The same happened on each successive level in relation to the level below it, until all the levels of Atzilut, Beriyah, Yetzirah and Asiyah were cleansed, as they are now... i.e. after Beriyah-Yetzirah-Asiyah turned into Atzilut-Beriyah-Yetzirah-Asiyah, as will be discussed below.
...and they then left the task of producing evil to the lowest of all levels, that of Malchut of Asiyah. They were then all ready to receive the light except for this last level... For the inner light is found in all the others, but not in this one. This was the intention of the ARI in writing that Malchut is called “robbed” or “despoiled” and must be rescued from the hands of the oppressor. (This means that the rejected waste of all the other levels remains in the Sefirah of Malchut, which has to maintain the Other Side, and in this sense the latter “oppresses” Malchut.)...because the light can only spread in a vessel that is cleansed of evil. This is the underlying reason for this entire process of cleansing, as explained above.