Concluding the previous chapter, the Alter Rebbe explained that since G‑d is infinitely exalted above intellect, intellectual means are inadequate to grasp His absolute union with the Sefirot of the World of Atzilut. These are limited to the particular Divine attributes of wisdom, kindness, and so on. The Zohar thus terms these attributes “the secret of faith,” for their union with the Divine beggars mortal comprehension.

אך מכל מקום

Nevertheless, despite the fact that the Sefirot transcend intellect and comprehension,

הואיל ודברה תורה כלשון בני אדם, לשכך את האוזן מה שהיא יכולה לשמוע

since1 “the Torah speaks as in the language of man” in order to2 “modulate for the ear what it is able to hear,”

לכך ניתן רשות לחכמי האמת לדבר בספירות בדרך משל

permission has been granted to the Kabbalists (lit., “the scholars of truth”) to speak allegorically of the Sefirot.

Note of the Rebbe: “The use of the term משל (‘allegory’) stresses that the allegory and its object are not identical, but merely that there is a similarity between the relationship that subsists among the particulars of the analogy to the relationship that subsists among the particulars of the analogue. There is, however, no connection at all between the particular aspects of the analogy and the analogue.

“Here, for instance: the sun’s rays and the sun do not compare in any way at all to the Sefirot and their Source. The analogy refers only to the manner in which the sun’s rays are united (i.e., related) with the sun itself. This analogy makes it easier for us to comprehend the unity of the Sefirot with their Source.”

וקראו אותן אורות

[The Kabbalists] called [the Sefirot] “lights”, using terminology borrowed from the revelation of light,

כדי שעל ידי המשל הזה, יובן לנו קצת ענין היחוד של הקב״ה ומדותיו

so that by means of this metaphor, the nature of the unity of the Holy One, blessed be He, and His attributes, will be somewhat understood by us.

שהוא, בדרך משל, כעין יחוד אור השמש שבתוך גוף כדור השמש, עם גוף השמש שנקרא מאור

It is, by way of illustration, like the unity of the sunlight that is within the solar globe, with the solar globe [itself], which is called not only “sun” but also a “luminary,” inasmuch as it emits light,

כמו שכתוב: את המאור הגדול וגו׳

as it is written,3 that G‑d created “the greater luminary…,” i.e., the very source of light.

והזיו והניצוץ המתפשט ומאיר ממנו נקרא אור, כמו שכתוב: ויקרא אלקים לאור יום

The radiation and the beam which spreads forth and shines from it is called “light”, as it is written,4 “And G‑d called the light — day.”

וכשהאור הוא במקורו, בגוף השמש, הוא מיוחד עמו בתכלית היחוד

When the light is within its source in the orb of the sun, it is united with it in absolute unity,

כי אין שם רק עצם אחד, שהוא גוף המאור המאיר

for there, within the sun, there is only one entity, namely, the body of the luminary which emits light;

It would hardly be reasonable to say that within the orb of the sun there exist two things: the luminary and its light. Within the sun globe, only the sun itself exists.

כי הזיו והאור שם עצם אחד ממש עם גוף המאור המאיר, ואין לו שום מציאות כלל בפני עצמו

for there the radiation and light is absolutely one being with the body of the luminary which illuminates, and it has no existence by itself at all.

The appearance of radiation and light outside the sun would seem to indicate that light exists within the sun itself, for if it reaches out and illuminates the whole world it is surely found within its source. In fact, however, when sunlight is considered at the stage at which it is found within the luminary itself, it is so completely identified with it that it cannot be termed light at all; within the sun, the light has no existence with an independent identity.5