The Saffron Gate

The procession reached the burial ground near one of the palace gates—Zafaran Cemetery—reserved for caliphs, their wives, and their children. As Rakan stepped out of the Zafaran Gate, he was met with vast stretches of green meadows, shaded by countless trees. Beneath them stood marble headstones engraved in gold with the names of the departed

He entered the cemetery, which seemed to him like a vision of paradise for the care it was given. Wooden lampposts coated in gold carried lanterns that lit the paths. Scattered across the earth, between the graves, lay jewels and semi-precious stones as if they were mere pebbles and sand. Among them were priceless ornaments, treasures of prayer niches, and censers releasing the lingering scent of musk and oud.