as is known. Therefore now, in the second Ibur, when the first Hey descended from the Chazeh to the Yesod of the new NHY, the vessels of Einayim returned to the discernment of true HGT, for now they are fit to receive masculine light, which is the discernment of Ruach. However, the vessels of HBD have not yet received their complete correction, for the whole essence of the correction of the Rosh is the discernment of the ten Sefirot from below upward, as above, and so long as there is no discernment of coupling and the raising of reflected light there, these ten Sefirot cannot come out there; therefore they are still called by the name VAK. For so long as there is no coupling in the Rosh of ZA himself, to reveal the illumination of Hochma there from below upward — whereby the Daat expands downward and fills all the chambers and corridors of the body, as is known — the Hassadim within him are regarded as covered Hassadim, and then there is almost no difference at all between the lights of GAR of Katnut and the lights of HGT.
Now it has been well explained that the discernment of Galgalta, which is the discernment of the vessels of HBD, has not yet received any correction now in this second Ibur, but only the vessels of Einayim alone; and therefore it is regarded that the correction reached the upper three thirds of NHY that joined and became the vessels of HGT, because the first Hey descended from the Einayim, and the vessels of HGT were purified to receive the light of Ruach, and there are now four thirds in the vessels of HGT fit for masculine light — which are the upper three thirds that were there before, plus one more upper third that was purified and rose to them from the vessels of NHY, because of the descent of the first Hey from there. It follows that only the upper thirds of NHY alone have now received their correction — for even though the whole is completed in the discernment of the NHY of Ima, which are the bottom thirds of all the ten Sefirot, as above, nevertheless they do not rise by name so long as there is no coupling in the Rosh of ZA, because even the GAR are regarded as only Hassadim alone, like the HGT — for the illumination of Hochma is not revealed without coupling in the Rosh, wherein the Daat rises from below upward, and strikes in HB, and brings out their lights outward, as is known. And you already know this rule: that the bottom third of vessels and GAR of lights are one and the same matter, and so long as the GAR are not revealed, the bottom third too, which is the new NHY, does not rise by name.
And in order to understand the matter clearly, it is necessary to elaborate. See above (page 1196, the passage beginning “And by the ratio”) where we explained well there the matter of the division of VAK into six thirds, and how each one of them is completed with the bottom third from the NHY of Ima, whereby they become whole measures. Study it there well, the whole continuation. And here we add an explanation to what was said there. The foundation of the matter is that ZA, from his own root, has only six vessels, which are GE in every Sefira of his RTS in his three lines. And at the time of Gadlut, the legs of Ima are extended, which are the NHY of Ima that complete the AHP lacking in all the ten Sefirot of the RTS of his three lines. It follows that at the time of Katnut, when he does not yet have the AHP of Ima, he is regarded as having only GE in his HBD, and GE in his HGT, and GE in his NHY — which are reckoned as six thirds, that is, the upper two thirds of every Sefira of HBD, which are GE, and each one is lacking its bottom third, which is AHP; and likewise in HGT, and likewise in each one of NHY. For the upper third is Galgalta, and the middle third is Einayim, and the bottom third is AHP.
However, they are always called only by the name HGT NHY, and not by the account of the above thirds of RTS. And this is because of the clothing of the lights within them: for the vessels that are the dwelling for the light of Ruach are called HGT, and the vessels that are the dwelling for the light of Nefesh are called NHY. And accordingly it is found that the light of Ruach necessarily clothes in a whole measure — that is, that it has three thirds; and likewise the light of Nefesh clothes in a whole measure that has three thirds. And it is known that at a time when a Partzuf has only GE, its AHP are regarded as having fallen to the degree beneath it — such that AHP of HBD fell to the discernment of HGT, and AHP of HGT fell to the discernment of NHY, and AHP of NHY fell to BYA of separation. Therefore, when the light of Ruach clothes in the vessels of HBD, and it finds in them only two thirds, which are GE alone, it expands also into the upper third of the vessels of HGT, which is the discernment of the Galgalta within HGT, where the AHP of the vessels of HBD fell — such that the upper two thirds of the light of Ruach clothe in the GE found in the vessels of HBD, and the bottom third of the light of Ruach clothes in the AHP of the vessels of HBD found in the upper third of the vessels of HGT, which is the discernment of the Galgalta within them. And the light of Nefesh clothes in the three remaining thirds: the first third is the Einayim that remained in HGT, and also the two thirds of GE that are found in the vessels of NHY.
And the reason for this clothing is because of the rule that every receiver receives in the more refined vessel. It is found that upon the entry of the light of Nefesh into the Partzuf, it clothes in the highest vessel found in the Partzuf, which is the vessel of HBD, than which there is nothing more refined; and likewise always, every new light that comes into the Partzuf is received only in the vessel of HBD. And every light has within it the completeness of RTS, and therefore it needs three thirds. And since there is nothing yet in the vessels of HBD besides two thirds, which are GE alone, it therefore expands also into the AHP of HBD, which are now found at the degree of the upper third of the vessels of HGT — for the AHP of an upper one that fell to the degree of the lower one become the discernment of the internality of the lower one, that is, the highest discernment within the lower one; and since there are in the vessels of HGT two thirds that are GE, they become only the discernment of the Galgalta within them. Therefore the light of Nefesh clothes in the two thirds found in HBD, which are GE, and in the bottom third of HBD, which fell and became the Galgalta of the vessels of HGT.
And afterward, upon the entry of the light of Ruach into the Partzuf, it too is received in the more refined vessel within it, which is the vessels of HBD; and then there is no more room there for the light of Nefesh, and therefore the light of Nefesh descends to the vessels of HGT. However, only one third remains there in the vessels of HGT, which is the Einayim, for the upper third of HGT now becomes the dwelling for the new light of Ruach, as the bottom third of Ruach, as above. Therefore the light of Nefesh descends also to the vessels of NHY — that is, into the two thirds found there, which are GE. In this way the light of Ruach clothes in three thirds, which are the two thirds in each one of HBD, and the upper third in each one of HGT. And likewise the light of Nefesh clothes in three thirds, which are: the third remaining in each one of HGT, which are the Einayim, and the two thirds found in each one of NHY. Understand this well.
It follows that at the time of Gadlut, when the light of Neshama comes, then the legs of Ima are extended — that is, the new NHY of Ima — and they join and become the bottom third in all the ten Sefirot of ZA in his three lines, as above. It follows that the NHY of Ima join to each one of the vessels of HBD, and become for them the bottom third; and since HBD now has three thirds in completeness, they no longer need the upper thirds of HGT that had joined to them before; therefore the upper thirds of HGT descend to their place, to the vessels of HGT, and there is now in HGT its two thirds: GE. And likewise the NHY of Ima allotted to the vessels of HGT now join, and become for them the bottom third, so that now HGT too has whole three thirds at its own degree. Then the GE of NHY, which had joined them before, separate from them and descend to their place at their own degree, and the NHY of Ima allotted to them come and join and become for them the bottom third, and NHY too are completed with whole three thirds at their own degree. It follows now that all the ten Sefirot in the three lines of ZA are whole measures — that is, that each one of them has three thirds, which are GE and AHP. Then the light of Neshama enters the vessels of HBD in its three thirds, and the light of Ruach in the three thirds of the vessels of HGT, and the light of Nefesh in the three thirds of the vessels of NHY. And this is when speaking from the ratio of the vessels.
And when speaking from the discernment of the clothing of the lights in the vessels, the above matters are explained with a change of language. For then the Katnut is called by the name HGT NHY, as is known, this being by the name of the lights clothing at that time. And you already know that the light of Ruach needs three thirds, and likewise the light of Nefesh needs three thirds. And at the time of Katnut, when every Sefira has nothing but its two thirds of GE alone, it is found that the upper thirds of the vessels of HGT join to become the bottom third for the vessels of HBD, so that the light of Ruach can clothe in three thirds, as above. And likewise the light of Nefesh clothes in three thirds, which are: the one third remaining in each of the vessels of HGT, which is the discernment of the Einayim that remained in them, and all the two thirds found in the vessels of NHY, as above. It follows that at the time of Gadlut, when the light of Neshama comes, then HGT rise and become the discernment of HBD; for then HGT, which before this were the dwelling for the light of Ruach, now become the dwelling for the light of Neshama and attain the rank of HBD. However, the light of Neshama did not clothe in those same three thirds that were in the previous HGT, but only in the upper two thirds of them, which are GE of the vessels of HBD; but the bottom third that they received from the vessels of HGT did not need the light of Neshama, for now a bottom third from the NHY of Ima joined to them. In this way the light of Neshama clothed in the upper two thirds of the previous HGT, and the bottom third they took from Ima, as above. It follows now that the light of Ruach descended and clothed in the bottom third of the previous HGT and in the upper third of the previous NHY, which are in truth the GE of the vessels of HGT themselves — only that the discernment of Galgalta of the vessels of HGT had joined before to complete the vessels of HBD in a bottom third, for the clothing of the light of Ruach, as above; and the light of Nefesh clothed in the third remaining in HGT and in the two thirds of NHY. It follows that the two thirds found in the GE of HGT were divided: half for the light of Ruach, which is HGT, and half for the light of Nefesh, which is NHY. However, now, after Ima completed the bottom third in each one of the ten Sefirot, the vessels of HBD have their own three thirds; it is found that the bottom third of HGT descended once more from the vessels of HBD and came to its own place in HGT, and once more HGT has its own two thirds of GE. And therefore, after the bottom third of Ima joined to them, the light of Ruach descended and clothed in them. And likewise the NHY of Ima joined and completed the two thirds found in NHY, and the Sefirot of NHY also became whole measures, and then the light of Nefesh clothed in them.
Now all this is stated regarding the second Ibur of the Mochin, which comes after nine years and one day. However, in the second Ibur of the completion of vessels, which comes after the two years of nursing, even though then too the new NHY of Ima join and complete the bottom thirds in the ten Sefirot of ZA, nevertheless, since ZA is still not fit in himself for the discernment of coupling in the ten Sefirot of his Rosh, whereby the illumination of Hochma would be revealed in him, there is no difference at all between GAR and VAK, for both of these are only the discernment of Hassadim, which is the light of Ruach, as above. And therefore the discernment of HGT does not rise to the discernment of HBD, and the Ruach and Nefesh remain clothed in him in the vessels of HBD HGT, as before. However, since the first Hey has already descended from Einayim to Peh, all the vessels of HGT, which have now risen from the discernment of NHY, are found to become equal with the vessels of HBD; so that from the discernment of clothing in vessels, both are still regarded as the discernment of HGT, both of them being a dwelling for the light of Ruach. However, in the relative ratio of the vessels, there is here a great ascent for the vessels of HGT, for they have already risen from the discernment of Nefesh to the discernment of Ruach, so that the light of Ruach is now clothed in Rosh and Toch — that is, in the GE of the vessels of HBD and in the GE of the vessels of HGT — while the light of Nefesh is clothed only in Sof, in the GE of the vessels of NHY. And there are now found four thirds in the discernment of HGT, which are: two thirds of HBD, and two thirds of HGT, and two thirds in NHY.
And the reason for this is that before this second Ibur, the vessels of HGT were divided: for the two thirds within it, which are GE — the upper third, which is the Galgalta within them, rose and joined the dwelling of the light of Ruach; and the second third, which is the Einayim within them, descended and joined the dwelling of the light of Nefesh, as above. Now this second third has now received its complete correction, for the first Hey that was within it descended from it to the discernment of the two thirds of NHY; and therefore the Einayim were purified and rose from the discernment of NHY to the discernment of HGT, and there are now made four thirds in HGT: the two thirds of the vessels of HBD and the two thirds of the vessels of HGT, as explained. In this way the discernment of Galgalta in every one of the ten Sefirot of ZA received almost no correction at all, but the discernment of the Einayim in the ten Sefirot of ZA received their correction, for the first Hey descended from them to the discernment of NHY, and they rose and became the dwelling for the discernment of Ruach.
And this is what he means by, “The three joints of Hesed and the upper joint of Netzah now join together and become the Hesed of ZA, etc., where the Hochma is included in potential within the Hesed” (item 194). For these four joints are the GE of the vessels of HBD and the GE of the vessels of HGT, as above. For the upper third of NHY, which is the discernment of the Einayim of the vessels of HGT, is now purified from the first Hey, which descended from there to the GE of the vessels of NHY, as above. And therefore there is there the discernment of Hochma in potential, for afterward, in the second Ibur of the Mochin, the Hochma will clothe in the upper two thirds of this Hesed, and the Hesed will clothe in the bottom two thirds of this Hesed — meaning that the bottom third of Ima will then join to them for each Sefira of them, as above. And accordingly all the ten Sefirot of ZA are explained.