Accordingly damage is not applicable to the three first Sefirot in their intrinsic essence... For man’s deeds have no influence for better or for worse except on those levels in which he is rooted: any flaw reaches only the seven lower Sefirot.
...since they are above the level affected by men’s deeds. For men’s deeds affect only the various aspects of the world made to serve his needs and all their roots.
Thus sins do not damage them... This is entirely consistent with their purpose. We have already explained that they are crowns over the governmental order, which send their influence over the seven lower Sefirot and bring about their repair. Thus they contain aspects to which men’s deeds are relevant and aspects to which they are not. Men’s deeds have no bearing on their intrinsic existence, whereas the spread of their influence is subject to men’s deeds inasmuch as this reaches the seven lower Sefirot and affects their repair. Thus sins cannot damage them or cause darkness in them in the same way as they can in the case of the lower seven, where they cause deficiencies when the influence of the upper three is lacking, leaving darkness in its place.