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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. When Coleman Barks first started reading Rumi's works, what types of words turned him away?
(a) Love and hate.
(b) Life and death.
(c) Heart and soul.
(d) Shame and guilt.

2. Why did Rumi's family flee the place of his birth?
(a) They feared a Mongol invasion.
(b) The land was attacked by Turks.
(c) They feared the ruler of the region.
(d) The land was struck by drought.

3. In the poem in Book 1, Chapter 2, about a man who wants a tattoo, what dilemma does he face?
(a) He regrets his decision upon feeling the pain.
(b) Tattoos are considered evil.
(c) He has no money for one.
(d) His wife disapproves of tattoos.

4. Rumi's short-story poems range from less than fifty lines to approximately what length?
(a) A hundred twenty lines.
(b) Two hundred lines.
(c) Ten thousand lines.
(d) Two thousand lines.

5. Relative to Rumi, who was Shams Tabriz?
(a) Cousin.
(b) Employer.
(c) Brother.
(d) Companion.

6. When speaking to the camel in the story in Book 1, Chapter 3, the mouse admits that it is what?
(a) A bear in disguise.
(b) Tough.
(c) A lion in disguise.
(d) Afraid.

7. How many additional poems were translated and included in the New Expanded Edition?
(a) 58.
(b) 23.
(c) 92.
(d) 81.

8. Saladin of Zarkub was what?
(a) Farmer.
(b) Barber.
(c) Brick maker.
(d) Goldsmith.

9. What post did Rumi inherit?
(a) Scribe.
(b) Treasurer.
(c) Sheik.
(d) King.

10. In this book, the term "nafs" refers to what?
(a) A style of poetry developed by Rumi.
(b) A food commonly consumed during Rumi's time.
(c) The part of the soul associated with desires.
(d) The highest state of enlightenment.

11. Who is Coleman Barks?
(a) Psychologist.
(b) Photographer.
(c) Scholar.
(d) Satirist.

12. In the poems about an unlikely friendship between two different animals, one of them being a frog, these two animals have very different what?
(a) Sizes.
(b) Life spans.
(c) Environmental needs.
(d) Names.

13. In a poem in Book 1, Chapter 3 about Ayaz the courtier, what command does the king give?
(a) To make him laugh.
(b) To repair a damaged piece of furniture.
(c) To bring him the costliest treasure.
(d) To destroy a precious object.

14. What happens when the Caliph meets a beautiful, mysterious woman from the city his men have invaded, in a poem in Book 1, Chapter 2?
(a) The woman attacks him.
(b) He regrets his actions.
(c) He falls in love with her.
(d) One of his men attacks him.

15. Many of Rumi's poems are so personal that they help readers reconnect to what?
(a) Their emotional centers.
(b) Childhood notions.
(c) Practical ideas.
(d) Their analytical sides.

Short Answer Questions

1. When was Rumi born?

2. "Cry Out In Your Weakness" is a poem about:

3. Rumi's works are deeply:

4. According to Rumi, when the individual ego disappears and dissipates into God, this can be understood as what?

5. After Shams went away the first time, how did he return?

(see the answer keys)

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