Kyai Haji Achmad Mustofa Bisri is widely revered as a religious scholar, poet, novelist, painter, and Muslim intellectual. A graduate of Al-Azhar, he is a former Chairman of the Nahdlatul Ulama Supreme Council and has strongly influenced the NU’s (Nahdlatul Ulama) social and political development over the past 30 years. He heads the prestigious Raudlatuth Tholibin Islamic Boarding School in Rembang, Central Java. Mustofa Bisri’s role in combining spirituality with artistic expression is widely admired in Indonesia, where he is regarded as a cultural icon. Often called the ‘President of Poets’, he is celebrated for his courage in defending artistic and religious freedom in the face of radical onslaughts.