It was the Kabbalists themselves who preserved the correct text, initially concealing it from outsiders. Around 1550, Rabbi Moshe Cordvero, leader of the Safed school and the greatest Kabbalist of the day, sifted through the ten best manuscripts available, choosing the one most closely fitting the tradition of the Kabbalists. A generation later,the text was further refined by the Ari (Rabbi Yitzchak Luria), one of the greatest Kabbalists of all time. This text, known as the Ari Version, was published a number of time, usually as part of some other collection. It resembles the Short Version in many ways, but there are some very significant differences in assignment. In general, the Ari Version is the only one which is in agreement with the Zohar.

Aryeh Kaplan, Sefer Yetzirah, Aronson, 1995 p. xxv (via ihavenohonor)