Part 8 · Chapter 82

The Ari's Text

Know that the essential place of the worlds and their true degree is thus, according to this order, and this is the fitting place for them to always be. The reason is that Zeir Anpin must grow and become like Arich Anpin, and therefore he must rise up to there. And the place of Arich Anpin must become the place of Zeir Anpin, for through this Zeir Anpin becomes ‘Arich’ [long]. And the Nukva of Zeir Anpin rises to the place of Aba, by the secret of ‘the Lord founded the earth in Hochma,’ for Aba founds the daughter; and by the secret of ‘you shall keep the Sabbath, for it is holy,’ for ‘keep,’ which is the female, becomes ‘holy,’ which is Aba, and this is why it is written ‘it is holy, for she’ — the female — returned to being holy. And Beriah rose into Ima, by the secret of what you know, that Ima nests in the throne. And Yetzira rises to the place of Zeir Anpin, for Zeir Anpin nests in the angel. And Assiya rises into the Nukva of Zeir Anpin, for Malchut nests in what is Assiya. Thus this is the fitting place for the order of the degree of the worlds.

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

1ZA must grow and become like AA, etc., and the place of AA must become the place of ZA, for through this ZA becomes Arich [long]: And we must understand this obligation well — that ZA must take the place of AA. The matter is that it is known that the whole essential role of the ten Sefirot of the new MA is only to correct BON, which are the ZAT of Nekudim that fell into BYA, and to raise them back to their place, that is, to the place where they were before the breaking of the vessels. And then BON is regarded as corrected.
And you must remember all that was explained above (on page 659, the passage beginning “And in the aforesaid”). See there through the whole continuation. And it was explained there that all the Partzufim of Atzilut that were corrected permanently in Atzilut lack GAR [first three] compared with what they were in the state of Nekudim. For Atik of Atzilut clothes in the place of the GAR of Nekudim, and hence the Guf [body] of Atik, which is its ZAT, takes the whole place of the ZAT of Nekudim: the HGT of Atik in the place of the HGT of Nekudim, and the NHY of Atik in the place of the NHYM of Nekudim. And AA of Atzilut, whose Peh of its Rosh [head] begins from the Chazeh [chest] of Atik and extends from below upward until the Peh of Atik, is therefore found to clothe and to take the whole place of the HGT of Atik, which is also the HGT of Nekudim, that is, ZA of Nekudim. Thus the Rosh of AA stands in the place of ZA of Nekudim.
And this is what he says, “ZA must grow like AA, and the place of AA must become the place of ZA,” for such is the place of ZA at the beginning of its emanation in Nekudim, as explained. Hence the correction of ZA is not completed before it takes the place of the Rosh of AA. And likewise the Nukva must be in the place of Aba, that is, the upper AVI, who are called Aba. For AVI clothe AA of Atzilut from its Chazeh upward until the Peh of AA, which is the place of the NHY of Nekudim, and they are the discernment of the Nukva of Nekudim. For since the Rosh of AA clothes the HGT of Nekudim, as above, it necessarily follows that AVI, who clothe below the Rosh of AA, have taken the place of the Nukva of Nekudim, that is, the NHY. Therefore the correction of the Nukva is not completed before she returns to her place, which she had at the time of Nekudim, which is literally the place of the upper AVI of Atzilut, as explained. And this is what he says, “the essential place of the worlds and their true degree is thus, according to this order, and this is the fitting place for them to always be” — that is, as explained, for this is their place from the beginning of their emanation, at the time of the kings, before they fell into BYA.