34. “Zayin entered etc.” The letter zayin entered [and] said before Him: Master of the world! It is good for You to create the world with me, for through me Your children will observe Shabbat, as it is stated: “Remember [zakhor] the Sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8). He said to her: I will not create the world with you, because war is within you, that is, a sharpened sword and a spear with which war is fought, and these are called klei zayin [weapons]. And you are like the letter nun, with which the world was not created because she contains nefila [falling, as stated in section 29, above].” She immediately departed from His presence.

Explanation: The mystical meaning of zayin is that it is [in the form of] a yod over a vav, which indicates the brains of maturity of the Nukba, in the mystical meaning of the verse: “A woman of valor is the crown of her husband” (Proverbs 12:4). [In the state of maturity, the Nukba] is incorporated in the male level, which is vav, and then [the Nukba] becomes a crown upon his head. This is the mystical meaning of the yod over the vav, and her husband being crowned with her. And this is the mystical meaning of: “Remember [zakhor] the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” By elevating the day of Shabbat, which is the Nukba, to the state of a crown atop the Ze’er Anpin – at which stage [the Nukba] is incorporated in the mystical meaning of zakhor – the Nukba is called holy. The zayin is claiming: Since this light is great and holy, in the mystical meaning of the [Shabbat] rest, and there is cessation of all the kelippot in that state, I am worthy for the world to be created with my attribute.

To this, “He said to her: I will not create etc.” That is, the zayin is the Netzaḥ of Ze’er Anpin, as zayin-ḥet-tet are Netzaḥ, Hod, and Yesod of Ze’er Anpin. When the Nukba is incorporated in Zayin, which is Netzaḥ, she attains the strength to ascend with Ze’er Anpin to Abba and Imma Ila'in, where she becomes a crown for his head and her husband [which is Ze'er Anpin] is crowned in the mystical meaning of Shabbat, as stated.

However, since this entire rectification is achieved only through incorporation [of the Nukba] in the male and an elevation to [the place of] Abba and Imma (father and mother), and not in the place [of the Nukba] below, where she is always positioned with the Ze’er Anpin, the rectification [of the Nukba] is therefore not completed in the [current period of] six thousand years. During the weekdays, when she returns to her place, her incorporation in the zayin is regarded as keli zayin [weapons], to such extent that all wars with the Sitra Aḥara are considered as [coming] from her. This is in the mystical meaning of the weekdays that prepare for Shabbat, and the mystical meaning of: “The one who wins the war will be given the King’s daughter.” On the weekdays, each [person] must triumph in the battle with the Sitra Aḥara and external forces, and then he merits “the King’s daughter,” which is “the Shabbat.” Thus, the illumination of the Sabbath during the six thousand years is still not enough for the complete cessation of the kelippot, for this is why the weekdays return to surround [the Nukba] until the completion of the rectification in the future, when it will be a day that is all Shabbat and rest for everlasting life.

This is the meaning of His statement: “I will not create the world with you, because war is within you, a sharpened sword and a spear with which war is fought.” This is as explained, that your illumination is still not complete, since you are incomplete in your place below, and they merit you only through wars with the Sitra Aḥara. [The term] “war” refers to the wars of the lower [created beings] with the Sitra Aḥara. The “sharpened sword” refers to the attribute of Malkhut during its incorporation in Netzaḥ on the weekdays, when [the Malkhut] is a sharpened sword opposing the kelippot that wish to grasp hold of her. And “a spear, with which war is fought” refers to Ze’er Anpin himself, who is called “a spear,” for [Ze'er Anpin] is depicted as a letter vav, which is like a spear, [ready] to pierce the Sitra Aḥara with the attribute [of Ze'er Anpin]. He says: “You are like the letter nun,” because the restraints (gevurot) of the male are from the aspect of Bina, which is nun, as stated.