A first part of timely gift now (2,7)
I believe the answer is:
at present
'now' is the definition.
('at present' can be a synonym of 'now')
'a first part of timely gift' is the wordplay.
'first part of' indicates taking the first letters.
'gift' becomes 'present' (present is a kind of gift).
The initial letter of 'timely' is 't'.
'a'+'t'+'present'='AT PRESENT'
(Other definitions for at present that I've seen before include "temporarily" , "Currently, right now" , "these days" , "Nowadays" , "As of now, during this time" .)