253. “To which place do they roam, etc.” To which place do they roam on that night of the conclusion of Shabbat? When they come out in a ‎rush and think of ruling the world, over the holy nation, they see them standing in ‎prayer and reciting this song, namely, “O you who dwell in the shelter of the Most High,” and first performing‎ the havdala rite in the prayer ‎and then the havdala over the cup, [and upon seeing this] they fly away from there. They ‎go off and roam and arrive in the wilderness; may the Merciful One save us from them and from ‎the evil side. ‎

Explanation: [The Zohar] asks only about [the night of] the conclusion of Shabbat, not all the weekday nights, because at the conclusion ‎of Shabbat there still remains an imprint from the sanctity of Shabbat. [The Zohar] therefore inquires: Since they fly ‎out and ascend from the great deep when Shabbat ends, where do they go? It explains that “when they come out in a ‎rush and think of ruling the world, over the holy nation,” namely, Israel, “they see them standing in ‎prayer and reciting this song” of “O you who dwell in the shelter of the Most High,” “and first performing ‎ the havdala rite in the prayer ‎and then the havdala over the cup of wine,” [therefore] “they leave and fly from them, and go off and roam and arrive in the wilderness,” namely, in an uninhabited region, and people are spared from them. ‎

Thus, there are three aspects of places for the [forces of the] Sitra Aḥara: On Shabbat, they are in the cavity of the great deep and lack the power to harm at all. At the conclusion of Shabbat, by means of prayer and havdala, they are in ‎the wilderness, a place where there are no people. They have the power to inflict harm but are ‎repelled from settled areas. On the rest of the nights they are found in settled areas as well. ‎