Hundreds of Manuscript Copies of the Qur’anic Commentary of Husayn B. ᶜAli Vaᶜiz-i Kashifi (d. 910/1504–05), known as the Mavāhib-i ᶜaliyya or Tafsīr-i Husaynī, have been catalogued in libraries and personal collections throughout Iran, Central Asia, Pakistan and India. The enormous popularity of Kashifi's commentary, which was known simply as Tafsīr-i Mullā, can be understood primarily by its unique accessibility and literary quality. Although Kashifi himself was well-versed in the many different sciences of commentary, the Mavāhib rarely addresses the kind of linguistic, philological, legal and theological issues that would require an extensive background in Arabic and Islamic religious scholarship. Instead, Kashifi combined an explanatory translation of Qur’anic verses in simple, concise Persian with highly selective citations from other works of tafsīr and Sufi poetry and prose, to create a remarkably short work for a commentary addressing the entire Qur’an.