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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Book 2, Solomon Poems : Chapter 1, Islam & Christianity in the Middle East.

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. Rumi uses the metaphor of a string between two animals to represent what?
(a) Selective hearing.
(b) Confusion.
(c) Secret connections.
(d) Imprisonment.

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

4. Are Rumi's friends mentioned directly in his poems?
(a) Only in some.
(b) No, in none of them.
(c) It is impossible to tell.
(d) Yes, in all of them.

5. Which of the three fish in the fish story in Book 2, Chapter 1, ends up getting caught?
(a) The least intelligent one.
(b) None.
(c) The one of medium intelligence.
(d) The smartest one.

Short Answer Questions

1. In a poem in Book 2, Chapter 1, what happens to the poor man when he vomits?

2. In Rumi's string metaphor, the string connects two animals by their what?

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

4. Many of Rumi's poems are so personal that they help readers reconnect to what?

5. In one poem in Book 2, Chapter 1, Rumi states that every sheik rides a lion, whether that lion is:

(see the answer key)

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