Isaac ibn Chiquitilla was an important tenth-century Hebrew poet in al-Andalus. Together with Isaac ibn Qapron and Judah ben David, he was one of the three disciples of Menahem ibn Sarūq who wrote the Teshuvot (Rejoinders) in defense of their teacher against Dunash ben Labraṭ (ca. 960). According to Yehudi ibn Sheshet, who took part in the controversy on the side of Dunash, Ibn Chiquitilla was the greatest of Menahem’s three defenders, although the highly charged ironic nature of the passage makes it unclear whether he is referring to his age or his standing.

In his ars poetica, Kitāb al-Muḥ…