O heart, though the root of patience is bitter, when it is drunk in hope of union it goes down sweetly.
دلا اگر چه که تلخست بیخ صبر ولی / چو بر امید وصالست خوشگوار آید
Dilâ eger çi ki telh est bîh-i sabr velî / Çü ber ümîd-i visâl est hoş-güvâr âyed.
Saadi, Ghazaliyyat, ghazal 282, couplet 9 (Ganjoor numbering); 13th century.
The root of patience is bitter.
Saadi does not hide it.
He does not say sweet,
he does not say easy.
He leaves its bitterness in the mouth.
But he adds something:
The same bitterness,
drunk in hope of reunion,
goes down the throat differently.
So what changes the medicine
is whom it is drunk for.
Whoever knows what he is waiting for
holds the same cup
in another way.