Part 13 · Chapter 58

The Ari's Text

However, the rest of the Gevurot may be called so by way of extension; but the plain Botsina deKardinuta is this Gevura of Atik, hidden in this Mocha, and it is the root of all the Gevurot. And this is what it said in the portion of Pekudei, page 254, side B: "And see, the beginning of the faith within thought struck the Botsina deKardinuta," etc., whose matter was explained above, and it is that AA, which is the Rosh and beginning of the faith, was clarifying within his thought, which is the concealed Mocha, in which are all the clarifications of the seven kings in the aspect of MAN, in order to make from them the aspect of the Partzufim of AVI, for there is no clarification except in thought. And the Botsina deKardinuta, which is the Gevura of Atik, the root of all the Gevurot, with its power, the thought is able to clarify the aforementioned clarifications, for all the clarifications are the aspect of Gevurot, and therefore they are clarified through that Botsina deKardinuta.

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

1Butzina de Kardinuta [the lamp of darkness] is this Gevura of Atik, hidden in this Mocha, and it is the root of all the Gevurot, etc. With its power, the thought is able to clarify the clarifications: And you need to understand very well the matter of this concealment of Butzina de Kardinuta in Mocha Stimaa [the concealed brain], and also why it is regarded as the root of the Gevurot. The matter is that it was explained above (page 1297, the passage beginning “Sitra”) that two discernments of screens are found in Atik, which are the discernment of Malchuts: one is from restriction one, and the other is from restriction two — the one from restriction one does not serve with it openly for the sake of the Partzufim of Atzilut, but rather is within it in concealment, as the ARI wrote above (page 1305, items 23-24) in the secret of the Malchut concealed in the Rosh of Atik, which is not revealed except in the time to come, in the secret of “the stone the builders despised has become the cornerstone.” Study it there well. And it is found that it does not serve with it throughout the six thousand years, and therefore there is no discernment of Malchut in ZAT of Atik and in ZAT of AA, but rather the discernment of the Atara of Yesod is their Malchut. See there. For the Atara of Yesod is the discernment of Malchut of restriction two, drawn from the discernment of the point of the Chazeh of ZA of Nekudim, on account of which the Chazeh and below, beneath the Parsa of Atzilut, went out to BYA, as explained in the previous part. And you find that the whole discernment of Malchut that Atik and AA serve with in Atzilut is only the Malchut of restriction two, called Atara of Yesod. But the Malchut that served in the Partzufim of AK before restriction two, which had not yet been sweetened with the quality of mercy of the first Hey, is not revealed in the whole world of Atzilut, but is hidden in Radla [the unknown head], in the secret of the cornerstone.
And this concealment means that it does not come in the discernment of the screen for coupling, and nevertheless it is found in the discernment of illumination. And this discernment is clarified between the two lines of right and left, and the middle line; for there is no discernment of coupling except in the middle line, since the middle line means coupling, where the discernment of the screen and coarseness are, through which, by the coupling with the upper light, it raises reflected light and decides between the two lines, and the essential level is in the middle line, as explained. But the reflected light draws out illumination also from the extremities, and this illumination does not come into the reckoning of the essential Partzuf, as explained in the previous parts.
And therefore it is regarded that in the Gevura of Atik is found the power of the restriction and diminution of the Malchut of restriction one, which is not sweetened with the quality of mercy. For this screen is found in the Malchut of the Rosh of Atik, and its action is not discernible in the Rosh of Atik at all, since it is there from below upward, and the power of coarseness cannot rise above the place of its existence. Rather, the whole power of this Malchut appears from above downward in the Guf [body] of Atik, namely in the left line alone, which begins from the Gevura of Atik, for there it is regarded as concealed, and not in the middle line of Atik, where it would serve in coupling with the upper light — for then it would be revealed in Atzilut, as explained. And this is what the ARI writes: “The plain Butzina de Kardinuta is this Gevura of Atik, hidden in this Mocha, and it is the root of all the Gevurot” — meaning, as explained, that it is the Malchut of the quality of judgment, that is, not sweetened with the quality of mercy of the first Hey, being from restriction one; and its place is only in the Malchut of the Rosh of Radla alone, and its discernment from above downward does not come in the middle line to be revealed in the discernment of coupling, but is in concealment — namely, that it stands in the left line, which begins in the Gevura of Atik. Thus it is the root of all the Gevurot, for the Malchut of restriction one is so called, since all the restrictions that come after it are drawn from it. And the place of its standing is in the Gevura of Atik that is clothed in Mocha Stimaa, and not in the middle line, which is the Tifferet of Atik. And therefore it is regarded as concealed. Understand this. And you should know that on this account the second correction is called by the name Tal deVedolcha [the dew of crystal], which is Mocha Stimaa corrected to clothe the Gevura of Atik, where the Malchut of restriction one is. And therefore in this Mocha Stimaa are found two Malchuts together: one by the power of its clothing the Gevura of Atik, and the second is the Malchut of restriction two, which it itself serves with. And they are two colors, very distinct from one another, and this is the secret of “like the appearance of crystal,” meaning that distinct colors are seen in it. Understand this. And therefore it is called Tal deVedolcha, that is, on account of the crystal alluded to in the manna in the wilderness, of which it is said there, “and its appearance was like the appearance of crystal.”
And this is what it says: “The Butzina de Kardinuta, which is the Gevura of Atik, is the root of all the Gevurot, and with its power the thought is able to clarify clarifications, for all the clarifications are the discernments of Gevurot, and therefore they are clarified through that Butzina de Kardinuta.” The explanation: for all the clarifications are from the discernment of ZAT of Nekudim, which broke and fell to BYA, and it is known that they are all from the discernment of the Malchut of restriction one, for only the GAR were corrected there in the correction of lines, which is the discernment of the Malchut of restriction two; but the ZAT were there in one line, one beneath the other, like the Partzufim of AK, as explained there at length. Therefore Butzina de Kardinuta, which is likewise the discernment of the Malchut of restriction one, must intermix in their clarification. And this is the secret of the striking that is found in Mocha Stimaa in the discernment of Butzina de Kardinuta.