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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. The poet compares himself to a __________, stripped of its petals and of its leaves, within one of the poems.
(a) Peony.
(b) Daisy.
(c) Violet.
(d) Rose hip.

2. Rumi asks the reader to make a __________, abhorring spiritual windowshoppers who are not giving fully of themselves.
(a) Blood oath.
(b) Prayer.
(c) Commitment.
(d) Book.

3. The poet describes _________ appearing at the footsteps of his teacher, in one of his poems in this section.
(a) Gold pieces.
(b) Puddles.
(c) Books.
(d) Flowers.

4. Barks asks the reader to be in a state of _______ instead of reading about it, to live the connection about which Rumi speaks.
(a) Understanding.
(b) Study.
(c) Devotion.
(d) Spirituality.

5. The poet says that he is a letter to everyone around him, a letter which says, "_______" according to the poet.
(a) Honor.
(b) Love.
(c) Live.
(d) Pray.

Short Answer Questions

1. __________ is the character Rumi describes as a metalworker, making new shapes out of locks and chains.

2. The poet asks the reader what caused a __________ to open and to consume them within their lives.

3. Rumi became joyous, and then died, and then became a fool, according to his writing, and then became scattered _________.

4. Barks talks in his commentary about the mysterious "________" in the poem, though he defines it differently.

5. The poet speaks of being locked in a _________ and of someone who brings him good and forgives him.

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Rumi have to say about the gamble of love and what does he urge the reader to do?

2. How does Rumi describe the person named David in his writings and poems?

3. What does Rumi tell the reader to do in order to start their own spiritual journey, like Moses or Joseph did?

4. What did the poet's teacher teach him to do, according to the writings of Rumi?

5. What does Rumi say that he doesn't regret in his life, according to one of his poems?

6. What happens during the chess game between Shams and Rumi, according to Barks?

7. Why does the poet ask Shams and the Sun to help him in his poems, according to the writings of Rumi?

8. What is essential in the windows of one heart to another, according to the writings of Rumi?

9. What do the Sufis think about love and about its ability to help people, according to the book?

10. How does Rumi describe the idea of love in the last section of these poems?

(see the answer keys)

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