What it means
مصلحت (maslahat) means expediency, public interest, or practical benefit. It comes from Arabic, from the root ص-ل-ح, the same root as صلح (peace) and اصلاح (reform), and carries the sense of what is good, sound, or beneficial for a situation. In Persian the word has two overlapping layers. In everyday use it means something like: the practical or wise course of action, often as a reason to avoid direct confrontation or to make a pragmatic compromise. In Iranian constitutional and political life it names the foundational principle that governs the مجمع تشخیص مصلحت نظام (Expediency Discernment Council), the state body that resolves legislative disputes between parliament and the Guardian Council. A related phrase is مصلحتاندیشی (maslahat-andishi), meaning expediency-minded thinking, which can carry a mildly critical tone when it implies putting political convenience above principle.
How to use it
- مصلحت نیست الان این حرف رو بزنی. (maslahat nist alân in harf ro bezani.) “It is not wise to say that right now.”
- به مصلحت کشور عمل کردند. (be maslahat-e keshvar amal kardand.) “They acted in the interest of the country.”
- گاهی مصلحتاندیشی جلوی حقیقت رو میگیره. (gâhi maslahat-andishi jolo-ye haqiqat ro migiré.) “Sometimes expediency-thinking blocks the truth.”
- این تصمیم از روی مصلحت بود نه اعتقاد. (in tasmim az ru-ye maslahat bud na eteqâd.) “This decision was made out of expediency, not conviction.”
Cultural note
The concept of مصلحت has deep roots in Islamic jurisprudence, where it refers to public welfare as a basis for legal reasoning. In contemporary Iranian governance, it became institutionalized through the Expediency Discernment Council, a permanent advisory and conflict-resolution body established after the 1979 revolution. In daily Persian, when someone says مصلحت نیست (it is not expedient), they are invoking a culturally understood principle that sometimes the wise, practical path must take precedence over what is strictly ideal or directly spoken. The word thus moves fluidly between political doctrine and everyday social pragmatism.