صاحب

What it means

صاحب (sâheb) means owner, master, or the person who has rightful possession of something. It comes into Persian from Arabic, where the root ص-ح-ب (s-h-b) carries the sense of companionship and association, so a sâheb was originally a companion or associate who belonged to a situation. In Persian the word settled firmly onto the sense of ownership and authority. صاحب خانه (sâheb-e khâne) is the landlord or homeowner, a term every renter encounters. صاحب کار (sâheb-e kâr) means employer or business owner. When used alone with a pronoun, صاحبش (sâheb-ash) means “its owner” and صاحبم (sâheb-am) can mean “my owner” in the sense of the person responsible for me, used affectionately or sarcastically. In formal written Persian, مالک (mâlek) is the more technical legal term for owner, but sâheb is the living, spoken word.

How to use it

• صاحب خونه زنگ زد (sâheb-e khune zang zad) “The landlord called.”
• صاحب این ماشین کیه؟ (sâheb-e in mâshin kie?) “Who owns this car?”
• باید با صاحب کار حرف بزنی (bâyad bâ sâheb-kâr harf bezani) “You need to talk to the employer.”
• پیدا کردم صاحبش رو (peydâ kardam sâhebash ro) “I found its owner.”

Cultural note

The relationship between مستاجر (mostâjer, tenant) and صاحب خانه (landlord) is one of the most emotionally loaded dynamics in Iranian urban life. With rents rising sharply in Tehran and other cities, the صاحب خانه holds enormous practical power, and the phrase صاحب خانه گفته is often delivered with a mixture of resignation and irritation. Landlord-tenant relations are a constant source of material in Iranian comedy, film, and social media.

References

• Dehkhoda
• Vajehyab