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Section XVI. Chapter Thirteen: On the View that Rest is the Finest Pursuit.
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Some said that rest is the cause of the soul's attentiveness to itself, the digestion of its nourishment, the growth of the body, and the strengthening of the senses.
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Whatever a person toils at, his eye is always toward rest — it is always the goal. Do you not see that kings are the most at-rest of people? If this were not the finest pursuit, it would not be chosen for them.
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And tranquility of thought comes only from abandoning agitation, restlessness, worry, and grief. Indeed the true religion, when measured by analogy, resembles rest — it says: 'and find rest for your souls' (Jer. 6:16); and He prescribed rest for the Sabbath and holidays.
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I looked closely at the view of these people and found them the most ignorant of all — indeed they said what they themselves do not understand.
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For rest only comes into being for a person after earnest effort, firm management of his affairs, and proper arrangement of his causes — then at that point he settles and rests. As it says: 'Prepare your work outside and make it ready in the field; and afterward build your house' (Prov. 24:27).
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As for rest alone without any of these — it is rest in name only; its actual meaning is laziness. And do not even ask what constant laziness produces.
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But a person neglects things for a time and is lazy a while — until poverty overtakes him, running at a run
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— and lacking most of his needs. As it says: 'A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to lie down — and your poverty comes walking and your want as an armed man' (Prov. 24:33–34).
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For once he is lazy, he no longer has food, clothing, or a home — and he is in regret for a very long time.
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Until his cravings and drives kill him outright — as it says: 'The craving of the lazy person kills him, for his hands refuse to work' (Prov. 21:25).
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And it even causes him to neglect prayer, fasting, vigil, and the movement Torah and every benefit require. That is why the opposite of this laziness is contrasted with the righteous person.
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For the word 'laziness' (ʿaṣlūt) also applies to wickedness — it says: 'All day long he craves and craves, while the righteous gives and does not spare' (Prov. 21:26).
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And there is no dropsy, heaviness, bloating, sluggishness, lower-body pain, gout, sciatica, varicose veins, elephantiasis, or most other ailments except in the company of idleness.
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Indeed even the well-off ought not be lazy and idle — as it says about the virtuous woman: 'she watches over the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness' (Prov. 31:27).
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We find the soul inclines toward rest only because its Creator made rest a reminder to it of the permanence and tranquility of the World to Come, and a stirring of longing for it.
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As it says: 'The work of righteousness shall be peace; the service of righteousness, quiet and confidence forever. And my people shall dwell in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, in undisturbed resting places' (Isa. 32:17–18).