Although he soon left the school for private tutelage, his stay in Germany (from which he returned, fluent in German, in 1879) was a formative experience in his future perception of western influence on Iranian culture.

After the death of his father in 1897 Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar bestowed the title Mokhber-os Saltaneh on Hedayat, and he accompanied the monarch as a German interpreter on his trip to Europe in 1901.

After a year Hedayat returned to Iran and worked as a translator at the imperial court, influencing Mozaffar-ol Din Shah's granting of the constitution in 1906.

The intention of the trip was to reach Mecca for performing "Hajj", albeit through an exotic route, and apparently the group derived sheer pleasure from sending postcards and telegrams to rival aristocrats in Tehran, from destinations previously unheard of.

Hedayat served nearly six-and-a-half years as prime minister to Rezā Shāh Pahlavi; his premiership was conservative (laying a foundation for dictatorship), and he was dismissed in September 1933.