וזהו גם כן ענין סובב כל עלמין
And this is also the meaning of "He encompassess all worlds."
This does not mean to say (heaven forfend) that G‑d is not found within the worlds but merely encompasses them. Rather:
פירוש, דרך משל: כשאדם מתבונן באיזה דבר חכמה בשכלו, או דבר גשמי במחשבתו
This means, by way of analogy: When a person reflects upon an intellectual subject in his mind or upon a physical object in his thoughts,
אזי שכלו ומחשבתו מקיפים על הדבר ההוא המצויר במחשבתו או בשכלו
then his intellect and thought encompass that subject whose image is formed in his thought or in his mind, inasmuch as they are found within his thought and mind,
אך אין מקיפים על הדבר ההוא ממש בפועל ממש
but they — his intellect and thought — do not encompass that subject in actual fact.
They merely encompass his image of the subject, not the actual subject. When one envisions a table, the actual physical table is of course not found within the brain; it is merely its image that is encompassed there.
אבל הקב״ה, דכתיב ביה: כי לא מחשבותי מחשבותיכם וגו׳
The Holy One, blessed be He, however, of Whom it is written,1 "For My thoughts are not your thoughts...,"
מחשבתו וידיעתו, שיודע כל הנבראים, מקפת כל נברא ונברא בפועל ממש
His thought and knowledge of all created beings actually encompass each and every creature;
שהרי היא היא חיותו והתהוותו מאין ליש בפועל ממש
for [G‑d's knowledge] is verily its life-force and that which brings it into existence out of nothingness, in actual reality.
G‑d's thought, unlike man's, thus encompasses the actual subject of His thought — in this case, all created beings. It brings about their creation and continued existence, even though it does not descend to their level and become internalized within them, but remains in an exalted state.
וממלא כל עלמין היא בחינת החיות המתלבש תוך עצם הנברא
And "He fills all worlds" is the life-force that becomes enclothed i.e., is internalized within the essence of the created being.
שהיא מצומצמת בתוכו בצמצום רב, כפי ערך מהות הנברא, שהוא בעל גבול ותכלית בכמותו ובאיכותו, דהיינו מעלתו וחשיבותו
It is powerfully contracted within it according to the intrinsic nature of the created being which is finite and limited in quantity and quality, ["quality"] meaning its significance and importance.
Since the life-force must vest itself within the finite created being and unite with it utterly, it must necessarily be contracted and limited according to the intrinsically finite nature of the created being.
כגון השמש, שגופו יש לו גבול ותכלית, שהוא כמו קס״ז פעמים כגודל כדור הארץ
An example is the sun, whose body is finite and limited quantitatively, being approximately one hundred and sixty- seven times the size of the globe of the earth,2
ואיכותו ומעלתו, הוא אורו, גם כן יש לו גבול עד כמה יוכל להאיר
and whose quality and significance, namely, its light, is also limited as to the extent that it can emit light,
כי לא יאיר לבלתי תכלית, מאחר שהוא נברא
for it cannot illuminate indefinitely since it is a created being, and hence inherently limited. Thus, although the light of the sun illuminates at a prodigious distance, that distance is not without limit.
וכן כל הנבראים הם בעלי גבול ותכלית, כי מהארץ לרקיע מהלך ת״ק שנה כו׳
Likewise, all created beings are finite and limited, for3 "from the earth to heaven is a journey of five hundred years..., and so, too, from one heaven to another is a distance of five hundred years."
ואם כן, החיות המלובשת בהם היא בבחינת צמצום רב ועצום
Hence, since created beings are limited and finite, the life-force which is invested in them is greatly and powerfully contracted,
כי צריכה תחלה להתצמצם צמצומים רבים ועצומים, עד שיתהוה מכחה ואורה עצם הנבראים כמות שהם בעלי גבול ותכלית
for it must first undergo numerous and powerful contractions until created beings, by nature finite and limited, may be brought into existence from its power and light.
Only after this process of self-limitation will the limitless life-force be able to invest itself within finite created beings and become united with them, as will soon be explained.
