Note 135

135. To none is it permitted to mutter sacred verses before the public gaze as he walketh in the street or marketplace # 108

This is an allusion to the practice of certain clerics and religious leaders of earlier Dispensations who, out of +P224 hypocrisy and affectation, and in order to win the praise of their followers, would ostentatiously mutter prayers in public places as a demonstration of their piety. &Baha'u'llah forbids such behaviour and stresses the importance of humility and genuine devotion to God.