(Psalms 25:14) This verse refers to the idea that even if a Jew learns Mishnah, Gemara and yet has no awe—for naught does he splash in the great waters [of Kabbala], he toils entirely for nothing.
[citation needed]The form in which the rudiments of kabbala are presented here, as well as the emphasis laid on keeping the doctrine secret and on the compulsory piety of the learners, is evidence of the early date of the work.
At the time when Masseket Aẓilut was written kabbala had not yet become a subject of general study, but was still confined to a few of the elect.
[1] The doctrines of Metatron, and of angelology especially, are identical with those of the Geonim, and the idea of the sefirot is presented so simply and unphilosophically that one is hardly justified in assuming that it was influenced directly by any philosophical system.
[citation needed] Beginning with Isaac of Acre and the Massekhet Atzilut, the Hebrew letter Yod (י) has been associated with the World of Atzilut, Heh (ה) with Beri'ah, Vau (ו) with Yetzirah, and the final Heh with Assiah,[citation needed] thus spelling out the name of God, YHWH, in terms of the four worlds.