Chapter Four
This chapter explains that all creations are made from the four elements, discusses the form of the soul, and the difference between mystical and esoterical speculation and the Action of Creation.
1) These four elements - fire, wind, water and earth - are the foundations of all the creations under the heavens. The shape of all things, such as Man, animals, birds, fish, metals, precious stones, pearls, building materials, plants, mountains, clods of earth, et cetera, is founded on these four elements. It transpires that all bodies under the heavens, except for these four elements, consist of a combined form and shape, the shape of which consists of the four elements, but each of the four elements consists of just a combined shape and form.
2) The fire and wind follow an upward vector from the centre of the world towards the sky, whereas the water and earth follow a downward vector from the sky to the centre, for the centre of the sky is the lowest point beneath which there is none lower. Their passage in this manner is without their knowledge or will, but is their in-built tendency and nature. The nature of the fire is that it is hot and dry, and is the lightest of all the elements. The wind is hot and humid, and the water is cold and wet. The earth is dry and cold, and is the heaviest of all the elements. The water is lighter than the earth, and is therefore found above the earth. The wind is lighter than the water, which is why it hovers above the water, and the fire is lighter than the wind. Since they are the foundations of all bodies under the firmament, it is found that each and every body, be it man or animal, beast or bird, fish or plant, metal or stone, et cetera, has its shape formed out of fire, wind, water and earth. The four elements are mixed together [in forming a body] and change in the process, so that the body formed by the mixture does not represent any single element. No part at all in this mixture will be found to be one of the four elements in its pure form, because they all changed and turned into a different body. Each and every body made out of these four elements will possess the properties of heat, cold, wetness and dryness. Some bodies, such as the bodies of living creatures, however, will contain a greater proportion of fire, which is why they are warm. Some bodies, such as stones, will contain a greater proportion of earth, so they are very dry. Some bodies will contain a greater proportion of water, so they will be the wettest [of all bodies]. In this manner, one will find one warm body hotter than another warm body, and one dry body drier than another dry body. Similarly, one will find bodies which are exceedingly cold, bodies which are exceedingly wet, or bodies which contain equal proportions of the elements. The element in the majority will be the one that will give the resultant body its [most noticeable] characteristics.
3) Anything made from these four elements will eventually be divided up again into them. Some are divided up after only a few days [following their formation], while others are divided up after many years. It is impossible for anything made from these elements not to be divided up. Even gold and rubies will be divided up. Upon division of a body, its elemental constituents return to their appropriate places.
4) If bodies are divided up into the four elements, why does it say about Man, "...and to dust you shall return"? This is because Man is composed mainly of the earth element. When a body divides up, its elemental constituents do not immediately return to their appropriate places, but turn into something else, which turns into another thing, and so on, but the elemental constituents eventually do return to their appropriate places. The elements return to [and leave] their appropriate places in a never-ending cycle.
5) The four elements are perpetually exchanging material every day and at all hours. What does this mean? Some of the earth which is nearest to the water changes and crumbles, and turns into water. Similarly, some of the water which is nearest to the wind changes and melts, and turns into wind. Likewise, some of the wind nearest the fire changes and turns into fire. Some of the fire nearest the wind turns into wind. Some of the wind nearest the water turns into water. Some of the water nearest the earth turns into earth. This process is long and slow. An element cannot change in its entirety into some other element, for it is impossible for one of the four elements to completely cease to exist, but can exchange material with one of the other elements. There is this exchange of material between each element and its neighbour in a never-ending cycle.
6) This process of change takes place because of the rotation of the spheres, as does fusion of the four elements to form the bodies of Man, living creatures, plants, stone, metal, et cetera. God, with the aid of the tenth type of angel, the Ishim, gave an appropriate shape to each body.
7) One will never see a shape without form, or a form without shape. It is because of a man's wisdom that he knows that a given body has a shape and a form, and that its shape consists of [material from] the four elements, and that there are bodies whose shapes are simple and have just a single constituent. The forms which have no shape are not visible to the eye, but are known by the power of intellect, just as we know God without seeing Him with our eyes.
8) The soul of a living creature is the form given to it by God [to differentiate it from plants], and the extra intellect found in a man's soul is the form of a man as he understands it. Concerning this form the Torah says, "Let us make Mankind in our image, after our likeness"; that is to say that Man will have a form that is capable of understanding [the concepts of] intellects without a shape, such as angels, who have a form but no shape, so that he will be similar to them. The words, "our image" do not refer to the form visible to the eye, namely the form which consists of a mouth, nose, jaw and other parts of the body, for this form is called the countenance. It is not [necessarily] a soul which is found in all living creatures that eat, drink, give birth, feel and think, but the intellect, which is in the form of the [essential] soul, concerning which Scripture said, "...in our image, after our likeness"4. This form is very often called the soul and breath. One has to very careful with these names so as not to make a mistake. Each and every name is self-explanatory.
9) This form of life is not made from the elements [just] to be able to get away from them, and is not created with the strength of or for the needs of the soul, as if the soul needs the body, but is created by God, and is from Heaven. Therefore, when a shape which is composed of the four elements divides up, the soul is 'lost', because the soul is found only with a body and needs a body for all its actions, but knows and understands the knowledge which is distinct from the shapes, and knows God, and remains in existence for ever. Solomon, in his wisdom, said, "And the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it".
10) These matters have been discussed very briefly here, and are deep matters, but not as deep as those discussed in the first two chapters. The matters discussed in the first two chapters are those of the Action of Creation. The first Sages commanded us not to discuss these matters in public either, but with a single person one may talk about them, and one may teach them to a single person.
11) What is the difference between mystical and esoterical speculation and these matters? The former is never discussed with even a single person, unless that person is a wise and understanding person, and even then one doesn't discuss it too deeply. The Action of Creation may be discussed with any single person, even if his intellect is such that he won't understand it, and one may tell him as much as he is capable of understanding. These matters are not discussed amongst many people, for the reason that not everybody is of an intellectual level which will enable them to understand these matters.
12) Whenever a man contemplates these matters and recognises the creations - angels, spheres, Man, et cetera - and sees God's wisdom in all the formations and creations, his love for God will increase, find his soul, and his very essence will yearn to love God. Furthermore, he will fear his baseness, meagerity and lightness when he compares himself to one of the great and holy forms which have no shape and are not elemental [namely, the angels], and he will see himself as an empty and superfluous vessel, full of shame and disgrace.
13) These four chapters have discussed the first five commandments [in the list at the beginning of these Laws], and are what the first Sages called esoterical philosophy, as it is written, "Four people went to study esoterical philosophy, et cetera". Even though those four people were giants of Israel and very great sages, not all of them had the capability to understand and comprehend these matters. I say that it is not fitting to study esoterical philosophy unless one has first studied what is metaphorically called `bread and meat', which is the study of what is permitted, what is forbidden, and other commandments. These matters were called small matters by the Sages, as they have said, "Mystical and esoterical speculation is a big matter, whereas the [still applicable] debates of Abbayeh and Ravah are small matters". Nevertheless, it is still fitting to study other commandments first, because they settle a man's mind. Furthermore, they are the great good which God gave to this world, by which we can inherit life in the World To Come. It is possible for everyone - adults, children, men, women, those who are narrow-minded and those who are not - to know these matters.
