Part 8 · Chapter 61

The Ari's Text

Now, Yeshsut is made from the lower half of the Bina of MA, and Tevuna is made from the complete Bina of BON. Then both are in the phase of the Bina of MA and BON, and are therefore both called simply Bina. This is the first Hey of the Name. Then Aba is hidden and concealed, for he too is the Yod of the filling of Yod-Hey, since now she has no advantage over him — for now both are of the phase of Bina, and since he is of the male phase, he prevails over her. This is unlike AVI, where Ima has a very great advantage over Aba, as above.

Inner Light

This commentary hasn't been matched to individual seifim yet — items are shown in reading order, and the number beside each one counts the notes themselves, not the seifim of the Ari's text.

Not matched to a seif

1Israel Saba was made from the lower half of the Bina of MA, etc.: This refers to the lower Israel Saba and Tevuna, which clothe AA from the Chazeh downward to the Tabur, as written above in the passage beginning “The third pair,” that they are the third pair and the fourth pair. Study it there well. The third pair was made from the ZA of the Bina of MA together with the Malchut of the Hochma of BON, and this is the one called Israel Saba. And the fourth pair was made from the Malchut of the Bina of MA together with the Malchut of the Bina of BON, and both of them are called Tevuna.
2And Tevuna is from the complete Bina of BON, and then both of them are in the discernment of the Bina of MA and BON: Meaning that Tevuna is made from the third point of the GAR of Nekudim, and only from its Malchut, as above in the adjacent item; for the upper Ima, which clothes AA from the Chazeh upward on the left side, is made from the five Sefirot Gevura, Tifferet and NHY of the Bina of BON, while Tevuna, which clothes AA from the Chazeh downward on the left side, is made from the Malchut of the Bina of BON together with the Malchut of the Bina of MA, as the ARI writes in Etz Chaim, Gate 20, Chapter 10, and in many places. And see above nearby, in the passage beginning “And that one is complete Hochma of BON.”
3Now she has no advantage over him, for now both of them are of the discernment of Bina, and since he is of the discernment of the male he therefore prevails over her: For here the male is more concealed than the female, for the reason that every revelation is always through the female, since the lights of the male are not revealed to the lower ones except through the female. However, in the first pair mentioned above, where the male is the Keter Hochma of the Bina of MA and the female is the VAK of the Hochma of BON, that is, the true Hochma of the second point of the GAR of Nekudim, the rank of the female is very much greater than that of the male, and the level of the male, which is only the Bina of MA, is unable to fill and to reveal the discernment of Hochma that is in the female, which is very much higher than his level. Therefore the measure of the female’s own self is not revealed through the male, and therefore the female is not counted in the name, for she serves only with the measure of the male, which is the level of Bina, hinted at in the Yod of the name HaVaYaH; and the female, who is the filling Vav and Dalet in the Yod, is not mentioned.
But here in YESHSUT, where the female too is nothing but the discernment of the Bina of BON like the male, the male fills and reveals the entire measure of the female; and since the entire measure of the female is revealed, she is the one that is chiefly counted in the name HaVaYaH, for wherever the two of them are equal the male is always found to be the more concealed, and he has no revelation except what the female reveals of him, as is known. Therefore the male is hinted at only in the Yod of the filling of the first Hey of the name HaVaYaH, that is, by way of concealment, while the female is the first Hey itself.
And one should not object that, since the female is of BON, her rank is greater still than that of the male, who is of MA, for BON is SAG, which is higher than MA, as the ARI wrote above concerning the upper AVI. In truth, however, this is not reckoned as so great a rank, because the rank of BON was flawed through the breaking of the vessels in it; and the ARI counted it above merely as an added advantage, since the essential rank of the upper Ima is that she is the discernment of the true Hochma of BON, as above. Study it there well.