Zohar 1:1b

(8) Hark! My beloved!

There he comes,

Leaping over mountains,

Bounding over hills.

(9) My beloved is like a gazelle

Or like a young stag.

There he stands behind our wall,

Gazing through the window,

Peering through the lattice.

(10) My beloved spoke thus to me,

“Arise, my darling;

My fair one, come away!

(11) For now the winter is past,

The rains are over and gone.

(12) The blossoms have appeared in the land,

The time of pruning has come;

The song of the turtledove

Is heard in our land.

(13) The green figs form on the fig tree,

The vines in blossom give off fragrance.

Arise, my darling;

My fair one, come away!

"In the beginning," Rabbi Shimon opened, "the flower buds appeared on the earth." (Song of Songs 2:12)

“The flower buds” refer to the act of Creation.

When had they "appeared on the earth"? On the third day, as it is said, “And the earth brought forth grass.” [Genesis 1:12] That was when they appeared on the earth.

"The time of pruning [Song of Songs 2:12] has come," alluding to the fourth day, when the "pruning of the tyrants" [Isaiah 25:5] took place. מְאֹרֹת֙ spelled deficiently.

(14) God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate day from night; they shall serve as signs for the set times—the days and the years; (15) and they shall serve as lights in the expanse of the sky to shine upon the earth.” And it was so. (16) God made the two great lights, the greater light to dominate the day and the lesser light to dominate the night, and the stars. (17) And God set them in the expanse of the sky to shine upon the earth, (18) to dominate the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that this was good. (19) And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.

(5) The rage of strangers like heat

in the desert,

You subdued the heat with the shade of

clouds,

The singing/pruning of the tyrants was vanquished.

The voice of the turtle dove [Songs 2:12] refers to the fifth day, where it is written, “Let the waters swarm,” [Gen. 1:20] so as to produce offspring.

(20) God said, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and birds that fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.” (21) God created the great sea monsters, and all the living creatures of every kind that creep, which the waters brought forth in swarms, and all the winged birds of every kind. And God saw that this was good. (22) God blessed them, saying, “Be fertile and increase, fill the waters in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” (23) And there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.

“Is heard” [Songs 2:12] refers to the sixth day, where it is written, “Let us create man,” [Gen 1:26] who was destined to declare acting before hearing, for here it is written נעשה "Let us create man," and there it is written נעשה “We will do and we will listen.” [Exodus 24:7]

"In our land" is Shabbat, paradigm of eternal life.

Fire is one-sixtieth of the fire of Gehenna; honey is one-sixtieth of manna; Shabbat is one-sixtieth of the World-to-Come; sleep is one-sixtieth of death; and a dream is one-sixtieth of prophecy.

Another interpretation: The blossoms are the patriarchs, who entered the Divine mind before creation and entered the world that is coming, where they were treasured away. From there, they emerged secretly and were concealed within prophets of truth. When Joseph was born, they were concealed within him. When Joseph entered the Holy Land, he planted them there.

Then they "appeared on earth" [Songs 2:12] were revealed there. When are they visible? When the rainbow is revealed in the world. When the rainbow appears, they are revealed.

Then "the time of pruning has arrived," [Songs 2:12] time to excise the wicked from the world. Why are they spared? Because "the blossoms have appeared on the earth." Had they not "appeared," they [the wicked would not remain in the world.

Who sustains the world, enabling the patriarchs to be revealed? The voice of children engaging in Torah. For the sake of those children, the world is saved. Corresponding to them, "we will make you wreaths of gold" (Songs 1:11). These are little children, youngsters, as it is written: "Make two cherubim of gold," Exodus 25:18.