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Chapter 9
But in relation to the Holy One, blessed be He, the level of wisdom, which is the start of thought and its beginning, is the end of action with Him. That is, it is considered as though it were the aspect and the level of action in relation to the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is written, “With wisdom You made all of them” (Psalms 104:24). And this is to say: as is the relation of the life force that is in bodily and physical action to the relation of the life force of wisdom, which is the beginning and the source of the life force in a person and in all physical creatures, for the life force of action is as nothing beside the life force that is in the letters of speech, which is as nothing beside the life force that is in the letters of thought, which is as nothing beside the life force and the excellence of the attributes from which this thought was drawn, which is as nothing beside the life force and the excellence and the level of wisdom, understanding, and knowledge, the source of the attributes, so, truly, is the relation of the level and the excellence of wisdom, which is the beginning and the source of the life force in all the worlds, in relation to the Holy One, blessed be He, in His glory and in His very self, who is exalted and lifted up myriads of myriads of levels of exaltation, more than the exaltation of the level of wisdom over the aspect of the life force that is in action, which is an exaltation of five levels only, and they are the levels of the aspect of action and speech and thought and attributes and intellect.
But the Holy One, blessed be He, is high and lifted up above the level of wisdom by myriads of levels like these, without end. Only, because the created beings have no power to grasp anything but the chain of descent from the level of wisdom, which is their beginning, to the low level of action, therefore we say that in relation to the Holy One, blessed be He, the level of wisdom is considered truly as the level of action. That is to say, that He is high and lifted up and elevated, a very, very great elevation, above the level of wisdom, and it is not applicable at all to ascribe to Him any matter that is ascribed to wisdom, even by way of excellence and a great elevation, for example to say of Him that it is impossible for any created being, of the upper ones and the lower ones, to grasp His wisdom or His essence. For the matter of grasping applies and pertains to a thing of wisdom and intellect, so as to say that it is possible to grasp it, or that it is impossible to grasp it because of the depth of the thing grasped. But the Holy One, blessed be He, who is above intellect and wisdom, it is not applicable at all to say of Him that it is impossible to grasp Him because of the depth of the thing grasped, for He is not in the aspect of grasping at all. And one who says of Him that it is impossible to grasp Him is like one who says of some high and deep wisdom that it is impossible to touch it with the hands because of the depth of the thing grasped, so that everyone who hears will laugh at him, because the sense of touch applies and pertains only to physical action that is grasped in the hands.
And exactly so, the level of the intellect and of grasping is considered, in relation to the Holy One, blessed be He, as truly physical action. And even the grasping of intellects that are in the upper worlds, and even the level of upper wisdom that gives life to them all, as it is written, “With wisdom You made all of them” (there). And that the Holy One, blessed be He, is called “wise” in Scripture, and that our sages, of blessed memory, also designated for Him the level and the excellence of wisdom, is because He is the source of wisdom, for from Him, blessed be He, the essence of the level of upper wisdom in the world of Emanation is drawn and emanated. And likewise “Merciful” and “Kind,” by reason that He is the source of the mercies and the kindnesses, and likewise the rest of the attributes, for all of them were drawn and emanated from Him, blessed be He. And the way and the matter of the drawing down and the emanation, how and what, is known to those who understand.
[Gloss: The mystery of the tzimtzum (a contraction of light) in the light of Ein Sof (the Endless), blessed is He, and the tzimtzum of Adam Kadmon, and the mystery of the dikna, for the mystery of all the contractions is to contract the light so that it be clothed in the aspect of vessels of the ten sefirot (divine channels). Now, after the light of Ein Sof has been clothed in the aspect of the vessels of wisdom, understanding, and knowledge, then it is applicable to say what Maimonides wrote, “He is the knower, and He is the knowledge, and He is the known, and by knowledge of His very self,” and so on, because the aspect of the vessels of Emanation become a soul and a life force for Creation, Formation, and Action, and for all that is in them. But without the tzimtzum and the clothing mentioned above, it is not applicable at all to say, “He is the knower and He is the knowledge,” and so on, for He is not in the aspect and the definition of knowing and knowledge at all, God spare us. Rather He is higher and higher, a great elevation without end, even above the aspect and the definition of wisdom, until the aspect of wisdom is considered beside Him, blessed be He, as the aspect of physical action.]
Now, we have no dealings with the hidden things. But the revealed things are for us, to believe with a complete faith that He and His limbs are one. That is, the attributes of the Holy One, blessed be He, and His will and His wisdom and His understanding and His knowledge, with His essence and His very self, who alone is exalted in an exaltation without end above the aspect of wisdom and intellect and grasping. And therefore His unity also, in which He unites with His attributes that He emanated from Himself, blessed be He, is likewise not in the aspect of grasping, so as to grasp how He unites in them. And therefore the attributes of the Holy One, blessed be He, which are the sefirot, are called in the holy Zohar “the mystery of faith,” which is the faith that is above the intellect.
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