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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Rumi asks the reader to welcome all __________ in one's life, even the ones which are negative.

2. The poet says the reader is what every religion intends, urging _______ from love and from weeping.

3. The __________ of the world around Rumi will become his clothes and his jewels, according to the teachings of Rumi's teacher.

4. When the poet talks about tearing down the ___________, he is talking about tearing down the self.

5. The poets asks for a __________ to climb into the Friend, and the response is that this item is in the person's head.

Short Essay Questions

1. When Shams asks about if the drop stays still in the ocean, what does he tell Rumi to do?

2. What does Rumi think that cow might experience when they are in Baghdad?

3. What does Barks ask a reader to do in relation to being in a state of spirituality?

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

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

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

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

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

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

10. What happens as the result of surrendering to love, according to the writings of Rumi?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Barks points out that repetition can be spiritual, not numbing as many people have come to think of it, in his opinion.

Part 1: Why do you think repeating something again and again can be spiritual?

Part 2: Are there any things you do again and again which you might find spiritual?

Part 3: How do you think the brain changes when it has to repeat the same action again and again?

Essay Topic 2

According to Rumi, anything or anyone that is loved reflects the lover's spirituality as love brings one closer to God.

Part 1: What kinds of love do you think Rumi feels are going to best bring someone closer to God?

Part 2: How do you think love brings one closer to God and closer to spiritual fulfillment?

Part 3: Is it possible for everyone to find love and thus to find spiritual fulfillment?

Essay Topic 3

Rumi refers to God as a human being in the first section of his writing, which might seem to be a strange concept to many readers.

Part 1: Why do you think that Rumi decided that God was a human being?

Part 2: Do you agree that God should be compared to a human being, with all of their flaws and failings?

Part 3: How do you think Rumi should address the idea of God? Is there another way which would work better?

(see the answer keys)

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