Qirqisānī, Kitāb al-Anwār — Discourse V · Ch. 37: Extinguishing Fire on the Sabbath in Judeo-Arabic

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And we say to them “if Scripture’s verse (Exodus 20:9) ‘...thou shalt not do any manner of work…’ included in [work] taking and leaving together, since both are work, it would be prohibited for us all the opposite things, such as movement and stillness, sleeping and waking up, eating and urinating, and all that is similar to that, and that is absurd and impossible.” They say “the simple meaning of the verse is that all of these are obligatory, except when that is impossible, we resort to different means” and they bring from their insanity the consensus. And what they argue from the consensus contradicts their argument, since there does not exist on the earth one from the Ancients who argued this except for them, and the entire Jewish people from east to west agree with the prohibition of extinguishing fire on the Sabbath.

And what is obligatory with respect to the prohibition of work on the Sabbath is what is usually done by creation, which is movement not resting, taking and not leaving, acting and not abstaining from action. And that is like if a group of people left the presence of a person sitting, without any action or movement or behavior of any kind, and you asked them what did someone do? All of them will say to you that he did not do anything, from any class of people, and none of them will say that he did the action of leaving or resting or abstaining. And the prohibition of Scripture of labor does not intend anything other than acting and taking and movement to the exception of leaving. And we now discuss what is argued by one who rejects “leaving.”