Roses bloom every spring in Taif, Saudi Arabia, turning patches of the kingdom's vast desert landscape a vibrant and fragrant pink. They are extracted in April for the essential oil that is used to purify the sacred Kaaba, the cube-shaped structure in Makkah that Muslims pray to, throughout the world. This year's harvest coincides with Ramadan, the holy fasting month in which dutiful Muslims dedicate themselves to prayer and retrospection.

Every day, workers at the Bin Salman farm maintain rose bushes and gather tens of thousands of flowers to manufacture rose water and oil, which are also coveted ingredients in the makeup and culinary industries. Millions of Muslims travel the kingdom each year for pilgrimages, and the fragranced oil has become prominent among them. Plant and flower designs have long been a feature of Islamic art.

Taif, known as the City of Roses, with almost 300 million blossoms has almost 800 flower farms throughout the city, most of which have welcomed tourists to see their rose farms. Others work in sheds, filling and weighing baskets manually while picking flowers in the fields. After that, the flowers are boiled and distilled.

"We begin by boiling the roses on high heat until they almost melt away, which requires about 30 to 35 minutes. After that, we turn down the heat for 15 to 30 minutes before the distillation process begins, which involves almost eight hours," said Khalaf al-Tuweiri, owner of the Bin Salman farm.

The extracting cycle begins when the oil rises to the top of the glass jars. The oil is then obtained using a large syringe and poured into various-sized vials, with the smallest charging 400 Saudi riyals ($106).