Rabbi Shimon Bar-Yochai and His Friends
Clearly, Rashbi composed The Book of Zohar according to the enlightenment that reached him while he was correcting in the cave ... It is a great and awe-inspiring composition, disclosing the secrets in greater depth than the Torah itself, and this is called revealing the Torah in its internality.
The Ramchal, Adir BaMarom [The Mighty One on High], 24
Only during the days of Rashbi, after 13 years of being in the cave, the gates of wisdom opened upon him, to shine for all of Israel through the end of days.
The Ramchal, Adir BaMarom [The Mighty One on High], 13
Rashbi and his generation, the authors of The Zohar, were granted all 125 degrees in completeness, even though it was prior to the days of the Messiah. It was said about him and his disciples: "A sage is preferable to a prophet." Hence, we often find in The Zohar that there will be none like the generation of Rashbi until the generation of the Messiah King. This is why his composition made such a great impact in the world, since the secrets of the Torah in it occupy the level of all 125 degrees.
Baal HaSulam, “A Speech for the Completion of The Zohar”
We would never have the power to strip the Torah of its clothing, were it not for Rashbi and his friends.
Ramak, Know the God of Thy Father, 16
And Rabbi Shimon Bar-Yochai would reveal the secrets of the Torah, and his friends listened to his voice, joining him in this composition, each answering his part. Just as the Mishnah was written by the Tana'im, where our Rabbi combined all of their thoughts and made them into The Book of the Mishnah.
Likewise, Rabbi Shimon Bar-Yochai wanted a book to be written that comprises all the essays of the students in his seminary, that the book would be composed regarding the Torah. For the compositions speak of individual matters, but The Zohar, which was made regarding the Torah, is call “the great opening of the entirety of the Torah.” And here, Rabbi Shimon Bar-Yochai instructed Rabbi Abba to be the writer and organizer of all the words that the sages, students of the seminary would say, whenever and wherever they are, to arrange everything according to the order of the Torah.
The Ramchal, Adir BaMarom [The Mighty One on High], 24