How did Plotinus explain the origin of time?

For Plotinus, time is not an independent entity or a fundamental feature of reality, but rather the life of Soul as it acts within the physical world.1

Plotinus maintained that the process of generation from the One is timeless; higher levels of being, such as Nous (Intellect), are eternal. Time arises specifically through the movement of the Soul, which forms, orders, and maintains the material universe. Because this movement of the Soul is the cause of all other physical motions, time is essentially the life of the Soul in its active, immanent phase.1

Consequently, Plotinus argued that there never was a time when the material universe did not exist, as the universe is a living, organic whole held together by the Soul's activity. While the physical world exists in time and space, these are considered lower, imperfect reflections of the eternal, living unity found in the world of forms.12