וַהֲסִרֹתִי֙ אֶת־כַּפִּ֔י וְרָאִ֖יתָ אֶת־אֲחֹרָ֑י וּפָנַ֖י לֹ֥א יֵרָאֽוּ׃ (ס)
Alors je retirerai ma main et tu me verras par derrière; mais ma face ne peut être vue."
On Flight and Finding
[165] Nevertheless he did not succeed in finding anything by search respecting the essence of Him that IS. For he is told “What is behind Me thou shalt see, but My face thou shalt by no means see” (Exod. 33:23). For it amply suffices the wise man to come to a knowledge of all that follows on after God and in His wake, but the man that wishes to set his gaze upon the Supreme Essence, before he sees Him will be blinded by the rays that beam forth all around Him.
On the Posterity of Cain and his Exile
[169] Not even to Moses, the all-wise, did God accord this, albeit he had made countless requests, but a divine communication was issued to him, “Thou shalt behold that which is behind Me, but My Face thou shalt not see” (Exod. 33:23). This meant, that all that follows in the wake of God is within the good man’s apprehension, while He Himself alone is beyond it, beyond, that is, in the line of straight and direct approach, a mode of approach by which (had it been possible) His quality would have been made known; but brought within ken by the powers that follow and attend Him; for these make evident not His essence but His subsistence from the things which He accomplishes.