The Order of Cause and Consequence

Now we shall explain the actions that took place in the world of Nekudim, by way of the emergence of the seven kings and their breaking, up to the ascent of MAN to the new MA, by way of cause and consequence, meaning how each action follows necessarily from the action preceding it, in all its conditions, as an absolute necessity.

The order of cause and consequence has already been explained for the actions that came about in the worlds from the first restriction, up to the emergence of AVI of Nekudim in the state of Katnut, meaning in the state of back-to-back. Above (Part 6, Inner Observation), we also began to speak there of the coupling of Gadlut of AVI (Item 31). Indeed, according to the knowledge we have gained in this present part, it is fitting to repeat the matters and to begin here with the coupling of Gadlut of AVI, for from this coupling emerged the seven kings of Nekudim.

1. It has already been explained well in Part 6 that there were two upper couplings for the purpose of Nekudim: one for Katnut, and one for Gadlut (as it is written in the words of the ARI, Item 14 and Item 16). See there in Item 16, and you will see that the ARI divides there and says that “The light that was at first below and rose upward, etc., brought out from them branches outward through the Einayim, and these are the Nekudim that expanded outside of AK, from the Tabur to the end of the Raglayim, and this is their main part.” Meaning, the Nekudot of SAG that were at first below the Tabur of AK and rose up, a coupling was made on them in the Rosh of SAG, and the branches of this coupling descended as the ten Sefirot of Nekudim through the Nikvey Einayim, from which the GAR of Nekudim emerged, and AVI were corrected only back-to-back, as explained above in the Inner Light (Inner Light, Item 23). From that state, AVI still cannot bring forth offspring, for it suffices only to sustain themselves, and in order to bring forth offspring, they need additional Mochin, through the upper coupling of AB SAG, as he continues in the aforesaid Item 16, saying, “However, that new light, too, that descended in its interior and split the Parsa, etc., and shines in these Nekudim through the Tabur and the Yesod.” This new light was born through the ascent of MAN from the lights below the Tabur of AK itself, as it is written there in Item 15, that the lights below the Tabur of AK, which are called NHY of AK, rose as MAN to the upper AB SAG, and through this coupling they engendered a new light, and this new light descended and split the Parsa, etc., meaning that it canceled the boundary of the Parsa once again, which took out the AHP of all the degrees outward. Now, through the illumination of the coupling of AB SAG, the AHP of all the degrees returned to their degree as in the beginning.

He says that this new light shone to Nekudim through two places: through the Tabur and through the Yesod. Know that these two illuminations performed two distinct actions. This is because the illumination that emerged through the Tabur reached only the Keter of Nekudim, which clothes the place of the Tabur of AK, where because of its illumination, the boundary of the Parsa, too, was canceled, namely the Parsa that separates between Keter and AVI and brings them out of the phase of the Rosh of the Keter. Now the Parsa was split, and AVI returned to one Rosh with the Keter, and thereby gained the GAR and their phases of anterior. However, the illumination that emerged through the Yesod of AK reached AVI of Nekudim, which is with respect to which this new light had already clothed in the NHY of AK itself. Therefore, its illumination emerged to AVI in the phase of MAN as Shuruk, which is a Vav and a dot, and AVI made a coupling on these MAN face-to-face and engendered the ZAT of Nekudim­, as the ARI says (Item 31).

2. You find that four actions needed to take place in order to bring AVI to the coupling face-to-face, which is fit to emanate the six kings of Nekudim. They are: (1) the ascent of MAN of NHY of AK to the upper AB and SAG, which causes their coupling together (as it is written in Inner Observation, Item 4). (2) The coupling of AB and SAG, which brought out a new light that breached the Parsa, restoring the outer AHP of all the degrees to their degree as in the beginning. (3) The descent of this new light below the Tabur of AK, and its emergence through the Tabur to Keter of Nekudim, which restores AVI to the Rosh, and they acquire GAR. This still does not help for the coupling face-to-face since Ima does not turn her anterior back to Abba without a cause that obligates her to the matter, because Ima craves Hassadim from her root and rejects Hochma. Rather, AVI came into the state of face-to-back. (4) The emergence of the illumination through the Yesod of AK, in the phase of MAN, to AVI. These MAN caused Ima to cease her posterior that was on the Hochma, and to copulate with him face-to-face, so she could receive illumination of Hochma for the MAN she received from the Yesod of AK, which is the phase of the seminal drop of the seven kings of Nekudim.

3. Then AVI made a coupling on the MAN they received from Yesod of AK, and elicited five Hassadim and five Gevurot on the level of Keter, which means the phases of ZON that have illumination of Hochma of Keter. The measure of these Mochin has already been explained well in the Inner Light above (Inner Light, Item 41). This level is regarded as the Rosh of AVI, as the phase of the looking of the Einayim of AVI at one another. Although all of AVI are the phase of Rosh, even the phase of the Yesodot in them, still, since it is the level of Keter of AVI, it is called the Rosh of AVI, while the level of Hochma and Bina is called the Guf of AVI, and the level of ZA is called the Yesodot of AVI. But all of them are the phase of Rosh, meaning the phase of clothing from below upward, called Rosh. However, the clothing that expanded from above downward, which descended from the aforesaid level, and is the true Guf, is named after the seven kings, and not after AVI. The expansion from above downward, from the first level mentioned above, which is called the Rosh of AVI, expanded in the king of Daat of Nekudim, which is the Guf of this level.

Before the light finished expanding in it, the vessel broke and fell to BYA: its GAR to Beria, its VAK to Yetzira, and its Malchut to Assiya. Yet, it did not fall entirely to the bottom of BYA, but only to the bottom of GAR of BYA, meaning to Daat of BYA. Then the coupling ceased also from the Rosh of AVI, for this whole coupling was only for the MAN, which are ZON, and not for themselves. Hence, since the first vessel of ZON died, the coupling pertaining to that vessel ceased, and the records of that level of Keter of AVI fell from AVI to the Guf, meaning to ZAT of Nekudim, and they are called the posterior of AVI, which fell in the place of the king of Daat. The record of the king of Daat itself fell to Malchut of Atzilut, and shines to its vessel from afar, as tags on the letters, for it cannot clothe in the vessel as it usually does, since it cannot descend after it to Beria and separate from its root, for it would lose its merit.

After the coupling of the looking of the Einayim of AVI was canceled, the bottom Hey rose to the Hotem, and the degree of the coupling descended to the phase of the Guf of Abba, meaning the level that emerges on the screen of phase three, which is the level of Hochma. Its Guf, from above downward, expanded in the king of Hesed. When the light struck the dross in the vessel, the light departed from it, and the vessel broke and fell to Bina of BYA, and the level of Abba descended to the phase of Guf in the place of Hesed, meaning to the phase of its Guf. The record of Hesed descended to the place of Yesod of Atzilut, for Malchut was already seized by the record of Daat. Similarly, after the cancelation of the coupling of the level of Abba, the bottom Hey rose to the Ozen, and the coupling descended to the level of Bina in the Rosh, and in the Guf, it expanded in the king of Gevura. It, too, broke and fell to BYA, to the place of Hochma of BYA, and the level of Bina of the Rosh of AVI descended to the place of its Guf, meaning to the place of the king of Gevura. The record of the king of Gevura descended to the place of NH of Atzilut, for the place of Yesod was seized by the record of the king of Hesed. Similarly, after the cancelation of the coupling of the level of Ima, the bottom Hey rose back to the Einayim, and the level of ZA emerged in AVI, called the phase of Yesodot of AVI. From above downward, it expanded in the king of Tifferet, in its upper third. When it broke, the vessel descended below the Chazeh, meaning to the phase of the two lower thirds of Tifferet, and the level of the Rosh descended to the place of its Guf, meaning to the upper third of the king of Tifferet, the whole coupling of AVI was canceled, and the falls of all their posteriors were completed, meaning all four levels that emerged in AVI as said above, which were canceled because of the breaking of the vessels of their four Gufim, each level falling to the place where its Guf had been. And the record of this king of Tifferet remained in its place, for it had no place to descend, since Netzah and Hod was seized by the record of the king of Gevura, as said above.

And since the whole screen was refined and rose to its root, to the Peh of AVI, and was incorporated there in the coupling back-to-back that remained in AVI (as said above, Inner Observation, Item 22), which is the first state of the second, new Rosh, called YESHSUT of Nekudim, this illumination of the back-to-back of AVI descended and corrected the posteriors that had fallen in the place of DHGT in the correction of lines until they became new corrected vessels: Daat and Tifferet in the middle line, Hesed on the right, and Gevura on the left. Then the records of the four kings DHGT rose and clothed in those vessels, which were made from the posterior of AVI, by which their own vessels in BYA fell to the lowest level there, meaning to the place of NHYM of BYA (as said above, Inner Observation, Item 25).

4. Here you find twelve actions in each and every one of the four aforesaid kings DHGT: 1) the coupling on the screen, which measures the level, meaning according to the place of the bottom Hey, whether in the Peh, in the Hotem, in the Ozen, or in the Einayim. 2) The coupling of AVI face-to-face, in which Ima receives illumination of Hochma for ZON, meaning the five Hassadim and five Gevurot. 3) The level from below upward that emerges from the coupling of AVI, which is the phase of AVI. 4) The level that expands from above downward, which is the phase of Guf, called king. 5) The departure of the light to its root due to the mixture of dross in the vessel. 6) The fall of the vessel to the bottom of GAR of BYA. 7) The remaining of the record from the light that departed. 8) The descent of the record to the bottom of Atzilut, to draw near to its vessel and illuminate it as tags on the letters. 9) The fall of the posterior of AVI, meaning the cancelation of the coupling of the Rosh pertaining to the vessel that broke, whose records are called the posterior of AVI, which fall to the place where the vessel had been. 10) The correction of lines made in the posterior of Ima, by the illumination back-to-back of AVI, whereby it is corrected into a new vessel instead of its vessel of Guf that broke. 11) The ascent of the record from the bottom of Atzilut and its clothing in the new vessel that was established in the place of its vessel, from the posterior of AVI. 12) The second descent of the vessel to the bottom of BYA entirely, due to the distancing of the record from it. These twelve actions apply in each and every one of the four kings Daat, Hesed, Gevura, and the upper third of Tifferet.

5. Now the couplings of AVI have been explained, and the four levels of Rosh and Guf that emerged in them. Fifty-two actions were made in them: Four actions were made in order to bring AVI to the state of face-to-face fit to bring out the seven kings (as said above, Item 2), and twelve actions were made in each and every one of the four kings. Thus, four times twelve is forty-eight, and with the four of AVI, it is fifty-two.

Now we shall explain the second Rosh of Nekudim, called YESHSUT, in its four couplings, which brought out four levels Rosh and Guf. In YESHSUT, too, four actions preceded until they came to a coupling face-to-face fit to bring out the lower kings of Atzilut: 1) the ascent of the screen to the Emanator, to be incorporated in AVI, which is its refinement from every phase of coarseness of the Guf that was in it, until it equalized with the screen of AVI. The records of the four kings DHGT are included in it. (A side note by the author: The records DHGT from the state of posterior in AVI are from the refined light, direct light, but the records included in the screen that rose to the Peh of AVI are from the coarse light of the records that are fit to be renewed through a coupling by striking as reflected light.) This detracts nothing from the records DHGT that descended to NHYM of Atzilut, as it is known that there is no absence in the spiritual. 2) The incorporation of the screen and the records in it in the coupling back-to-back of AVI, whereby their coarseness was renewed. 3) The incorporation of the screen and the records in the face-to-back of AVI, which is the measure of the level that emerges on the coarseness that renewed in the records. 4) They became MAN (A side note by the author: The awakening of the coarseness of NHY of AK included in that screen) for the coupling face-to-face, as it is written above (Inner Observation, Item 23).

6. Since the last phase was lost, nothing remained but phase three of clothing and phase two of coarseness. The coupling that was made on these records elicited the coupling of the looking of the Einayim of YESHSUT at one another, whose level is close to the level of Hochma, meaning the five Hassadim and five Gevurot that have illumination of Hochma of the level of Hochma, as said above (Inner Light, Item 41). This level is regarded as the Rosh of YESHSUT, meaning their Keter, for Keter is called Rosh. At first, this level emerged in the place of AVI, and after the coarseness of the Guf in it became recognized, it descended to its place in the Guf, meaning in the Chazeh of Nekudim. From the Chazeh of Nekudim upward, the Rosh of YESHSUT emerged, in that same quantity and measure of level that emerged in the incorporation of AVI. From the Chazeh downward, meaning in the two lower thirds of Tifferet, their Guf expanded. When the light struck the dross in the vessel, it departed at once to its root, and the vessel broke and fell to Keter of Beria, meaning to its corresponding phase, for at the time of its reign, the phase of the Keter of YESHSUT expanded in it. It did not fall to ZAT of BYA since its breaking was not hard (Inner Light, Item 61, and Inner Observation, Item 30). The record of the vessel rose to the new vessel of Tifferet from the Chazeh upward, which was made from the posterior of AVI, and the posterior of the looking of the Einayim of YESHSUT, which were canceled, fell to the place of their Guf, which is the place where the two lower thirds of the vessel of Tifferet had been.

After the coupling of the looking of the Einayim was canceled, the coupling was made on the coarseness of phase two that still remained in the screen, and the coupling descended to the phase of the Guf of YESHSUT, meaning to the level of Bina, which is called Guf relative to the level of the looking of the Einayim that was in it earlier. But in itself, it is a complete Rosh, meaning the phase of clothing from below upward. Its Guf, which is clothing from above downward, expanded to the vessel of Netzah and Hod, and when the light departed and the vessel broke, it fell to Tifferet of BYA, meaning to the bottom of the degree, for it could not fall further since the place of NH of BYA was occupied by the vessel of Gevura. The record that remained from the light that departed rose to a new vessel of Gevura that was made from the posterior of AVI, and the posterior of the level of the Rosh that was canceled, fell to the place of its Guf, meaning to the place of the king of NH.

When the coupling of the level of Bina was canceled, the coupling descended to the phase of Yesodot of YESHSUT, meaning on the level of phase one that remained there. Its Guf expanded to the sixth king, which is the vessel of Yesod. When it broke, it fell to the place of Gevura of BYA, for Tifferet was occupied by the vessel of Netzah Hod. Its record rose to the middle line, above the new Tifferet, which is the vessel of Daat that was made from the posterior of Ima. The posterior descended to the place of the vessel of Yesod, which is its Guf. Afterward, the coupling rose to the phases of the Malchut of YESHSUT, and their Guf expanded to the seventh king, which is the vessel of Malchut. When it broke, it descended to the place of Hesed of BYA, and its record rose to the vessel of Daat, above the record of Yesod that stands there, and the posterior descended to the place of its Guf, which is the place of the vessel of Malchut.

7. Here you find four actions in YESHSUT until they come to the state of face-to-face, as in AVI, but with a difference. This is because those two actions, namely the ascent of MAN of NHY of AK to the upper AB SAG, and the coupling of AB SAG that elicited the new light that breached the Parsa, do not apply in YESHSUT. Instead of them, there are here two other actions, which are the matter of the ascent of the screen and the incorporation in the coupling back-to-back. Here, too, there are four actions, as in AVI, namely the ascent of the screen to AVI, and the incorporation in the coupling back-to-back, in face-to-back, and in face-to-face (as said above in Item 5). Likewise, two actions that apply in the upper kings of AVI are absent here: the first descent of the broken vessels to GAR of BYA, and the descent of the records to NHYM of Atzilut, which do not apply in the lower kings of YESHSUT. This is so because the descent of the records to NHYM does not apply here since the new vessels of the posterior of AVI were already prepared before the breaking of their vessels. Hence, as soon as the vessel broke, the record had a place to clothe in the vessel. And the matter of the first descent to GAR of BYA does not apply here because of the distancing of the records from the vessels immediately at the time of their breaking (Inner Observation, Item 29).

You find that here, in the lower kings of YESHSUT, there are only ten actions in each and every king, which are as explained above in Item 4 regarding AVI, except that the two aforesaid actions are missing, so that here, in the couplings of YESHSUT and their four Gufim, there are forty-four actions: four up to the coupling face-to-face, and forty in the four kings, meaning ten actions in each king. However, below we shall also bring the matter of the descents of the records of TNHYM from the new vessels of the posterior of AVI to the new vessels made from the posterior of YESHSUT. Thus, there are four more additional actions to the aforesaid forty-four, which together are forty-eight actions.

8. Now we shall explain the third coupling that emerged in Nekudim, in the level of ZA, called Daat, which completed the VAK in a correction of lines, as the ARI says above (Inner Light, Item 70), that it drew a vessel for Netzah in the right line, a vessel for Hod in the left line, and also lengthened the vessel of Tifferet from the Chazeh downward in the two lower thirds. (See also Inner Light, Item 64.) These are his words: “The cause of the enlargement of the vessel of Keter because the cause of the light of Daat that clothed in it and enlarged it.” This refers to the coupling of the two crowns in Daat, which he brings afterward in Item 70.

The matter is that after the coupling of YESHSUT descended to their Malchuts, which means that the screen was refined to the root phase, it then came to a further refinement from all the coarseness of the Guf, meaning to equivalence of form with the screen of YESHSUT. It was then discerned that the screen rose and was incorporated in the screen of the Rosh of YESHSUT, and the coarseness on the records included in the screen was renewed, from phase two of clothing and phase one of coarseness. It did not have the capacity to restore YESHSUT to face-to-face, and was therefore incorporated only in the coupling back-to-back of YESHSUT. When the coarseness of the Guf included in the screen and the records became recognized, it emerged from there and descended to the place of the Chazeh of the Guf of YESHSUT, which is in the place of the upper section of Yesod (as said above, Inner Observation, Item 32), and brought out the ten Sefirot of the Rosh from the Yesod upward. It had no expansion to the Guf, since it is in the state of back-to-back, as it is written there in Item 32.

And that which the ARI says above (Inner Light, Item 70), “Through its ascent there, it binds from below upward all the VAK,” etc., for this level of Daat, renewed through the ascent of the records, emerged in the phase of Rosh without a Guf, meaning only in ten Sefirot from below upward. By its illumination, the posterior of YESHSUT that fell there were established in the phase of the correction of lines, when it clothed and filled them with its lights. Then the vessel of Tifferet below the Chazeh grew up to the end Tifferet, from the posterior of the looking of the Einayim of YESHSUT that fell there. Likewise, the vessel of Netzah grew by the posterior of Israel Saba that fell there, likewise, the vessel of Hod grew by the posterior of Tevuna that fell there. But when they fell, there was no correction of lines in them to right, left, middle. Rather, they fell one below the other. Now, through the Rosh of the level of Daat, which shone on them by clothing them, they were corrected in a correction of lines and enlarged the vessels.

After the new vessels Tifferet, Netzah, and Hod emerged in three lines, the records of TNHY descended from the upper vessels, which were made from the posterior of AVI, and came and clothed in the new vessels in their place: The record of the two lower thirds of Tifferet descended and clothed in the new vessel of Tifferet, made from the posterior of YESHSUT, the record of Netzah in the vessel of Netzah in the right line, and the record of Hod in the vessel of Hod in the left line. However, the Rosh of Daat did not reach the vessels of Yesod and Malchut, and therefore, they were not corrected by it (Inner Observation, Item 33).

9. It is fitting to learn in all that has been explained, how all the forces found in the upper one must be found in the lower one. Although the entire Partzuf of Nekudim as a whole is only Partzuf of MA and BON of AK, as said above in the Inner Observation in Part 6, nevertheless, in itself, it comes in three complete Partzufim that clothe one another, like the three preceding Partzufim Galgalta, AB, SAG of AK, each of which is regarded as a son and offspring to its upper one, and clothes it from the Peh downward, and fills the empty vessels of the upper one after the departure of their lights from them. This is because the lower is the phase of the second expansion to its upper one after the lights of the Guf of the upper one have departed. The lower one is always regarded as the filling of the upper one. In this very way, the three Partzufim here were emanated, but with additional differences: First, here they are not regarded as Galgalta, AB, SAG, but only as AB, SAG, and MA, which are only three levels Hochma, Bina, Daat. There is no level of Keter in them since phase four of coarseness was only in the first Partzuf of AK. Second, here, the lower one does not clothe the actual Guf of the upper one like the preceding Partzufim, but only the phase of the expansion of the GAR and Rosh of the upper one, which became here the Guf to the upper one, meaning the posterior of the Rosh that fell and became the phase of Guf. This is because the Rosh of YESHSUT clothes the posterior of AVI that fell in the place of HGT, and likewise, the Rosh of Daat clothes the posterior of YESHSUT that fell in the place of Tifferet, Netzah, and Hod. The reason for this change is simple: Because the Gufim of the upper ones broke and fell to BYA, and the posterior that fell from the Rosh took their place. There are more changes arising from new restrictions, but in general, they proceed by the same ways as in the preceding Partzufim, as well as in the lower Partzufim that will come afterward. The rule is that all the forces found in the upper must be found in all that are below it.

By this you will thoroughly understand the matter of the correction of lines and the new vessels made in the posterior of the upper one that fell to the phase of Guf, for they became the actual phase of Guf of the upper one instead of the former Guf that broke and fell to BYA. This correction of lines reaches it from the second expansion of that upper one, meaning the Rosh of its lower, whose task is to restore the lights that departed from the Guf of the upper one. Hence, the Rosh of YESHSUT restored the lights, to some extent, to the posterior of AVI which it clothes. Likewise, the Rosh of Daat restored the lights, to some extent, to the posterior of YESHSUT, which it clothes. By this, the correction of lines reached them.

10. Now we shall arrange the aforesaid actions according to the order of cause and consequence. We shall begin from actions 12 and 13 brought in the order of cause and consequence in Part 6 (Part 6, Inner Observation, Item 31), meaning from the coupling of Gadlut of AVI of Nekudim. Thereby, the chain of cause and consequence will be joined into one.

Above (Item 2) you find four actions for the preparation of the coupling face-to-face of AVI. The first cause is the ascent of MAN of NHY of AK to the upper AB SAG. This happens due to the refinement of the screen of SAG from all coarseness of the Guf in it, whereupon it rose and was incorporated in the screen of the Rosh of SAG. Since that screen was composed of two kinds of records, the records of the Sefirot of SAG itself and the records of NHY of AK, two kinds of couplings emerged on this screen: one on the records of SAG, which are composed of the bottom Hey, whereby the coupling was made in the Nikvey Einayim, through which the Katnut of Nekudim emerged, up to the state of back-to-back of AVI. On the records of NHY of AK included in the screen, the root of the Gadlut of Nekudim emerged, meaning that these records became MAN to AB SAG, which made a coupling and gave birth to a new light that splits the Parsa, which means that it cancels the new boundary of the second restriction that takes Bina and ZON outside the degree, and it restores them to their degree as in the beginning, as it is written (Inner Observation, Item 3 and Item 4). Thereby, the causes for the first two actions have been explained—that the raising of MAN of NHY of AK to AB SAG is extended from the refinement of the screen of SAG, and the coupling of AB SAG and the birth of the new light is extended from the MAN of NHY of AK.

The third action, which is the emergence of the new light through the mouth of the Tabur, and the fourth action, which is the emergence of the new light through Yesod, are extended from the level of the new light that emerged through the MAN of NHY of AK in the incorporation of the coupling of AB SAG. This is because the phase of expansion from above downward from this coupling descended and breached the Parsa that is above the NHY of AK, and clothed in them. Thus, the GAR of Nekudim that clothe these NHY are receive from it this new light, which restores the AHP to their degree, which emerged through the mouth of the Tabur, where the Keter of Nekudim clothes and lowered the bottom Hey from the Nikvey Einayim of Keter to the place of the encompassing Malchut of the Rosh of Nekudim, and restored AVI to the Rosh and acquired their GAR. This state is called face-to-back since Ima does not turn her face back to Abba without a cause that obligates her to it.

11. And thereby the fourth action, too, is explained: AVI of Nekudim clothe on the Yesod of AK, and therefore receive from it its illumination, which is the Shuruk, meaning a Vav and a dot, which are the seminal drop of ZON. Hence, they became MAN to Ima, causing her to turn her anterior back to Abba, to receive from him illumination of Hochma and bestow upon ZON that she received from Yesod. Thereby, AVI return to face-to-face.

Thus, the face-to-face of AVI is extended from the MAN, and the MAN from the Yesod of AK from the new light in it, and the new light is extended from the coupling of AB SAG, and the coupling of AB SAG is extended from the MAN of NHY of AK, which were drawn and rose to them with their incorporation in the screen of SAG. Thus, the four actions have been explained, how they emerged one from another in necessary cause and consequence. Now we shall explain the twelve actions that take place in each and every one of the four upper kings that emerged from AVI of Nekudim.

These twelve actions are divided into nine and three. The nine first actions, brought above (Item 4), emerge together with the emergence of each and every king until its concealment. But the last three actions in each king come after the completion of the departure of all four kings. The first cause of the twelve actions is the coupling on the coarseness of the screen, meaning according to the place of the bottom Hey, which measures the level. It is extended from the aforesaid third action in the Keter of Nekudim, which lowers the bottom Hey from its Einayim to the place of Malchut of the Rosh, for when it lowers it to the Peh, meaning Malchut, it has the coarseness of phase four of clothing, and elicits the level of Keter. When it lowers it to the Hotem, it elicits the level of Hochma, to the Ozen, it elicits the level of Bina, and to the Einayim, it elicits the level of ZA.

The second cause, which is the reception of illumination of Hochma for ZON, is extended from the MAN that Ima received from Yesod of AK, which is the aforesaid fourth action in Item 7. Since Ima did not return face-to-face with Abba for her own need, but only in order to shine the MAN, which are ZON, therefore, at first, she does not receive from the Hochma of Abba according to herself, but only according to the illumination of Hochma that is suitable for ZON from the perspective of its relation in direct light, fit for it from that level, as said above (Item 9).

12. The third action and the fourth action, namely the level from below upward that emerges in the coupling of AVI, called AVI and Rosh, and the level from above downward, called king or Guf, are extended by the two aforesaid causes in Item 11: The first cause measures the level, and the second cause gives the measure of illumination of Hochma. By the participation of the two causes in the illumination of the coupling, this whole level, both in the Rosh and in the Guf, is discerned as having only five Hassadim and five Gevurot, but in illumination of Hochma, as explained in Item 11.

13. The fifth action and the sixth action, namely the departure of the light from the vessels and their breaking and fall to GAR of BYA, follow from the greatness of the light they received, and from the mixture of dross in the vessels. If the vessels had received the light in completeness, they would have restored BYA to Atzilut, because of the new light that breached the Parsa and clothed in these vessels through the illumination of Hochma they received. Now that this light was not sustained in them, their fall is according to the measure of their greatness, for the vessels themselves separated from their root and went outside of Atzilut, and this is their fall to BYA. Thus, their fall to BYA is extended from the greatness of the light they received from AVI.

Action 7, which is the record, is also extended from the very light they received from AVI, for such is the nature of the lights: They leave a record in the place after they depart from there.

Action 8, which is the descent of the records to the bottom of Atzilut, is extended from the breaking of the vessels and their descent to BYA, for they could not clothe in the vessels in their usual way, and therefore drew near to their vessels as much as possible.

Action 9 likewise follows from the breaking of the vessels, for when the vessel breaks, the screen is canceled from the coarseness in that vessel, and therefore, the upper coupling on the screen is canceled. Also, since this whole coupling stands only for the MAN, which are ZON, to which Ima is bound in order to draw for them illumination of Hochma, and not for her own need, therefore, when the receiver broke, the coupling face-to-face of AVI ceased, as it was before they received the MAN, and the posterior fell each in its own vessel, as said above (Inner Observation, Item 15).

14. These nine aforesaid actions apply, in their quality, in each and every one of the four kings DHGT, and there is no need to detail them in each one. However, there are certain differences among them that need to be mentioned, and here they are: The first difference is in the place of their fall to BYA, that the first king fell to the bottom of GAR, which is in the place of Daat of BYA; the second king fell above it, in Bina of BYA; the third king above it, to the place of Hochma of BYA; and the fourth king above them all, in the place of Keter of BYA. The second difference is in the descent of the records, where each one that is more refined than the other is higher than the other, like the vessels in BYA: The record of the first king fell to Malchut of Atzilut, above it, the record of the second king, in Yesod of Atzilut, above it, the record of the third king, in NH of Atzilut, and above them all, the record of the fourth king, in the place of its own vessel, in Tifferet of Atzilut.

Also, the emergence of the four kings cause to each other: The breaking of the vessels of the king of Daat caused the cancelation of the screen of phase four. Since phase four was canceled, the upper light is makes a coupling on the coarseness that remains in the screen, which is phase three, clothing in the king of Hesed. And the breaking of the vessels of the king of Hesed caused the cancelation of the screen of phase three, and the coupling of the upper light on the coarseness that remains in the screen, which is phase two, clothing in the king of Gevura. And the breaking of the vessels of the king of Gevura caused the cancelation of the screen of phase two, and the coupling of the upper light on the coarseness of phase one that remains in the screen, clothing in the king of Tifferet in its upper third. Thus, the four kings are caused one from another in complete necessity, and also each one in the nine aforesaid actions.

15. Now we shall explain the last three actions that apply in the upper kings, which come after the breaking of all those kings. After the refinement of the screen from all the coarseness of the Guf in it, when it rises and incorporates in the coupling of the Rosh, which elicits there a new level of YESHSUT, and brings illumination also to the posterior of Ima, which correct themselves in a correction of lines, and four new vessels DHGT are made from them in the order of lines (as said above, Inner Observation, Item 22). And this is action 10, that new vessels were prepared from the posterior of AVI for the records of each and every king. And from this follows action 11, that the record of each king rises and clothes in its vessel: The record of Daat in the middle line above Tifferet, the record of Hesed in the new vessel of Hesed, the record of Gevura in a new vessel of Gevura, and the record of Tifferet in the new vessel of Tifferet up to its upper third. From this follows action 12, which is the descent of the vessels to the bottom of BYA entirely, for after the records, which rose and clothed in the new vessels, distanced themselves from them, their illumination ceased from the vessels and they cannot hold themselves in GAR of BYA, and fall to ZAT of BYA.

Thus, these three actions follow one from another, and the principal cause is the emergence of the new Rosh of YESHSUT, which is extended from the refinement of the screen, and the refinement of the screen follows from the breaking of the vessels, etc., as said above.

16. Now we shall explain the last kings, which are TNHYM. You already know that there are four actions in YESHSUT until they came to the coupling face-to-face, and eleven actions in the order of the emergence of the four kings themselves, up to their end. From the refinement of the screen from all its coarseness, after the breaking of the vessels of the first kings, follows the ascent of the screen and the records in it, to be incorporated in the coupling back-to-back of AVI. This is action 1. Since the coarseness of phase three of clothing and phase two of coarseness returned on it, through its incorporation in the coupling back-to-back, it lowered the bottom Hey to this coarseness once again, meaning to phase three and phase two in partnership. This is action 2, which is the state of AVI face-to-back, in a level of phase three. Since those records are phases of ZON, they became MAN to Ima, who turned her face to Abba for them, and they come to the state of face-to-face. Thus, the refinement of the screen causes the incorporation of the records of phase three and phase two in the three states one after the other: in back-to-back, face-to-back, and face-to-face, together with their incorporation in AVI. Back-to-back causes face-to-back, for the coupling back-to-back renews the records in their coarseness, and when the renewal of the coarseness is completed, they are regarded as face-to-back, for they acquire the measure of the level, in that Abba thereby acquires his GAR and turns his face to shine to Ima. Then Ima awakens for the MAN in her to turn her face to Abba, too. Thus, the state of face-to-back causes the state of face-to-face.

17. The eleven actions in the kings are in the same order in which they emerged from one another like the twelve actions in the first kings, except that there are certain changes among them, and here they are: Their first cause, which is the measure of the level, is extended from the aforesaid third action, which is the coupling face-to-back, meaning according to the coarseness in the screen. The second cause, which is the reception of illumination of Hochma for ZON, is extended from the coupling face-to-face (as said above, Item 11). The third action, which is the level from below upward, and the fourth action, which is the level from above downward, called king, are extended from the two aforesaid causes: The first measures the level, and the second bestows the measure of illumination of Hochma. From here, meaning from the clothing of the light in the vessels, three actions follow, which are 5, 6, and 7. Action 5, which is the departure of the light, follows in that the light cannot not clothe in the vessel when it struck the dross that are mixed in it. Therefore, when it strikes the dross, it promptly departed to its root. Likewise, action 6, which is their fall to BYA, is also extended from the light that began to clothe in it, for at first, it shone to the vessel in BYA and joined them by force of the light in it to Atzilut (Item 13). Accordingly, after the light departed from the vessel, the second restriction returned on it and the vessel remained separated in BYA. Action 7, which is the records, are essentially the part that remained from the light that clothed in the vessel. Thus, these three actions are extended from the clothing of the light itself.

The eighth action, which is the ascent of the records to their vessels, is extended from the breaking of the vessels themselves. Since there were already corrected vessels from the posterior of AVI in the state of lines, they rose and clothed in them. The descent of the posterior of YESHSUT to the phase of Guf is also extended from the breaking of the vessels, for the upper coupling was canceled for lack of receivers, and the records of the Rosh fell to the Guf. The two last actions, which are the correction of lines in the posterior of YESHSUT, whereby the three vessels below the Tabur were corrected, namely the two lower thirds of Tifferet, and Netzah and Hod, and action 11, which is the descent of the records from the vessels of the posterior of AVI to their own new vessels, are both extended from the Rosh of Daat that emerged after the refinement of the screen of the last kings.

From the refinement of the screen of the Guf of YESHSUT, which returned to its root to the screen of YESHSUT, a new coupling emerged on the screen of phase one of coarseness in the level of ZA back-to-back, in incorporation in YESHSUT. When the coarseness of the Guf in it became recognized, it descended from there to its place in the Chazeh of the general Guf of YESHSUT, and the ten Sefirot of the Rosh emerged from the Chazeh upward, which is from the upper section of Yesod upward, up to the place of the Chazeh of the Guf of AVI, where the Peh of YESHSUT is. It bound the posteriors of YESHSUT that fell there in the bond of the correction of lines, and by this they became new vessels in the place of the Guf of YESHSUT, meaning the two lower thirds of Tifferet in the middle line, the vessel of Netzah on the right, and the vessel of Hod on the left. Then the aforesaid action 11 was made—that the records of the last kings, which were clothed in the new vessels of AVI, returned to the new vessels of YESHSUT that were made in their place: the record of Tifferet and Yesod and Malchut to the middle line, which is the Tifferet that grew, the record of Netzah to the right line, to the vessel of Netzah, and the record of Hod to the left line, to the vessel of Hod.