An allegory by Baal HaSulam from "Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot," Item 133
Once, a king wished to select
All of his most loyal and loving subjects in the country
And bring them to work inside his palace.
What did he do?
He issued a decree across the land,
That anyone who so desired,
Big and small,
Would come to him
And engage in work inside his palace.
But he positioned many of his servants
As guards at the gate of the palace,
And on all the roads leading to his palace.
He ordered them to cunningly mislead
All those who came close to his palace,
And to divert them from the road that led to the palace.
Naturally, all the people of the kingdom
Started running to the king's castle,
But they were turned away by the diligent guards.
Yet, many overcame them
And succeeded in getting closer to the castle's gate.
Still, the guards at the gate were most diligent,
And whomever approached the gate
Was driven off with great shrewdness,
Until the people left as they had arrived.
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And so they came and went, and came and went,
regained their strength and came again, time after time
For days and years on end
Until they tried no more.
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And only the heroes among them
Whose patience had held up
defeated those guards
And opened the gate.
And they were instantly greeted by the king,
Who appointed each to
The suitable position.
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Of course, from then on,
They had no dealings
With the guards
Who had discouraged them and driven them away,
Making their lives bitter
For days and years on end,
Making them run back and forth to the gate.
For they had been rewarded with working and serving
Before the glorious light, the king’s face,
Inside his palace.
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