In Section 52 of Golshan-e Raz, Mahmud Shabestari systematically explains the mystical metaphor of the Beloved's curl or tress (زلف). The curl symbolizes the multiplicity of the phenomenal world, the veil of divine manifestation, and the complex, twisting path of the spiritual seeker. Shabestari describes the curl as a chain that binds the hearts of lovers (مجانین), illustrating how the divine presence in the material world can both bewilder and captivate the spiritual aspirant. This foundational explanation serves as a key to decoding similar metaphors across Sufi literature.

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## Original content
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حدیث زلف جانان بس دراز است 
چه می پرسی از او کان جای راز است
مپرس از من حدیث زلف پرچین 
مجنبانید زنجیر مجانین
ز قدش راستی گفتم سخن دوش 
سر زلفش مرا گفتا فروپوش
کژی بر راستی زو گشت غالب 
وز او در پیچش آمد راه طالب
همه دلها از او گشته مسلسل 
همه جانها از او بوده مقلقل
معلق صد هزاران دل ز هر سو 
نشد یک دل برون از حلقهٔ او
گر او زلفین مشکین برفشاند 
به عالم در یکی کافر نماند
وگر بگذاردش پیوسته ساکن 
نماند در جهان یک نفس مؤمن
چو دام فتنه می شد چنبر او 
به شوخی باز کرد از تن سر او
اگر ببریده شد زلفش چه غم بود 
که گر شب کم شد اندر روز افزود
چو او بر کاروان عقل ره زد 
به دست خویشتن بر وی گره زد
نیابد زلف او یک لحظه آرام 
گهی بام آورد گاهی کند شام
ز روی و زلف خود صد روز و شب کرد 
بسی بازیچه های بوالعجب کرد
گل آدم در آن دم شد مخمر 
که دادش بوی آن زلف معطر
دل ما دارد از زلفش نشانی 
که خود ساکن نمی گردد زمانی
از او هر لحظه کار از سر گرفتم 
ز جان خویشتن دل برگرفتم
از آن گردد دل از زلفش مشوش 
که از رویش دلی دارد بر آتش

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## English translation
The story of the Beloved's curl is very long;
Why do you ask of it, for it is a place of mystery?
Do not ask me the story of the twisted curl;
Do not shake the chain of the insane.
Last night I spoke of the straightness of His stature;
The tip of His curl told me to conceal it.
Crookedness became dominant over straightness because of it,
And through it, the path of the seeker fell into twists and turns.
All hearts have become chained by it;
All souls have been agitated by it.
A hundred thousand hearts are suspended from every side;
Not a single heart escaped from its ring.
If He shakes His musky curls,
Not a single infidel will remain in the world.
And if He leaves it continuously still,
Not a single believer will remain in the world for a moment.
When its loop became a trap of temptation,
In playfulness, it severed the head from the body.
If His curl was cut, what grief was there?
For if the night was shortened, it added to the day.
Since it robbed the caravan of reason,
It tied a knot upon it with its own hand.
His curl does not find rest for a moment;
Sometimes it brings morning, sometimes it makes evening.
From His face and curl He made a hundred days and nights;
He performed many wondrous plays.
The clay of Adam was fermented in that moment
When the scent of that fragrant curl was given to it.
Our heart has a sign from His curl,
For it does not remain still for a single moment.
Through it, every moment I started the work anew,
And I withdrew my heart from my own soul.
The heart becomes disturbed by His curl because
From His face, it has a heart set on fire.

بخش ۵۲ - اشارت به زلف / Section 52 - Indication of the Curl

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