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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

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

3. 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.

4. One of the key attributes of the character Ayaz is what?
(a) Loyalty.
(b) A fear of nearly everything.
(c) A tendency to lie.
(d) Arrogance.

5. Who is Hallaj?
(a) Rumi's teacher.
(b) Scholar who studies Rumi.
(c) Rumi's father.
(d) Character in Rumi's poems.

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

7. In Rumi's string metaphor, the string connects two animals by their what?
(a) Ears.
(b) Necks.
(c) Ankles.
(d) Wrists.

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

9. In addition to being a religious leader, Rumi was a what?
(a) Soldier.
(b) Gardener.
(c) Scholar.
(d) Physician.

10. In a poem in Book 1, Chapter 2, when a city is taken by siege, what happens to one of the invaders?
(a) Falls in love instantly.
(b) Is taken prisoner immediately.
(c) Becomes a double agent.
(d) Is tricked and poisoned.

11. What is a Caliph?
(a) Teacher.
(b) Student.
(c) Leader.
(d) Doctor.

12. Rumi's works are deeply:
(a) Irreverent.
(b) Humorous.
(c) Emotional.
(d) Sorrowful.

13. In the poems where Rumi includes a frog as one of the main characters, there is a deep friendship that develops between this frog and a:
(a) Mouse.
(b) Fish.
(c) Bird.
(d) Cat.

14. What region in Afghanistan did Rumi come from?
(a) Balkh.
(b) Zari.
(c) Kaldar.
(d) Chimtal.

15. Rumi indicates that people who have blind faith are following this path through what?
(a) Animosity.
(b) Joy and willpower.
(c) Fear and compulsion.
(d) Greed.

Short Answer Questions

1. When the animal soul Rumi writes about is in proper balance, it:

2. Who is Coleman Barks?

3. According to Rumi, people who choose from their own free will come from:

4. What elevates Rumi's poems beyond a simple collection of ideas?

5. In a poem in Book 1, Chapter 3 involving a complicated love triangle consisting of a man and two women, Rumi explores what subjects?

(see the answer keys)

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