וכמים הפנים אל פנים

Then,28 “as in water face reflects face,”

The verse goes on to say, “…so is the heart of man to man.” And the same is true of the heart of mortal man to Supernal Man:

תתעורר האהבה בלב כל משכיל ומבין יקר מהות אהבת ה׳ אל התחתונים

there will be an arousal of love in the heart of everyone who perceives and understands the preciousness of the nature of G‑d’s love for the nether beings, for those who find themselves in this world, the lowest of all worlds.

אשר היא יקרה וטובה מכל חיי העולמים כולם

This [Divine love] is dearer and better than all the [kinds of] life of all the worlds, both spiritual and material;

כמו שכתוב: מה יקר חסדך וכו׳

as it is written,29 “How precious is Your lovingkindness (Chesed)….”

כי טוב חסדך מחיים כו׳

[It is likewise written,30] “For Your Chesed is better than life….”

The motivating nucleus of Chesed is love. Thus it is written,31 “I have loved you with an everlasting love, and have therefore drawn down Chesed upon you.”

כי החסד, שהוא בחינת אהבה

For Chesed, which is a manifestation of love,

הוא חיי החיים שבכל העולמות, כמו שנאמר: מכלכל חיים בחסד

is the Fountainhead of life that is present in all the worlds; as it is said in the Amidah,32 “He sustains life through Chesed.”

Chesed and love are thus the sustaining life-force of all living beings.

ואז

And then, i.e., when one realizes G‑d’s great love for him that finds expression in afflictions, and when this in turn arouses a love within him so that he will better receive G‑d’s love, then:

גם ה׳ יתן הטוב

G‑d, too, will grant goodness, of a kind that the naked eye can clearly and palpably perceive as good,

ויאר פניו אליו

and make His Face (the innermost dimension of Divinity) shine towards him33

בבחינת אהבה מגולה, אשר היתה תחלה מלובשת ומוסתרת בתוכחת מגולה

with a manifest love, which had earlier been garbed and hidden in a manifest rebuke,

The overt admonition that stems from G‑d’s hidden love will then be transformed into a revealed love.

ויתמתקו הגבורות בשרשן

and the expressions of Divine severity (the gevurot) will be sweetened at their source,

Within their source these expressions of Divine severity are ultimately benevolent; as they descend to the world below they become manifest in the form of suffering. The gevurot, then, will be sweetened at their source,

ויתבטלו הדינין, נצח סלה ועד

and thereby these expressions of Divine severity will become nullified forevermore.