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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What main lesson does Rumi impart through his poem about a man who wants a tattoo in Book 1, Chapter 2?
(a) A man better have enough money before he goes about desiring frivolous things.
(b) When embarking upon a task, one must be prepared for the associated pain.
(c) A person must listen to one's own heart rather than the babble of others.
(d) Tattoos are a waste of time and money.

2. Rumi asserts that the union between a man and a woman has what associated with it?
(a) Earthly connection.
(b) Emotional baggage.
(c) Hint of sadness.
(d) Spiritual component.

3. How did others regard Shams?
(a) They were concerned by the rivalry between Shams and Rumi.
(b) They felt he would make a benevolent ruler.
(c) They felt they could not completely trust him.
(d) They were jealous of the friendship between Shams and Rumi.

4. When did Coleman Barks first become interested in Rumi's poetry?
(a) 1985.
(b) 1952.
(c) 1976.
(d) 1969.

5. When the man in a poem in Book 1, Chapter 2 accidentally soils himself, what does his host and friend do?
(a) Laughs loudly and humiliates the man.
(b) Launders the garments and helps the man feel better.
(c) Leaves for three days while his servants clean the home.
(d) Evicts him from his home.

6. Which of the following best describes the word exoteric?
(a) Secret rituals.
(b) Incomprehensible words.
(c) Open teachings.
(d) Humorous sayings.

7. According to a poem in Book 1, Chapter 2, what happens when you put pond water into a larger body of water?
(a) The larger body of water is enriched.
(b) The original water disappears.
(c) The water molecules are still separate.
(d) The pond mourns its loss.

8. In some of his poems, Rumi refers to religious figures:
(a) Only from his faith.
(b) Only that he knows personally.
(c) From fiction.
(d) From different faiths.

9. Who is Reynold Nicholson?
(a) Scholar who attempted to translate some of Rumi's poems.
(b) Critic who disliked Rumi's work.
(c) Writer who wrote a complete biography about Rumi.
(d) Religious leader who quoted from Rumi's poems extensively.

10. Which readers might feel left out reading Rumi's poems?
(a) Male.
(b) Older.
(c) Female.
(d) Young.

11. At times, God appears in Rumi's poems as a presence and at other times God is compared to:
(a) The Judge.
(b) The Tempter.
(c) The Friend.
(d) The Professor.

12. When the animal soul that Rumi refers to is lacking, it leads to what?
(a) Frailty.
(b) Wildness.
(c) Vigor.
(d) Order.

13. Over time, Coleman Barks' feelings about the messages in Rumi's poetry have what?
(a) Changed.
(b) Remained the same.
(c) Grown in confusion.
(d) Grown in contempt.

14. In the poem "Meadowsounds," Rumi devotes two lines to:
(a) Shams.
(b) Husam.
(c) Hallej.
(d) Ayaz.

15. In a poem in Book 1, Chapter 3 involving a complicated love triangle consisting of a man and two women, Rumi explores what subjects?
(a) Lust and disgust.
(b) Reconciliation, division, and uncertainty.
(c) Humor and tragedy.
(d) Love, jealousy, and fear.

Short Answer Questions

1. When was Rumi born?

2. Rumi expresses himself in a way that is what?

3. Over time, what has Coleman Barks been able to do with Rumi's poems?

4. Rumi's works are deeply:

5. In the end, where does the Caliph of a poem in Book 1, Chapter 2 send the mysterious, beautiful woman from the city his men have invaded?

(see the answer keys)

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