In the middle of nowhere in a rugged area in Saudi Arabia, a large rock stands aloft to dwarf thousands of surrounding little stones like a king enjoying power over his people.

The rock underscores the primitiveness of the place and appears to be enjoying the serenity and tranquility of the area away from human predators and their destructive civilization. But only one human predator seems to have encroached on its privacy.

As if it is aware of that man’s ordeal, the rock has been generous to him. In return, the man has acknowledged that generosity and fallen in love with the rock.

“I have a very intimate relationship with this rock….it is my only source of income…God the Almighty has sent me this rock to support me and my family for many years,” said Mufreh Al Harisi, a 65-year-old Saudi woodman.

For more than 30 years, Harisi has been using that rock as a primitive factory to produce tar from wood and sell it locally.

A woodman for most of his life, Harisi had first sold wood but it was not enough to support his large family. After learning how to make tar, his business thrived.

Harisi says he had found that rock while on a wood cutting trip in the rugged hills of the southern province of Jazan near the border with Yemen.

“I found that it is almost an ideal tar factory…I didn’t try to drill or do anything on the rock…it is just perfect for tar production purposes as if God the Almighty sent it to me to reward me for my struggle to support my family,” he told Alwatan newspaper.

Harisi says that after collecting a sufficient quantity of wood, he cuts them into small pieces before stuffing them inside the rock through an opening at the top.

“After I put enough wood, I cover that opening and leave only a small hall…I then light a fire under the rock…I wait for a few hours after which the internal combustion turns the wood into tar, which gathers in a cavity at the bottom of the rock,” he said.

“I then collect the tar and sell it to my customers in the market…I also make coal and sell it all in the local market…I have been relying on this rock for more than 30 years and now I earn between SR1,000 and SR1,200 a week…all the money is used to support my children, my wife and myself…thanks of course to this rock.”

Tar is used as seal for roofing and to seal the hull of ships and boats. In Saudi Arabia, wood tar is also used to waterproof dhows (wooden boats) and in the treatment of sheep and horse hooves as well as medicine, soap and rubber industry.