51. “And remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near when you will say, ‘I have no delight in them,’” when the moon, Malchut, wanes, evil rules, and her days are days that are undesirable.
“Before the sun and the light, the moon and the stars are darkened, and clouds return after the rain.” The sun is the river that comes out of Eden, Yesod, as it is written, “And a river came out of Eden.” It is written about it at the time of exile, “And the river will be parched and dry,” as it does not bestow upon the Malchut. Also, the light is the light that the Creator created and in which He was cloaked. It is His right, the light of Hesed, as it is written, “He turned his right backward.”
52. And the moon is the sea, Malchut, which is filled by that river, Yesod, as it is written, “The waters from the sea will dry up, and the river will be parched and dry.” And the stars are those twelve signs that are known to her, the twelve phases in Malchut, which receive from the twelve phases in ZA, HB TM, in each of which are three lines, and in which the clouds are the ministers of the nations of the world. After the rain, after the weeping of the ministering angels, as it is written, “Angels of peace cry bitterly.”
53. “In the day that the watchmen of the house tremble, and mighty men stoop, the grinding ones stand idle for they are few, and those who look through windows grow dim.” “The watchmen of the house” are the angels that guard the walls, as it is written, “On your walls, Jerusalem, I have set up guards.” The mighty men are as it is written, “Sixty mighty men around it.” These are the angels that extend from HGT NHY in Gevura, in each of which are ten, and they are sixty mighty men.
“The grinding ones stand idle” refers to the angels who eat the offerings. “For they are few” means that they diminished the wings of the animals. “And those who look through windows grow dim” are the eyes of the Creator, which roam through the whole earth; they are the seven eyes of the Creator, HGT NHY of illumination of Hochma, which are called “eyes.”
54. “And the doors on the street are shut” are the upper gates, all of which are shut, except for the gates of tears, which were not shut. “As the sound of the grinding mill is low” is David’s tabernacle, Malchut, which fell and was lowered to the dust. Her voice, where she would always sing the song of love, was lowered. “And all the daughters of song will sing softly,” meaning the angels who take turns in their watch over the song. Some of them sing at daytime, and some of them sing at night.
55. “They fear a high place, too,” as it is written, “For one higher than high watches,” watches one from the other and receiving from one another in pleasantness and holiness. At the ruin of the Temple, a curse came forth, and a strong judgment is before him. For this reason the high one fears the high one and His judgment.
56. “And terrors on the road.” It is written, “Who makes a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters.” In that way the dew would come down from the head of the Creator, and every joy and bounty and good will would come by the same way. At the ruin of the Temple, shred over shred was piling up, and every fret, fear, and power of judgment was on that way.
57. And the almond budded,” as it is written, “And the Lord kept the calamity in store” [Shaked (almond) and Yishkod keeping/delving) are spelt similarly]. It is also written, “I see a rod of an almond tree,” which means observing the performance of the judgment. The growth of an almond is twenty-one days. Also, from the seventeenth of Tamuz to the ninth of Av it is twenty-one days. And from the day when the almond flower buds, it does not bear fruit until the twenty-first day.
58. “The grasshopper drags itself,” placing the suffering on the shoulder of the house of David—that they will go out to exile. “And the poor woman shall fail” is the work of the Temple below. People cry out but they are not answered, since a man goes to his everlasting abode, meaning that the glory, Malchut, departs upward, and they cry out but there is none to watch over them because he has departed to his everlasting abode—the place from which he had come out. This is why there are curse, evil, death, and bad events in the world, and they mourn and cry out each day, as it is written, “For death has come out through our window.”
59. “Before the silver thread is broken” is a thread of Hesed extending from above downward. “And the golden bowl is crushed” is the illumination of Hochma that descends by that thread and clothes in Hesed. The cord’s breaking means that the Hesed has been cancelled. The falling of the bowl means illumination of Hochma that cannot shine without clothing in Hesed. “And the pitcher is broken at the fountain,” meaning the Torah is forgotten in exile, the one who draws out, Minister Yofiel, does not draw from the fountain of Torah, and people are perplexed in it.
60. “And the wheel falls shattered into the pit.” This means that the sabotaging angel has been given permission to sabotage them each day. “And the dust shall return to the earth as it was,” meaning that all the souls will end, and the world will end, and the dust, from which everything was made, will return to being as before, and the world will be ruined as it was. “And the spirit shall return to the God, who gave it,” meaning that the world will be renewed as before. It is written about that time, “And many of they who sleep in the dust shall awaken.”