Before the Mah Nishtana, the Haggadah has an instruction כאן הבן שואל מה נשתנה, here the son asks Mah Nishtana. In earlier Siddurim, the word נשתנה was not written, just כאן הבן שואל מה. This hints to the Kabbalistic concept of the Names ן”ב and ה”מ.
The letters of the Name of Hashem ה-ו-ה-י can be spelled out in full in different ways, giving rise to different Gematrios.
One way is;
יוד = 20 הא = 6 ואו =13 הא = 6
This totals 45 (מ"ה) and is referred to as the Name מ"ה.
Another way is;
יוד = 20ה ה =10 וו =12ה ה =10
This totals 52 (נ"ב) and is referred to as the Name ב"ן.
The Name ן”ב refers to the G-dliness that is hidden and concealed in the world. The Name ה”מ refers to open revelation of G-dliness from Above.
The introduction to the Mah Nishtana כאן הבן שואל מה can be read as saying that here the hidden G-dliness within the world (ב"ן) asks for revealed G-dliness (מ"ה).
Why is it phrased as a question? The commentaries explain that it is because of the Posuk “כי ישאלך בנך” – “when your son will ask you”.
In truth questions reflect the completeness of Chochma. Every ability has its defining qualities, and for Chochma, it is to ask questions. This is the nature that Hashem gave Chochma and not questioning shows a lack of Chochma. In contrast, the nature of Kabolas Ol is that there are no questions. But for Chochma, questions are its nature and completeness.
Since Chochma can lead to many different questions, the sages established questions in Kedusha, to “correct” the questions that are not good that could also come from Chochma.
This is similar to the idea of “I am wisdom and I dwell in ערמה (cunningness)”. Since there is cunningness in Chochma, in order to refine this, there is cunningness in Kedusha, as the Rabbis teach “a person should always have cunningness in the fear of Heaven”.
~ Second night Seder 5698
