The Creation from a Drop of Milk

In the very beginning, there was nothing but a single, huge drop of milk. From this drop, the creator god, Doondari, came into being. Doondari then created a stone. The stone created iron; the iron created fire; the fire created water; and the water created air. Doondari then descended a second time, took these five elements, and from them, he shaped Man. However, Man was proud. To temper this, Doondari created blindness, and blindness defeated Man. But blindness grew proud, so Doondari created sleep to defeat blindness. But sleep grew proud, so Doondari created worry to defeat sleep. But worry grew proud, so Doondari created death to defeat worry. Finally, death itself grew too proud. So Doondari descended a third time, not as a creator, but as Gueno, the eternal one, who holds power over death itself. This story explains the entire cosmos, from its creation to the struggles of human existence, as originating from a single drop of milk—the substance most sacred to the pastoralist Fulani.