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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Every day, Rumi says, people wake up with _________, but they need to continue to walk their spiritual path.
(a) Joy.
(b) Disbelief.
(c) Fear.
(d) Rapture.

2. The poet notes that he is nothing, not from an origin story, not body or __________, according to the writing.
(a) Truth.
(b) Happiness.
(c) Endings.
(d) Soul.

3. In one of the poems, ______ cuts open a fish and discovers a gold ring. Omar storms in to kill the prophet.
(a) Tabriz.
(b) Solomon.
(c) Shams.
(d) Jesus.

4. Rumi describes paying attention to the breath and letting go of the _______ with outward breaths.
(a) Love.
(b) Fears.
(c) Attachments.
(d) Self.

5. Rumi challenges us to "work in the ______ world as hard as we do in the visible" and to "be a companion with the prophets."
(a) Spiritual world.
(b) Infinite.
(c) Loving.
(d) Invisible.

Short Answer Questions

1. In one of the poems Rumi states, "We are charlatans... or maybe just a ______ hair brush in a painter's hand."

2. Rumi states, in "The Prophets" no one knows if the _______ will sink or reach the harbor.

3. Jelaluddin Rumi was born in the remote town of _______ in what is now Afghanistan.

4. The poet quotes Muhammad in one of the poems, saying that he will come take a person before _________.

5. The pull of love is something Rumi compares to a ________, urging the reader to realize learning is about more than just books.

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the metaphor Rumi uses in order to describe the pull of love in one's life and how one should be pulled by love?

2. What are some of the ways a person will be able to bring themselves into the present moment, according to Barks?

3. To what does Rumi compare human beings who do not explore their own spirituality?

4. Describe the metaphor Rumi uses when it comes to the black sky and the moon.

5. How does breathing help to calm a person, according to Barks' thoughts at the beginning of the section?

6. After the narrator says they are no religion or culture, not east or west, what does the narrator say they do belong to?

7. What does Rumi do when he is so impressed with the depth of the knowledge of Shams?

8. What is the profession of Rumi when Barks introduces him at the beginning of this book?

9. What does Rumi realize about his friend Shams when he doesn't believe that he is actually dead?

10. What doesn't matter in the midst of an orchard in the spring, according to the writings of Rumi?

(see the answer keys)

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