והנה כל זה הוא רק על דרך משל לבד

Now all this — the above-mentioned effect of the emotive traits upon the resultant teaching or influence — is only by way of allegory, and does not provide a completely true picture of the Sefirot as they exist within man’s soul,

כי כל זה הוא בנפש השכלית, התחתונה שבאדם, הבאה מקליפת נוגה

for all this applies to the rational soul, which is the lower one in man, and derives from kelipat nogah.

This “lower soul” naturally inclines to “lower” (i.e., corporeal) matters, so that even its intellect goes only as far as understanding the composition and so on, of mundane things. For although the kelipah which is the source of this soul is kelipat nogah, a kelipah whose darkness is relieved by a ray of good, nevertheless it is wholly bound up with mundanity.

אך באמת לאמיתו, בנפש העליונה האלקית, שהיא חלק אלוה ממעל

But in true fact, with regard to [the Sefirot in] the higher, divine soul, which is a “part of G‑d above,”51

כל המדות פנימיות וחיצוניות הן לה׳ לבדו

all the internal and external attributes are [directed] to G‑d alone: the divine soul is concerned with spiritual things alone, so that both its (internal) love and (external) Chesed are concentrated purely on G‑dliness.

כי מחמת אהבת ה׳, ומרוב חפצו לדבקה בו

For because of one’s love of G‑d and because of one’s great desire to cleave unto Him,

הוא חפץ חסד, כדי לידבק במדותיו

he desires with all his being [to practice] Chesed, in order to cleave to His attributes.

כמאמר רז״ל על פסוק, ולדבקה בו: הדבק במדותיו

This accords with the teaching of our Sages, of blessed memory, on the verse,52 “And to cleave unto Him”: “Cleave unto His attributes.”53

Just as G‑d is compassionate so should mortal man be compassionate; just as G‑d has an innate desire to practice kindness, so should a person’s inner desire to practice kindness be motivated by a desire to cleave to G‑d.

As to the attribute of Chesed, then, both its internal aspect (love) and its external aspect (kindness) are directed purely to G‑dly things.

וכן במדת הגבורה

It is likewise with the attribute of Gevurah, whose internal aspect is fear; it, too, is experienced only for G‑dly causes:

להפרע מן הרשעים, ולענשם בעונשי התורה

for example, to punish and chastise the wicked with the punishments of the Torah;

וכן להתגבר על יצרו, ולקדש את עצמו במותר לו

and also, to prevail over one’s [evil] inclination and to54 “Sanctify himself in that which is permitted to him,”

ולעשות גדר וסייג לתורה

and to55 put up a fence and a hedge around the Torah,

מפני פחד ה׳ ויראתו, פן יבוא לידי חטא, חס ושלום

because of the dread and fear of G‑d, lest he might come to sin, heaven forfend.

In order to ensure that he will not come to sin, a person may thus choose to sanctify himself and refrain from56 “one hundred portals of the permissible, so as not to transgress in one portal of the prohibited.”

To summarize the above conclusions regarding the first two of the seven middot, or spiritual emotions: Not only is a man’s attribute of Chesed directed to G‑dly matters, but so too is his attribute of Gevurah — both in its internal aspect, viz., the fear of G‑d, and in its external manifestations in his rigorous observance of the Torah and its mitzvot.