The Tree of Life

Rabbi Isaac Luria (the Holy Ari)

Behold that before the emanations were emanated and the creatures were created,

The Upper Simple Light had filled the whole existence.

And there was no vacancy, such as an empty atmosphere, a hollow, or a pit,

But all was filled with Simple, Boundless Light.

And there was no such part as head, or end,

But everything was Simple, smooth Light, balanced evenly and equally,

And it was called the Endless Light.

And when upon His simple will came the desire to create the world and emanate the emanations,

To bring to light the perfection of His deeds, His names, His appellations,

Which was the cause of the creation of the worlds,

He then restricted Himself, in the middle,

Precisely at the center,

He restricted the light.

And the light drew far off to the sides around that middle point.

And there remained an empty space, a vacuum

Circling the middle point.

And the restriction had been uniform

Around the empty point,

So that the space was evenly circled around it.

There, after the restriction,

Having formed a vacuum and a space

Precisely in the middle of the endless light,

A place was formed,

Where the emanated and the created might reside.

Then from the Endless Light a single line hung down,

Lowered down into that space.

And through that line, He emanated, created, formed, and

Made all the worlds.

Before these four worlds came to be

There was one infinite, one name, in wondrous, hidden unity,

And even in the angles closest to Him

There is no force and no attainment in The Endless,

As there is no mind that can perceive Him,

For He has no place, no boundary, no name.

--The Ari, The Tree of Life, Part One, Gate One