Shyness

Shyness – حياء

The Qur’an said:
فَجَاءَتْهُ إِحْدَاهُمَا تَمْشِي عَلَى اسْتِحْيَاءٍ
“Then one of the two women approached [Moses], walking with shyness.” [Qur’an 28:25].

She approached Prophet Moses bashfully, covering her face with her hands (قد سترت وجهها بيديها) or her sleeve (مستترة بكمّ درعها, أو بكمّ قميصها) out of shyness for him.

This was after Moses helped them water their herd, so they wanted to introduce him to their father to return his kindness.

Moses was also a shy man.

Ibn Kathir writes in his Tafsir, that she said:

وإنه لما جئت معه تقدمت أمامه ، فقال لي : كوني من ورائي ، فإذا اجتنبت الطريق فاحذفي [ لي ] بحصاة أعلم بها كيف الطريق لأتهدى إليه

“I walked ahead of [Moses], but he said to me: ‘walk behind me, and if I get confused about the route, throw a pebble so that I will know which way to go.’

[“Tafsir Ibn Kathir”, 6/229].