The science of rhetoric sits atop the throne of Arabic sciences; through it the miraculous nature of the Holy Qur'an is known, and through it the fruit of discourse and the meanings of structures are known. This is the reason for the attention of previous scholars to it in the field of criticism, poetry, interpretation and other fields. This study, entitled (Time in Arabic Rhetoric), aimed to highlight the element of time in Arabic rhetoric in its three sciences: meanings, expression and figures of speech. The importance of the research comes from the fact that it gathers what is related to time in Arabic rhetoric into one theory that reveals the secrets of this time and its rhetorical meanings, after this time was scattered in the discussions of the books of rhetoricians. The researcher followed the inductive method in it, where he tracked the rhetorical phenomena related to time and collected them, then he followed the descriptive analytical method in describing the rhetorical phenomenon, analyzing it and citing evidence for it. Then the research reached the results where it became clear that the element of time is an original element in Arabic rhetoric; as it is related to its rules, its images and its figures of speech. The research mentioned the definition of the term morphological time, which is in the single word, syntactic time, which is in the phrase, and rhetorical time, which is in the rhetorical point that is known in the context of the phrase. Time was related to ten rules of the science of meanings, which are: taking into account the requirements of the situation, the purposes of the predicate being a noun or a verb, shifting between the past, present, and future, restriction by time, and by the conditional particles (if, and if). Rhetorical time was also related to the command and the wish, the question, the conjunction of coordination, the attribution of the verb to its time in the mental metaphor, brevity, and prolixity. The research showed the rhetorical situations that result from fronting and backshifting, definiteness and indefiniteness, mention and omission, and manifestation and implication in the temporal word. Among the results was also: the artistic image expressed time, so it transferred it from the abstract meaning to the tangible. Simile of all kinds, metaphor of all kinds, metonymy, and synecdoche have many examples in this field. The language used the temporal word in the types of rhetorical embellishments, both semantic and verbal. Among the semantic ones are: antithesis of all kinds, contrast, inversion, substitution, use, exaggeration, abstraction, wrapping and spreading, interlacing, division, and combination. Among the verbal ones are: alliteration, rhyme, and the Quranic pause.
The study recommended further research into the element of time in Arabic rhetoric and comparing it with modern linguistic studies.