Abstract
Time is a fundamental element in the structure of the novel, as it provides the framework within which events are organized and characters are formed. No narrative can be understood without reference to its temporal structure, since narration essentially involves the rearrangement of events from the narrator’s perspective, thereby granting time a pivotal role in shaping the reader’s perception and guiding their understanding of the story. In modern fiction, temporal paradoxes constitute one of the most significant techniques that shape narrative time. By manipulating the chronological order of events—through anticipation, retrospection, or even omission—the narrator creates gaps that encourage the reader to reconstruct and interpret meaning. This study, employing a descriptive-analytical method, examines the use of temporal techniques in Ibrahim Saafin’s novel Migratory Birds. It explores the forms of temporal paradoxes as well as the mechanisms of acceleration and deceleration in the narrative, analyzing their impact on narrative rhythm. The findings reveal that the novel is built upon a disruption of chronological order, particularly through flashbacks and foreshadowing, which establishes a non-linear narrative structure reflecting the fragmentation of Palestinian memory between past and present. The study further concludes that the deployment of time and its techniques in Migratory Birds is not merely formal, but serves the artistic and semantic dimensions of the text. Through the deliberate use of these strategies, the novel transforms from a simple story into a literary work of high aesthetic and critical value. Narrative techniques thus function as a bridge between raw material—such as events and characters—and the literary construction received by the reader, granting the text uniqueness and originality