What it means
به دلیل (be dalil-e) means “due to” or “because of.” It is the go-to causal preposition in formal written Persian, appearing in news articles, official letters, and academic writing. The core noun دلیل (dalil) is borrowed from Arabic دَلِيل, where it means proof, evidence, or guide. In Persian it has narrowed to mean reason or cause. The closest everyday synonym is به خاطر (be khâter), but be dalil-e signals a more logical or institutional relationship between cause and effect, rather than a personal or emotional one.
How to use it
- به دلیل ترافیک دیر رسیدم. (be dalil-e trafik dir residam.) “I arrived late due to traffic.”
- مدرسه به دلیل برف تعطیل شد. (madrese be dalil-e barf ta’til shod.) “The school closed due to snow.”
- به دلیل کمبود بودجه پروژه متوقف شد. (be dalil-e kambud-e budje, prozheh motavaqqef shod.) “The project was halted due to a budget shortage.”
- به دلیل بیماریش نتونست بیاد. (be dalil-e bimâri-sh natunest biyâd.) “He could not come due to his illness.”
Cultural note
Persian has a strong tradition of stylistic register separation between spoken and written language. به دلیل (be dalil-e) belongs firmly to the written and formal register: you will see it in newspaper headlines, government announcements, and academic reports, but a native speaker would rarely use it mid-conversation. In casual speech, به خاطر (be khâter) or چون (chon) would sound more natural. Recognizing this distinction is a reliable marker of reading fluency in Persian.