Tafsir of Az-Zukhruf 43:40

This is an interrogative of astonishment, questioning how it could be that you—may the Almighty bless him and grant him peace—are able to guide them, while they have practiced disbelief, grown accustomed to it, and become so immersed in error that their blindness has become inseparable from their deafness.

This is a conjunction linked to "the blind" (al-'umyi), taking into account the distinction between the two descriptions—that is, blindness and error—in terms of concept, even if they are unified in outcome and essence. The focus of the negation is on the firm establishment and persistence in excessive error that is self-evident, not on any perceived deficiency on his part—may blessings and peace be upon him.

In this, there is an indication that no one is capable of such [guidance] except Allah the Almighty alone, through compulsion and necessity. The Prophet—may the Almighty bless him and grant him peace—used to exert himself to the utmost in calling his people, yet they increased only in transgression, feigning blindness to the proofs of prophethood they witnessed, and feigning deafness to the clear signs of the Quran they heard. Thus, (So, will you...) was revealed.