al-Durar al-Saniyya, Volume 10, Page 51:

"And I inform you about myself - I swear by Allah whom there is none worthy to worship except Him -
I have sought knowledge and those who knew me believed that I had knowledge while I did not know
the meaning of La Ilaha illa Allah at that time and did not know the religion of Islam before this
grace that Allah favoured. As well as my teachers no one among them knew that. And if someone
from the scholars of al-'Aridh claims that he knew the meaning of La Ilaha illa Allah or knew the
meaning of Islam before this time, or claims on behalf of his teachers that someone from them knew
that, then he has lied and said falsehood and deceived the people and praised himself with something
he does not possess." [Ref: al-Durar al-Saniyya, Volume 10, Page 51, Trnslted by Abu Sulayman.]