וככה ממש היא בחינת ההארה מועטת זו, המתלבשת בעולמות עליונים ותחתונים, להשפיע בהם להחיותם
So, indeed, is the utterly insignificant quality of this minute illumination — after the “contraction” — which clothes itself in the higher and lower worlds in order to provide them with sustenance and life,
לגבי אור הגנוז ונעלם, שהוא בבחינת אין סוף
when compared with the quality of the hidden and concealed light that is of an infinite order,
ואינו מתלבש ומשפיע בעולמות בבחינת גילוי להחיותם, אלא מקיף עליהם מלמעלה, ונקרא סובב כל עלמין
and does not clothe itself or exercise its influence in the worlds in a revealed manner, providing them with life, but encompasses them from above — i.e., it exerts its influence while remaining on its own level — and is called sovev kol almin (lit., “encompassing all worlds”).
Unlike the light that pervades all worlds (memale kol almin), which permeates and vests itself within them (just as the soul vests itself in the body), the encompassing light remains aloof from the worlds.
ואין הפירוש סובב ומקיף מלמעלה בבחינת מקום, חס ושלום, כי לא שייך כלל בחינת מקום ברוחניות
The meaning of this is not that it encircles and encompasses from above spatially, G‑d forbid, for in spiritual matters the category of space is in no way applicable,
Physical objects are spatial; they may be said to be found in one place or the other. Spirituality, however, is non-spatial; the terms “encompassing” and “encircling” are never to be understood in their literal, physical sense,
אלא רצונו לומר: סובב ומקיף מלמעלה לענין בחינת גילוי השפעה
but the meaning is that it “encircles and encompasses from above” insofar as the revelation of this influence is concerned,
כי ההשפעה שהיא בבחינת גילוי בעולמות נקראת בשם הלבשה, שמתלבשת בעולמות, כי הם מלבישים ומשיגים ההשפעה שמקבלים
for influence which is in the category of “revelation” in the worlds is referred to as “investiture”, being “clothed” within the worlds, for the influence that they receive is clothed and comprehended by them, i.e., they are able to comprehend and internalize it,
