What is the meaning of the Hadith: "If a slave flees from his masters, he has disbelieved"?

The Hadith states: "Any slave who flees from his masters has disbelieved until he returns to them." "Fled" (abaqa) means to escape and disobey. The disbelief (kufr) mentioned here, by agreement of the scholars, is not the disbelief that expels one from the religion; rather, it is "disbelief short of disbelief" (kufr dun kufr). This means that a slave's escape from his master is forbidden and considered a major sin, and it is counted among the branches or acts of disbelief. Some scholars interpreted it as disbelief in gratitude (kufr al-ni'mah), meaning the slave's ingratitude towards his master's favors and his denial of them.

Imam al-Qurtubi mentioned that the disbelief here means denying the benefactor and abandoning gratitude and fulfilling rights. Imam al-Nawawi stated that the interpretations of this Hadith are: that it is an act of disbelievers and a characteristic of the Age of Ignorance, or that it leads to disbelief, or that it is disbelief in grace and benevolence, or that it applies to one who deems it permissible. Al-Munawi added that it means disbelieving in and concealing the masters' favors, or that his act is like the act of disbelievers, or that it leads to disbelief.