The male thief and the female thief are those who seek the sciences of Allah through fornication and hypocrisy, and they oppose the scholars regarding that. And they take them without gratitude.
So, "cut off their hands," meaning: cut them off from knowledge and Gnosis due to their persistence in opposition.
Allah the Exalted said: {"Indeed, the penalty for those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger and strive upon earth [to cause] corruption is none but that they be killed or crucified or that their hands and feet be cut off from opposite sides or that they be exiled from the land. That is for them a disgrace in this world; and for them in the Hereafter is a great punishment"}1 . Meaning, those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger are the Extremists (al-Muqassima), the Negligent (al-Muqassira), the Delegators (al-Mufawwida), and the hypocritical Unitarians (al-Muwahhidun) who oppose the believers. For Allah is the Prince of the Bees (Amir al-Nahl), and His Messenger is Muhammad.